Reaction Pape-r #1 (History Class)

Political, social and economic development since Reconstruction Era; the US as a world power

Fall 2023 – Eng 1A advised

Fridays, 9:00-12:05 pm in FH101 – Schedule #16984

This syllabus is your guide to the course – what is expected of you and when. The schedule and procedures for this course are subject to change.

Course Description

This course is a survey of the history of the United States since Reconstruction. Through lectures, readings, other media, and discussion, I will introduce you to some of the major political, social, economic, and cultural transformations that have shaped the United States over the past 150 years. In general, we will be concerned with four broad inter-related themes: 1) the development of the United States as an industrial corporate capitalist society, 2) the emergence of the United States as a world political and military power, 3) the struggles of ordinary people in the United States to define and make real the American promise of freedom and democracy, and 4) the way Americans have tried to understand and shape these changes as they incorporate them into their lives.

Course Goals

This course is not only about memorizing a litany of names and dates (although there is some of that). Familiarizing you with some of the people and events of U.S. History is only the first step in this class. Stopping at that point may leave you prepared to win a bar bet but little more. Instead, we will examine the connections between these people and events and the larger themes of the class, and their role in shaping today’s world. My goal is that you will develop the historical skills you will need to help you deal with present concerns. I want to encourage you to begin to view today’s world not just as “the way it is,” but as the way people in history have made it, and how you and I continue to make and remake it every single day. In short, this course should promote your development of a “critical historical imagination.” I will dedicate myself to helping you do this. Whether this happens is up to you.

Student Hours

You should feel free to contact me at any time to discuss anything remotely pertaining to this class . But I have also set aside several hours per week (see above) in which I guarantee to be in my office to talk to you. That is, aside from last-minute changes (which I will announce), my official student hours are when you can be assured of getting to talk with me, as long as I am not already talking to another student.

These are your hours. This is the opposite of being called to the office in high school. This is an invitation to talk one-on-one (or with others if you wish) about history, your goals for college, your concerns about the class. (I will give three points extra credit to anyone who comes to student hours before the fifth week.) If you can’t make it during these hours, don’t worry. You should just stop by when you can or send me an email and let’s set up a time that fits.

SPECIAL NOTE concerning this particular Friday class. I love teaching this schedule. An uninterrupted three hours means we can really dig in. That said, we only meet once a week, so missing one class is equivalent to a regular class missing an entire week (and more). More importantly, we will miss TWO WEEKS in November because of the holidays. With so few meetings, students can begin to feel disconnected. To work against that, I urge you (the person reading this!) to visit me in my office hours at any time during the term and especially throughout November. You can visit individually or as a group. Let’s talk about this stuff; let’s talk about what engages you, what you’re interested in.

Required Readings

Classroom Policies

1) Attendance

Though my policy is not strict, attendance is necessary . Almost everyone who regularly misses my class fails. A great amount of the material you are responsible for will be in lectures. In addition, we will often be taking a few minutes to discuss particular readings and lecture topics in class. If you’re not here to discuss – to share with us your thoughts and consider the thoughts of others – you won’t be getting all that you could out of the class. And your absence (physically or mentally) deprives your classmates of your presence.

I don’t bother with “excused” or “unexcused” absences in my class – there is no need to tell me why you’ve missed class. Here are the basic rules:

1) If, within the first three weeks, you are absent for a class, I will drop you.

2) I will also drop students who have two consecutive absences before the end of the ninth week. (If you want to drop the class, and you want a W instead of an F, it is still your responsibility to make sure you have dropped.)

3) After the ninth week, no one may be dropped from the class, but if you miss 5 or more class meetings – one-third of the class! – throughout the term, I will lower your final grade by one letter.

If you must miss so much class (COVID still exists, for instance) that you are going fall into these categories, tell me about it and we can work it out. Communication is key. You don’t need to tell me about every absence and don’t worry about bringing a note. But if you are going to be missing so many classes that you will exceed these limits, we must talk about it – we can probably figure something out.

2) Be on time and stay until the end of class.

This class is scheduled for Fridays from 9 am to 12:05. We will take a 15-minute break after the first hour and a half – stick around. I will take roll at the beginning of class and just after the break. You will be counted absent for the whole day if you skip any of it. If any of this is going to be a problem, talk to me about it immediately.

I will begin and end on time. I expect students to be on time. I understand that sometimes it is unavoidable, but being consistently late is simply rude. Also, I expect that you will never leave class early – not for a phone call, not for the restroom, not because you’re bored. It is very disruptive. I will embarrass you about this. If this is going to be a problem, talk to me about it immediately. If you are late or leave early, you will be counted absent.

