Fall,
2005
History A313 (Sect. 25066) &
History H511 (Sect. 25132):
The Origins of Modern
1865-1917
Location:
CA-215 Instructor: R. Barrows
Time:
M W
Phone: 274-2457/3811
E-mail:
rbarrows@iupui.edu
Office Hours: M W
REQUIREMENTS: Regular class
attendance and participation in discussion; completion of assigned reading; a
mid-term exam and a non-comprehensive final (essays and short answer IDs,
covering both reading assignments and the lectures); and several short written assignments: a) a brief synopsis and analysis of a
supplementary novel b) two short
descriptions and analyses of contemporary newspaper accounts of notable
events c) analysis of an enumeration
district from the 1900 manuscript census of Indianapolis. Students taking the course for graduate
credit will complete an additional reading/writing assignment following
consultation with the instructor.
GRADING: Each
exam will count for one-third of the final grade; the written work will
comprise the other third. Improvement
counts. So does literacy. In cases where the semester grade comes down
to a borderline decision (between a C+ or a B-, for example), regular
attendance, participation in discussion, and improvement will be taken into
account.
Papers are due, and exams
will be given, on the dates indicated.
Unless prior arrangements have been made, I will schedule make-up exams
or accept late papers only in cases of documented illness or other
unanticipated emergency.
University policy is that
grades of "Incomplete" should be assigned only to students who have
successfully completed most of the course work and who have been prevented by
significant and unanticipated circumstances from finishing all
requirements. Removal of
"Incomplete" grades is often troublesome for both student and
instructor, and I shall be reluctant to assign them.
Plagiarism (including the
use without attribution of materials found on the Internet), cheating on
exams, and other forms of intellectual dishonesty will not be tolerated, will
result in a failing grade on the work in question, and may lead to disciplinary
action by the university. If you are
unsure what constitutes plagiarism, ask.
Also, consult the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2004-2006, pp. 36-37.
TEXTS:
CALHOUN Charles W. Calhoun, ed., The Gilded Age
DeSANTIS Vincent DeSantis, The Shaping of Modern
RIIS Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1996
Books version edited by David Leviatin)
WOLOCH Nancy Woloch, Muller
v.
Plus one of the
following novels: Horatio Alger, Ragged
Dick; Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward; Hamlin Garland, Main-Travelled Roads; Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
Tentative Course Outline and Assignments
August
24 Introduction
to the Course
29 Reconstruction
31 The
Western Frontiers
(DeSantis, pp. 19-32; Calhoun, ch. 8)
September
5 NO
CLASS (Labor Day)
7 The
"New" South?
(DeSantis, pp. 33-37)
{Newspaper Assignment #1 due September 7}
12, 14 Industrialization,
Industrialists, and the Rise of Big Business (DeSantis,
ch. 1; Calhoun, ch. 1)
19 Workers, Unions, and Labor Strife
(DeSantis, pp. 104-109; Calhoun, ch. 3)
21, 26 A Nation of Immigrants (DeSantis,
pp. 98-104; Calhoun, ch. 4)
28 GROUP 1: Presentation and discussion of Ragged Dick
October
3 The Rise of the City - I
(DeSantis, pp. 96-98; Calhoun, ch. 5)
5 The Rise of the City - II
(Riis--read the Preface, all of Part I [pp. 3-43], and
chapters 4, 6, 12, 17, 20, and 25 in Part II)
October
10, 12 Society
and Culture in the Gilded Age
(DeSantis, ch. 5 and pp. 109-118;
"She Couldn't Have Done It, Even If She Did" [on library reserve];
Calhoun, ch. 6, 7)
17 GROUP
2: Presentation and discussion of Main-Travelled Roads
19 MID-TERM
EXAM
24 The
Politics of Equilibrium
(DeSantis, ch.
3; Calhoun, ch. 9, 10)
26 The Quest for Empire, 1865-1899
(DeSantis, ch.
7; Calhoun, ch. 12)
31 Group 3: Presentation and
discussion of Looking Backward
November
2, 7 The Other Side of
the Gay ‘90s: Depression, Racial Segregation,
Agrarian and Labor Unrest, and the Election of 1896
(DeSantis, ch.
4; Calhoun, ch. 11)
9, 14 Progressivism: Ideology and Political Reform
(DeSantis, ch.
9-11)
16 Progressivism: Social Reform
(DeSantis, ch.
