NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY The City University of New York School of Arts & Sciences Department of Social Science Course Outline

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1 NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY The City University of New York School of Arts & Sciences Department of Social Science Course Outline Course code: HIS 1111 Course title: US History Since 1865 Class hours/credits: 3 class hours, 3 credits Prerequisite: CUNY Proficiency in Reading and Writing Pathways: US Experience in its Diversity Catalog Description: A survey of U.S. history from Reconstruction to the present. Topics include Reconstruction, industrialization, urbanization and immigration, American expansion abroad, the world wars and the rise of the United States as a global power, the New Deal and the growth of the federal government, the Cold War and Civil Rights movement, and post-cold war America. Course Specific Learning Outcomes and Assessment Methods Learning outcomes Students will be able to identify significant events that contributed to the development of the United States from Reconstruction through modern times.. Students will be able to discuss competing interpretations of major historical events in American history from the Civil War to the present. Students will be able to discuss sources of historical change, and explain cause and effect relationships as they pertain to historical transformations. Students will be able to use vocabulary common to history and to be able to explain the historical developments from Reconstruction through modern times. Assessment Methods* Class discussions, Exams And Essays Class discussions, Essays and Exams Final exams, essays and class discussions Class discussions, Essay and exams General Education Learning Objectives and Assessment Methods LEARNING OBJECTIVES: For the successful completion of this course, students should be able to: KNOWLEDGE: Engage in historical inquiry, research, and analysis. ASSESSMENT METHOD: Instructional Activity, Evaluation Methods and Criteria.* Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate a variety of historical sources for their credibility, position, and perspective, as well as contextualize materials from the past with appropriate precision and detail. Students will demonstrate this competency complete written exams, quizzes, assignments, in-class discussion and presentations.

2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES: For the successful completion of this course, students should be able to: Skills: Understand the complex nature of the historical record and generate significant, open-ended questions about the past and devise research strategies to answer them. Integration: Craft historical narrative and argument. Values, Ethics, and Relationships: Practice historical thinking as central to engaged citizenship. ASSESSMENT METHOD: Instructional Activity, Evaluation Methods and Criteria.* Students will demonstrate the ability to 1) Distinguish between primary and secondary source materials and decide when to use each, 2) Choose among multiple tools, methods, and perspectives to investigate and interpret materials from the past, and 3) Recognize the value of conflicting narratives and evidence, 4) Generate significant, open-ended questions about the past and devise research strategies to answer them, 5) Seek a variety of sources that provide evidence to support an argument about the past, 6) Develop a methodological practice of gathering, sifting, analyzing, ordering, synthesizing, and interpreting evidence, and 7) Identify and summarize other scholars historical arguments. Students will demonstrate this competency complete written exams, quizzes, assignments, in-class discussion and presentations. Students will demonstrate the ability to 1) Generate a historical argument that is reasoned and based on historical evidence selected, arranged, and analyzed, 2) Write effective narrative that describes and analyzes the past for its use in the present, 3) Understand that the ethics and practice of history mean recognizing and building on other scholars work, peer review, and citation, and 4) Defend a position publicly and revise this position when new evidence requires it. Students will demonstrate this competency complete written exams, quizzes, assignments, in-class discussion and presentations. Students will demonstrate the ability to 1) Engage a diversity of viewpoints in a civil and constructive fashion, 2) Work cooperatively with others to develop positions that reflect deliberation and differing perspectives, and 3) Apply historical knowledge and analysis to contribute to contemporary social dialogue. Students will be assessed through written exams, quizzes, assignments, in-class discussion and group presentations. * may vary slightly per instructor Suggested Texts 1 : George Brown Tindall and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History, Vol. Two (Vol I., Brief 8th edition, W.W. Norton). Elizabeth Cobbs-Hoffman, Edward J. Blum, and Jon Gjerde. Major Problems in American History (Volume II, 8th edition, Wadsworth, 2009). 1 Instructor Choice Scope of Assignments*: Three quizzes worth a total of 5% each: Quizzes will be comprised of multiple choice and true/false questions. Five low-stakes writing assignments (each worth 1% each) in which students will write a 1-page response to an argument made in an essay from the Major Problems reader. A 5-10 page paper which will count for 20% of the course grade. Exams will count for 60% of the course grade. *Suggested allocation; instructors may modify these at their discretion. Attendance and Lateness A student may be absent without penalty for 10% of the number of scheduled class meetings during the semester as follows: Class Meets: Allowable Absence: 1 time/week 2 classes 2