3) Pay Attention

Proper manners also include being attentive during lecture and discussions, so I do not allow sleeping, side conversations, eating, or reading during class. Please use the restroom before class and don’t pack up your things until class is over.

To encourage your real presence, I do not allow the use of personal computers in my class except as an approved accommodation for a disability.

Finally, when you come to class, put away your cell-phones! I mean it. Don’t text or take calls. Take off your headphones too. Put this stuff away. Any of these activities will be considered absences and I may require you to leave the class for the day.

4) Be prepared to ask questions and discuss the issues raised in class and in the readings.

And here is a little note about etiquette.

We are in a face-to-face class and I hope to have lots of good back-and-forth discussion. It is important to remember that this isn’t social media and you get no points for trolling people. We are trying to set up a different atmosphere in this space. In this class, all of us will try to be open to hearing others’ views, and we will be polite and honest in responding to them. Remember, we can have spirited discussions without resorting to insults. This helps foster an open atmosphere in which people feel free to express themselves. This is especially important in a class like this, where we deal with incredibly important and sensitive issues.

But politeness or “civility” does not necessarily mean agreement with me or other students. Sometimes someone – me, your fellow students, the author of one of your readings – will say something you don’t agree with or perhaps even find offensive.  This happens in good classes and it is not something to be avoided.  This means it is doubly important to give each other the benefit of the doubt. Rather than silence those who have said something offensive, I hope you will take it as an opportunity to let that person know why you believe what they said was problematic. Nothing shuts down discussion like personal attacks or gratuitously insulting someone else’s beliefs. That is out of bounds. But we should all expect those who differ from us to speak up and sometimes challenge our positions and beliefs – to point out what they believe to be an error.  This kind of challenge, even if it is politely delivered, is sometimes difficult to take, but it is needed to get us somewhere closer to the truth. It will help you better understand your own ideas, and who knows, you may even change your mind!

As I see it, if a course never challenges you this way, it means one or both of two things:  first, the course is so reflective and reinforcing of your own preconceived ideas that it doesn’t encourage you to rethink anything.  Second, you don’t have any ideas or beliefs that you hold strongly enough to consider them worth defending.  Either scenario is a problem in any college worthy of the name. So, if you have questions or don’t agree with something in discussion, speak up – we want to hear you, and we won’t bite.

Course Requirements

1) A close reading of the assigned books and readings by the dates noted and good note-taking.

It is essential that you keep up with the reading assignments. Lectures and class discussions will be much more useful if you come to class having already read and thoughtfully reflected upon that week’s reading assignments.

Good note-taking is essential as well. My lectures often deal with topics not mentioned in the readings, yet I expect that you will be familiar with them at test time. I offer guideposts as to what is really important in my lectures. I will give you an outline for each lecture and you should refer to your study guides on Canvas for lists of questions and topics that will be considered.

2) Reaction Papers (150 points)

I have assigned two supplementary books besides your textbook: The first is Linda Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition

The second is Andrew Hartman, A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars

Gordon’s book, The Second Coming of the KKK, raises significant questions about American culture, racism, and politics in the 1920s and this history’s lessons for us today. We will discuss it in Week 7 – September 22nd. You will write a 800-1000-word reaction paper responding to a question that I pose about the book, and hand it in on that day. Andrew Hartman’s book, A War for the Soul of America also deals with American politics and culture, but in the 1990s. We will discuss it near the end of class, and you will write a 800-1000-word reaction paper on this book as well, due Friday, November 17th. More details on the prompts for these books will be posted on Canvas as we get closer to the due dates. Each of these reaction papers will be worth 75 points, for a total possible of 150 points. There will also be questions on both books on the quizzes and exams.

In order to keep us on track in the class and make sure everyone is getting the basics down, I will have several quizzes on Canvas throughout the term – about every two or three weeks, except when an exam is scheduled. I plan to have five of these quizzes. They will be worth 30 points each for a total of 150 points. Depending on how well folks seem to be keeping up, I may increase the number of quizzes and adjust the points available accordingly.

5) Two Exams (250 pts)

1) a mid-term exam on Canvas covering the first nine weeks. 100 pts.

2) a final exam covering everything in the class. In person on December 8th 150 pts.

Format for Papers – VERY IMPORTANT – please follow these directions to avoid me returning it to you for revision.