8; "Albion Fellows Bacon:
Frenzied Philanthropist" [on
library reserve])
21 GROUP 4: Presentation and discussion of The Jungle
23 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break)
28 Foreign Affairs, 1900-1916
(DeSantis, ch.
12)
30 Discussion of 1900 Census Assignment
December
5 The Road to World War I
(DeSantis, ch.13)
7 Home
Front, Treaty Fight, and Postwar Reaction
(DeSantis, ch.
14-15)
12 Evaluation
and Recapitulation
14 FINAL
EXAM
History
A313
Fall,
2005
Newspaper Assignment #1
(50 points)
Select one of the
following events:
--Impeachment (by the House
of Representatives) and acquittal (by the Senate) of President Andrew Johnson
[Feb. 24 and
--Completion of the first
transcontinental railroad
[
--
[
Go to a local library--IUPUI University Library, IMCPL, Indiana State Library--and read contemporary newspaper accounts
of whichever event you selected. (Note that there will often be several days
of coverage for each event. Usually,
though not always, the coverage appears within a day or two of when the event
occurred.) A likely source,
especially at the University Library, is the New York Times on
microfilm. Feel free,
however, to see what sort of coverage appeared in other newspapers, especially
the
After reading accounts of the event you selected (and,
presumably, taking notes on what you read), prepare an essay of approximately
two--and no more than three--double-spaced, typewritten pages. The first one-third to one-half of your essay
should simply provide a summary description of the historical event as
recounted in the newspaper articles you consulted. The remainder of the essay consists of your analysis
of the coverage. Does it seem
accurate? Fair? Thorough? Do you find anything unusual or surprising
about the paper's treatment of the story?
Are there ways in which the coverage differs from the manner in which a
newspaper today might deal with the same story?
Indicate somewhere in your essay, either as a heading or as part
of the text, the name of the newspaper you read, the dates of the
articles you consulted, and the repository where the newspaper was
located.
Due September 7
History
A313
Fall,
2005
Newspaper Assignment #2
(50 points)
Select one of the
following events and read contemporary newspaper accounts of the incident. Then prepare an essay of approximately
two--and no more than three--double-spaced, typewritten pages. The first one-third to one-half of your essay
should simply provide a summary description of the historical event as
recounted in the newspaper articles you consulted. The remainder of the essay consists of your analysis
of the coverage. Does it seem
accurate? Fair? Thorough? Do you find anything unusual or surprising
about the paper's treatment of the story?
Are there ways in which the coverage differs from the manner in which a
newspaper today might deal with the same story?
Indicate somewhere in your
essay, either as a heading or as part of the text, the name of the
newspaper you read, the dates of the articles you consulted, and the repository
where the newspaper was located. (Look at the actual paper or a microfilmed
reproduction of it. Consulting text that is reproduced on a Web site is not
acceptable.) Due on dates indicated.
Due October 10
1.
2.
3.
GAR Encampment in
1.
2.
3.
Due October 24
Shooting & death of
President Garfield [July 2 &
1.
2.
3.
Due October 26
Sinking of the
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
Due November 7
People's Party (Populist)
convention [early July, 1892]
1.
2.
3.
Coxey's Army in
1.
2.
3.
Democratic national
convention, esp. the speech given by William Jennings Bryan [
1.
2.
3.
Due November 9
Assassination of President
McKinley [
1.
2.
3.
Due November 16
Triangle Shirtwaist Company
fire in NYC [
1.
2.
3.
Due December 5
Sinking of the
1.
2.
3.
Release of Zimmermann
telegram [March 1, 1917]
1.
2.
3.
Due December 7
1.
2.
3.
World War I armistice [
1.
2.
3.
History A313
Fall, 2005
SUPPLEMENTARY NOVEL:
Instructions for Group Presentations
And Individual Written Assignments
(100 points)
>> Group
Presentations
Each group will have 45-50
minutes to make its presentation and will then respond to questions. (Membership of the four groups is noted on
the reverse of this sheet.) Your objective
is to inform the other members of the class about the novel you have read and
to explain to them how it helps us understand the period of American history we
are studying in this course. You may
structure your presentation as you wish, but at some point and in some way you
will probably want to touch upon the following:
--Biographical information regarding the author
--Publication information regarding the book
(when/where originally published, how
long in print, sales figures, etc.)
--The plot of the novel:
who are the major characters?; what do they do or what happens to them?
--The literary quality of the novel
--The historical context
within which the book was written and
the ways in which the novel reflects that context. (In other
words, why was this book written when it was, and what
does it tell us about the time in which
it was written?)