3 2 times/week 3 classes 3 times/week 4 classes Absences and tardiness can severely hurt your chances of doing well, or even passing, this course. Please avoid being absent or late. Please be aware that according to college policy, any student with more than three absences may receive a grade of WU for the course. Excessive Absence If a student s class absences exceed the limit established for a given course or component, the instructor will alert the student that a grade of WU may be assigned. If a student remains officially registered for a course and never attends that course, a final grade of *WN will be assigned. If the student withdraws officially from the course, he/she will be assigned a grade in accordance with the existing withdrawal policy of the College. Appeals A student wishing to appeal the excessive absence status and the impending grade should request a meeting with the chairperson of the department in which the course is offered. The chairperson will consult with the instructor to render a decision. A student wishing to appeal a WU grade may do so through the Committee on Course and Standards. Lateness It is the responsibility of the instructor to keep a record of lateness and to inform each class orally and in writing of the lateness policy during the first two weeks of class meetings of each semester. Grading All grades will be calculated according to the college grade scale: Letter Grade Meaning of Letter Grade Number Grade A Exceptional A- Superior B+ Very good B Good B- Above Average C+ Slightly Above Average C Average D Poor F Failure Academic Integrity Statement: Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. Suggested Course Schedule* Week One: Reconstruction (Textbook: Chapter 18) (Major Problems: President Andrew Johnson Denounces Changes in His Program of Reconstruction (1867), Congressman Thaddeus Stevens Demands a Radical Reconstruction (1867)) Students will review the Civil War and its terminology in order to grasp the political conflicts of the Reconstruction era. Students will be able to identify the key events of the Reconstruction era, the difficulties faced

4 by Republicans attempting to rebuild the south, and assess the achievements and failures of Reconstruction, especially from the standpoint of newly freed slaves. Week Two: Industrialization (Textbook: Chapter 20) (Major Problems: Unionist Samuel Gompers Asks, "What Does the Working Man Want?" (1890), Engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor Manufactures the Ideal Worker (1910)) Students will understand how, why and with what consequences a second industrial revolution occurred in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. They will comprehend the vast changes that affected the economy and society, especially workers and the labor movement. They will also understand the largely unregulated nature of capitalism and the factors that led to corporate consideration and monopoly. Week Three: Urbanization and Immigration (Textbook: Chapter 21) (Major Problems: Chinese Immigrant Lee Chew Denounces Prejudice in America (1882), Immigrant Thomas O'Donnell Laments the Worker's Plight (1883); Mark Wyman, Coming and Going: Round Trip to America; Victor Greene, Permanently Lost: The Trauma of Immigration) Students will study how industrialization brought accelerated urbanization and immigration. They will be able to identify the ways in which cities grew and changed, and the problems they faced as cities became crowded, political machines grew powerful and immigrants poured into the US in unprecedented numbers. Students will also grasp the unique nature of this wave of immigration, and how it changed the composition of American society. Quiz #1 Week Four: US Expansion (Textbook: Chapter 23) (Major Problems: President William McKinley Asks for War to Liberate Cuba (1898); Governor Theodore Roosevelt Praises the Manly Virtues of Imperialism (1899); Filipino Leader Emilio Aguinaldo Rallies His People to Arms (1899); The American Anti-Imperialist League Denounces U.S. Policy (1899); The Roosevelt Corollary Makes the United States the Police of Latin America (1904)) Students will identify the causes and consequences of US empire building at the turn of the century. They will study the events that led to the annexation of Hawaii, the Spanish-American War, the acquisition of the Panama Canal, and the Roosevelt corollary as an extension of the Monroe Doctrine. They will understand the differences between European style colonization and the informal empire that the US built, and the public debate about American imperialism. Week Five: The New South (Textbook: Chapter 19) (Handouts: Excerpts of the Majority and Dissenting Opinions of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)) Students will revisit the southern states at the turn of the century and be able to identify the ways in which the Reconstruction era constitutional amendments the 14th and 15th amendments were violated by the rise of Jim Crow laws and various methods of Black disenfranchisement. They will also understand the significance of the the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case for the future, and understand the various positions taken by influential African-American leaders on questions of civil rights and strategies for black advancement. Exam #1 Week Six: The Progressive Era (Textbook: Chapter 24) (Major Problems: W. C. T. U. Blasts Drinking and Smoking, and Demands Power to Protect (1883); Journalist Lincoln Steffens Exposes the Shame of Corruption (1904); Social Worker Jane Addams Advocates Civic Housekeeping (1906)) Students will examine the aims of the Progressives and the various causes they championed, from minimum wage laws and consumer protection to conservation and slum clearing. In particular, they will be able to identify the Progressive era reforms that still impact the US today, such as the establishment of the Primary election, the FDA, the Federal Reserve and the FTC. They will understand the limitations as well as the achievements of the Progressives, and the penchant for social control that led to failed experiments such as Prohibition. Week Seven: World War I (Textbook: Chapter 25) (Major Problems: President Woodrow Wilson Asks Congress to Declare War (1917); Senator Robert M. La Follette Passionately Dissents (1917); The U.S. Government Punishes War Protesters: The Espionage Act (1918); Wilson Proposes a New World Order in the "Fourteen Points," (1918); A Negro Leader Explains Why Colored Men Fought for America (1919)) 4