The body of your papers must be double-spaced, 12-point, with 1-inch margins, and preferably in Times New Roman, Palatino Linotype, or Garamond font. Type your name in the upper right-hand corner and put a short title at the top of the first page. Do not give me a title page.

I make little distinction between the ideas you have and your ability to express them clearly. Written assignments must be thoroughly proof-read and spell-checked. Ideally, your papers should have no spelling errors or grammatical mistakes. If you have spelling mistakes which could have been caught by spell-check, or if your paper has too many other errors, I will not grade it and you will receive a zero at first (see re-write policy). If your writing skills are not very good, you should seek help immediately at the writing lab, or better yet, come and talk with me. I’ve written more than 100 papers and I have read thousands and thousands of them. I’m happy to work with you. I really am.

Note: I have a “reader” for this course. That is, since we have a big class, the school has allowed me to hire a reader to look at your papers and suggest an initial sorting of them. Please know that my reader does not grade the papers. I read every single word and write all the comments and issue every grade. If you feel that your grade is a mistake, I am the one to see.

Make-ups and Re-writes

Make-up exams will be given only in cases of emergencies and will always be in essay format. I will accept late papers up to one week after the due date. They will be docked one letter grade. After one week late, I will not accept them. All papers except plagiarized work may be revised once for a higher grade. If you choose to revise, you must submit the original along with the revision within a week of getting your initial grade.

Grades

All testing of students, whether through essay exams, papers, or multiple-choice tests is inherently subjective; grading requires me to make some judgment about the value of your work. That is not to say that grades are arbitrary; rather, they are based on your ability to demonstrate to me a level of understanding and critical engagement with the material. I have very rarely had complaints about grades and students have typically found my judgments fair. You will never compete against each other in this class and there will be no curving of grades. If you all do mediocre work, you will all receive C’s. If you all do excellent work, you will all get A’s.

Grades, even for written work aren’t usually difficult to assign. If you don’t do the work, or do it very poorly, you will fail. If you do the work, but it is done sloppily and without care or thought (this is not hard for me to discern), you will receive a D. If you do the work, but it is mediocre, you will receive a C. If you do all the work well, exhibiting original thought, and presenting it in a convincing manner, you will have earned a B. Finally, if you do the work exceptionally well, demonstrating a thorough command of and critical engagement with the material, and presenting your ideas in consistently well-written and convincing arguments, you will have earned an A.

There are 550 total possible points in this class. The breakdown is as follows: A = 495-550, B= 440-494, C = 385-439, D = 330-384, F = 0-329

Academic Honesty

Cheating and plagiarism are contrary to the mission of the college and are never tolerated. There should be no confusion as to what cheating is. You must present your own work. Do not copy your fellow students or any other source. If you present even a few words of someone else as your own or merely change a few words of someone else’s work, you will get a 0 on that assignment or exam and I will report you to the VP and urge that you be kicked out of Fresno City College. I take this very seriously. If you have any questions, see me before you turn your paper in.

Disabilities

Fresno City College is committed to creating accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. To obtain academic adjustments or auxiliary aids, students must be registered with the DSP&S office on campus. DSP&S can be reached at (559) 442-8237 and is located in Building 1. If you are already registered with the DSP&S office, please provide your Notice of Accommodation form as soon as possible.

Course Schedule:

Part I: Building a New Nation – The New Corporate Order, Radicalism, Reform, and War, 1865-1919

American Yawp, Chapters 15-21

Introduction – How did we get here?

Incorporating the Country – Building a Corporate Order

Week 1, August 11 – Reading – Canvas & American Yawp, Chapter 15 and Chapter 17

Introduction to the Course

Rebuilding the Nation – Reconstruction and Its Legacies

The Conquest of the West

Week 2, August 18 – Reading – Canvas & American Yawp, Chapters 16 & 18

Building a Corporate Order

The “Gilded Age” of Big Business

Immigration and the New Urban World

Week 3, August 25 – Reading – Canvas & American Yawp, Chapters 16 & 18

The Other Civil War – 19th Century Working Class Protest and Culture

“What’s the Matter with Kansas?” – Rural Protest

***Quiz #1 on Canvas***

War, Reform, and Building the Modern State

Week 4, September 1 – Reading – Check Canvas & American Yawp, Chapters 19 & 20, and start reading Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK

American Empire – Cuba and the Philippines

The Progressive Era and Progressive Politics

Whose Reform? The Legacy of Radicalism and Reform

Week 5, September 8 – Reading – Canvas and American Yawp, Chapter 21, and continue reading Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK

WWI: Entering the 20th Century through Catastrophe

WWI: Neutrality to War and Shaping the Peace

The War at Home

Part II: The Short 20th Century and its (Enormous) Discontents

American Yawp Chapters 21 - 24

The Politics of Reaction and Prosperity

Week 6, September 15 – Reading – Canvas and American Yawp, Chapters 21 & 22, and finish reading Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK

1919 – The Politics of Peace and Reaction

Cultural Conflict in the 1920s

Mass Production and Consumer Culture – The Promise and Betrayal of Consumerism

***Quiz #2 on Canvas***

The Crisis Years – The Great Depression, the New Deal, and War

Week 7, September 22 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapter 23

The Crash, the Great Depression, Hoover, and the Search for a Way Out

FDR and Struggles for Control: The New Deal and Social Movements

The End of the New Deal

****Reaction paper to Linda Gordon’s The Second Coming of the KKK is due on Friday, September 22nd****

Week 8, September 29 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapter 24

Neutrality, Fascism, and World War II

The War at Home and Abroad

***Quiz #3 on Canvas***

Part III – The Post-War Era – World Conflicts and Local Challenges in the “American Century”

American Yawp Chapters 25-28

A Tense “Peace” – The Cold War Era

Week 9, October 6 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapter 25

The Politics of War and Visions of the Future

The Cold War: “Containment” at Home and Abroad

****October 6 – Mid-Term Exam – A cumulative exam on everything in the class through Week 9****

*** No drops after October 6 ***

Week 10, October 13 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapters 25, 26, & 27

McCarthy and the Korean War

1950s Prosperity and its Discontents

The Civil Rights Movement

Challenging the Post-War Order

Week 11, October 20 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapters 25, 26, & 27

Vietnam and the Social Movements of the 1960s

***Quiz #4 on Canvas***

Week 12, October 27 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapters 26, 27, & 28, and start reading Hartman, A War for the Soul of America

The War on Poverty and the Backlash

Nixon, Watergate, and the “Crisis of Democracy”

Part IV: Economic Crises, Globalization, and The Right Turn (?)

American Yawp Chapters 28-30

The Rise of Conservatism

Week 13, November 3 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapter 28 & 29, and continue reading Hartman, A War for the Soul of America

Conservatism and The Reagan “Revolution”

The End of the Cold War

***Quiz #5 on Canvas***

Week 14, November 10 – finish reading Hartman, A War for the Soul of America

**** No class on Friday November 10 – Veteran’s Day ****

But if you can make it, come and see me in my office at any time M-TH this week!

Week 15, November 17 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapter 29

Bush I, the First Gulf War, and the “New World Order”?

The Culture War?

***** Reaction paper on Hartman’s A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars is due on November 17th *****

Week 16, November 24

**No class on Thursday & Friday, November 23 & 24, Thanksgiving**

But if you can make it, come and see me in my office at any time M-W this week!

Post-Cold War America – Leaving the 20th Century

Week 17, December 1 – Reading – Check Canvas and American Yawp, Chapter 30

Bush II, 9/11, and the War in the Middle East

The Economic Collapse of 2007-08

Final Words – Obama, Trump, and US History

Week 18 – Final Exam Week – Cumulative Final Exam – Friday, December 8th at 9 am.

Student Learning Outcomes

“Student learning outcomes” are statements about what the discipline faculty hope you will be able to do at the end of the course. This is NOT a guarantee. It is up to you whether or not you will be able to do these things.

Disclaimer: Other authorities require that I print “student learning outcomes” in my syllabi. My participation in the writing and “measurement” of these SLOs has been forced by threats of FCC probation and/or loss of accreditation. Other than informing students of some very basic, glaringly obvious, expectations in this class, I have not found that SLOs achieve anything of value. In the way that they have been implemented, especially in their supposed “measurement,” they are, in my judgment, irrelevant to learning and carry the potential to cause serious harm to the project of a good historical education.

The official student learning outcomes are as follows:

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to . . .

1. Analyze primary and secondary sources in the history of the United States since 1877 in terms of their validity and significance.

2. Demonstrate a familiarity with the main figures, events, trends, and concepts in the history of the United States since 1877 and gauge their relative significance.

3. Assess the significance of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in shaping various aspects of the history of the United States since 1877.

4. Assess the significance of factors such as industrialization, imperialism, political ideologies, urbanization, and technological change in shaping various aspects of the History of the United States since 1877