--The impact of the novel, both when it was originally
published and in subsequent years
--The book's value in helping us to understand late
19th/early 20th century
>> Individual
Written Assignment
Your written analysis of the
novel is due on the day of your group presentation. (These dates are indicated
on the syllabus.) This review should be
approximately 600 words
(3-4 typewritten pages, double-spaced).
The review should consist of
two parts. The first one-third should be
a summary that tells the person reading the review what the book is about. The remaining two-thirds of the review should
give your opinion of the book, noting particularly its value as an historical
source.
History A313 (Fall 2005)
Group 1 (Alger, Ragged
Dick; September 28)
Group 2 (
Group 3 (Bellamy, Looking
Backward; October 31)
Group 4 (Sinclair, The Jungle; November 21)
A313 (Barrows)
Fall, 2005
1900 Census Assignment
(100 points)
This exercise will give you an opportunity to "do
history" by examining and analyzing a source that has been widely used by historians
of the United States during the past twenty years--the manuscript schedules of
the decennial Census of Population.
These documents, filled out by the census takers as they made their
rounds, provide detailed information about particular areas at a specific
moment in time--a sort of historical "snapshot."
For this assignment you will select one "enumeration
district" (ED) from the 1900 Census of Population of Indianapolis. The
schedules, which are reproduced on five rolls of microfilm (numbered 387-391),
are available in the microforms area of the Reference Room in
University Library. They are in a microfilm drawer labeled "Census
Microfilm"; the call number is HA 361.5 1900. (Alternatively,
this material is also available in the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State
Library at the corner of
Examine the information recorded for each ED and then prepare an
analysis (3-5 pages) of the district.
(Feel free to use the word "neighborhood" or "area"
rather than the awkward "enumeration district" if you prefer, keeping
in mind, however, that ED boundaries were actually somewhat arbitrary and may
not have defined a natural neighborhood.)
Your description and discussion of the district may include (but is not
limited to) consideration of the following:
--Location of the area, if
possible (note street names/house numbers
along left margin)
--Racial/ethnic composition
of the district
--Occupational/social status
of the residents (analyzed, perhaps,
by race and ethnicity)
--Women's roles
--Extent of homeownership
--Schooling patterns
--Any interesting
institutions located within the district
--Anything else you observe
that helps to describe the
district and its residents at the turn
of the century
Though not required, you may find it useful to read the following
brief article before beginning your work:
"The 1900 Federal Census: A
Note on Availability and Potential Uses," Indiana Magazine of History,
74 (June, 1978), 146-152.
Due November 30
ED = Enumeration District
List A
ED 55 (Roll 388/Vol. 46)
ED 57 (Roll 388/Vol. 46)
List B
ED 19 (Roll 387/Vol. 45)
ED 26 (Roll 387/Vol. 45)
ED 83 (Roll 388/Vol. 46)
ED 89 (Roll 388/Vol. 46)
ED 134 (Roll 389/Vols. 47-48)
ED 141 (Roll 389/Vols. 47-48)
History A313
Fall, 2005
Additional Assignments for Graduate Students
1) Read the following:
>> Richard L.
McCormick, "Public Life in Industrial America, 1877-1917," chapter 5
in The New American History (1990), ed. Eric Foner.
Be sure to skim the bibliography at the end of the essay. Prepare a brief
(3-4 page) synopsis of this chapter, which will be due
on
>> OAH Magazine of
History (Spring 1999), 3-23.
>> OAH Magazine of
History (Summer 1999), 3-10, 16-25.
2) Based on the reading
above, browsing in your textbooks for this class or in other volumes you may
own, and personal interest, decide on a topic in American history
1865-1919 about which you would like to prepare a historiographical
essay. You need to find a topic about which there has been some controversy or dabate, and thus a range of historical commentary
that has changed over time. (Examples: the motivation behind American
"expansionism" during the late 19th century; the social
status of those who identified themselves as "progressives"; the
wisdom of "Radical Reconstruction.") Bring your topics to me for
approval. Topics should be set no later than
3) Prepare an annotated
bibliography of 8-10 items (generally books, but rticles
or book chapters may be acceptable in some cases)that
relate to your topic and that reflect changes in historical interpretation. The
annotation need not be extensive; two or three sentences will usually suffice. Due
no later than
4) I will "edit"
your bibliography, deleting some items and perhaps adding others. Use the
resulting list as the basis for your historiographical
essay of 7-10 pages, which will be due no later than