Introduction

History is about power and identity. It teaches us how the world works and who we are. This course examines the United States and its people since 1865. During this period the country mended deep sectional divisions, industrialized, experienced profound economic growth as well as depression, rose as a world leader, and wrestled with the domestic and foreign ramifications of its power. We will incorporate the concepts of power and identity as we analyze this nation’s past and link it to issues of contemporary concern. More specifically we will focus on two themes that deal directly with both power and identity: how Americans have understood race, and how foreign relations has related to American society. These themes raise questions about political, economic, social, and diplomatic issues on personal as well as national levels, and they will give us a handle on what can be an overwhelming amount of history. To explore them we will shift back and forth between the general and the particular, the “big picture” and specific historical actors. Classes will consist of lectures interwoven with periods of group work and discussion. They will incorporate a variety of primary sources including two memoirs, music, and the occasional film as well as a standard textbook and primary source reader.

We will be covering a lot of material this semester, but the skills you will learn along the way are just as important. The point of this class is to give you a working familiarity with the period, to engage you in the process of historical and critical analysis, and to get you thinking and writing clearly. My goals are to: 1) introduce students to the main issues, events, and people that have shaped America and Americans since 1865; 2) show how historians analyze primary sources and how that skill is relevant to us all; and 3) help students communicate effectively orally and on paper.

Accomplishing these goals is an important part of a liberal arts education and will give you life skills that will serve you well. It is to this end that I have designed lectures, writing assignments, exams, and the general structure of the course. Beyond adding to an understanding of American society and culture, this course speaks to a number of IUPUI’s Principles of Undergraduate Learning: it refines communication skills through class discussion, exams, and papers, it demands that students analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and apply a range of ideas and information both in class and in assignments, it teaches information and skills useful in a variety of real life situations, and in training students how to be good historians, it strengthens students’ intellectual depth and breadth.

Books

Boyer, et al, The Enduring Vision, volume 2, concise 4^th edition (hereafter: “Boyer”)

Wheeler and Becker, Discovering the American Past, 5^th edition, volume II (“W&B”)

John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks (1932)

Malcolm X and Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964)

Requirements

1) Two written exams, given in class. Each will contain a number of identifications asking you to link a specific person, event, or idea to its historical context and significance, and an essay question asking you to incorporate course material into larger themes. Exams will cover class lectures and all the readings assigned during that period of the course. You will compile a list of identifications from each lecture, and I will distribute potential essay questions a week in advance of each exam. We will go over how to write a strong exam in class beforehand. Each exam will be worth 25% of your final grade; the second exam will be given during finals week; it will not be cumulative.

2) Two short writing assignments, due in class as noted below on the schedule of assignments. The first will be on Black Elk Speaks and will ask you to interpret the book on a fairly basic level in one to two pages. It will be worth 15% of your final grade. The second assignment, slightly longer and more in depth, will be on The Autobiography of Malcolm X and is worth 25% of your final grade. More to follow.

3) Active participation in discussions and general signs of life. This is an integral part of this course as well as the process of learning. It includes discussion of the W&B text and outside readings, as well as issues raised during lectures. Your grade for participation will depend more on the quality and consistency of your contributions to our discussion than on their frequency. If you are painfully shy, come see me for some hints, take advantage of my email account, and come visit during office hours. Participation counts for 10% of your final grade.

4) Attendance. Faithful attendance is vital to your success in this course and is required. An attendance list will be circulated at some point during each class, and if you miss signing in due to lateness or an early departure, you will be counted as absent for the day. Since emergencies plague even the most diligent, however, you may miss up to four classes without penalty, no questions asked or excuses required. *For each and every class missed past four, I will deduct two points from your final grade. Avoid this at all costs since it can do significant damage to an otherwise hard-earned grade. Save your free misses for emergencies! Perfect and almost perfect attendance will bump up your participation grade.

The success of our class discussions depends upon students keeping up with the reading. If you choose not to attend class regularly or keep up with the reading, classes will be less interesting and your own grades will reflect your behavior. I expect you to meet deadlines and due dates. Print out your papers well ahead of time, and always save a copy on disk. If you have an unresolvable conflict with an exam, you must come talk to me BEFORE the exam, otherwise I will need documentation of illness or other emergency. If you miss an exam you will receive a zero for the exam, which usually results in failure of the course. Avoid intellectual dishonesty at all costs—plagiarism, cheating, and the like will result in a grade of zero on the work in question and perhaps disciplinary action from the university. (See the Indiana University Academic Handbook, p. 123 or come see me if you have questions.)

Schedule of Assignments

*Note: bring your Wheeler and Becker (W&B) book or whatever outside reading (besides Boyer) is due with you to class, along with your notes and ideas on it, of course.

Aug. 22 Introduction

Aug. 27 Reconstruction (Boyer chapter 16 due for class)

Aug. 29 The American West (Boyer 17)

Sept. 3 Environment, Region, and Industrialization

Sept. 5 Indian Wars (read and discuss Black Elk Speaks)

*written assignment on Black Elk Speaks due at the start of class

Sept. 10 Race, Labor, and Industrialization (Boyer 18 and 19)

Sept. 12 Class, Consumer Culture, and Fun (Boyer 20, plus read and discuss

W&B chapter 3—choose 2 ads and be able to explain why that ad

and/or product would be appealing to contemporary readers)

Sept. 17 Politics of the people (Boyer 21, W&B chapter 2 –choose your favorite and

be able to explain why)

Sept. 19 American Imperialism (W&B chapter 4 – identify the main question from

the chapter and choose three photos that help answer it)

Sept. 24 Workers and Reform

Sept. 26 Progressivism (Boyer 22)

Oct. 1 World War I (Boyer 23 and W&B chapter 5—be able to explain how

examples from the evidence section used views of either a) gender

or b) race/national identity to generate support for the war effort)

Oct. 3 The 1920s (Boyer 24, W&B 6—sections on sex and women’s work)

Oct. 8 Into the Great Depression (begin reading Malcolm X if you haven’t already)

Oct. 10 MIDTERM EXAM

Oct. 15 The New Deal (Boyer 25)

Oct. 17 The New Deal

Oct. 22 The Dust Bowl (Boyer 26, W&B 7 – answer the questions to consider)

Oct. 24 Into World War II (Boyer 27)

Oct. 29 World War II – The Home Front (Malcolm X, chapters 1-9)

Oct. 31 The Cold War (Boyer 28)

Nov. 5 Containment Culture (Boyer 29)

Nov. 7 Race and Rebellion in the 1950s

Nov. 12 Civil Rights (Boyer 30)

Nov. 14 American Society and Liberal Consensus

Nov. 19 Malcolm X (finish Autobiography of Malcolm X)

*short papers on Malcolm X due at the start of class

Nov. 21 1968 and Its Aftermath (Boyer 31)

Nov. 26 Vietnam (W&B chapter 10—use the evidence provided to answer the main

question from the chapter NOTE:DO NOT do your own interview)

Nov. 28 Thanksgiving – no class

Dec. 3 The 1970s and 80s (Boyer 32)

Dec. 5 The 1990s and Course Conclusions (Boyer 33)

Dec. 10 Third Exam 3:30-5:30pm (in CA 217, as usual)