5 Students will examine the basic causes of World War I but will mostly focus on the role that the US played in the war and the political consequences of US involvement such as limitations on free speech. Of special importance should be Wilson s Fourteen Points and the failure of the US to accept the Versailles treaty and the League of Nations. Students must also grasp the meaning of isolationism and the reasons why some Americans opposed US entry into the war. Quiz #2 Week Eight: The Roaring Twenties (Textbook: Chapters 26 & 27) (Major Problems: Defense Attorney Clarence Darrow Interrogates Prosecutor William Jennings Bryan in the Monkey Trial (1925); The Ku Klux Klan Defines Americanism (1926); Margaret Sanger Seeks Pity for Teenage Mothers and Abstinent Couples (1928); The Automobile Comes to Middletown, U.S.A. (1929); Langston Hughes: Poet of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance; Young Women Discuss Petting (1930)) Students will identify the key technological and cultural transformations that characterize the 1920s, from the rise of the automobile and the radio to new morals about sex and new roles for women. They will also grasp the way in which prosperity led to increased consumerism and a focus on leisure, entertainment and recreation. Finally they will examine the economy and how the uneven prosperity of the time and the stock market crash contributed to the Great Depression. Week Nine: The Great Depression and the New Deal (Textbook: Chapter 28) (Major Problems: President Herbert Hoover Applauds Limited Government (1931); President Franklin Roosevelt Says Government Must Act (1933); Father Charles Coughlin Denounces FDR and Proposes a Third Party (1936); Social Security Advisers Consider Male and Female Pensioners (1938); John Steinbeck Portrays the Outcast Poor in The Grapes of Wrath (1939)) Students will understand the impact of the Depression from urban areas to the Dustbowl and how Roosevelt s New Deal sought to confront the economic crisis through recovery, relief and reform efforts. They will be able to identify the various ways in which the federal government grew in the 1930s, the problems of the NRA and the AAA, and they will study in particular the programs and agencies that are still relevant today including Social Security, the SEC, and the FDIC. Exam #2 Week Ten: World War II (Textbook: Chapter 30) (Major Problems: American Missionaries Speak Out about the Rape of Nanjing (1937); Nurses Rush to Aid the Wounded on the U.S. Naval Base in Hawaii (1941); British Prime Minister Winston Churchill Reacts to Pearl Harbor (1941); Roosevelt Identifies the "Four Freedoms" at Stake (1941); General Dwight Eisenhower Testifies to the German Concentration Camps (1945)) Students will understand the events surrounding the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the US entry and involvement in World War II. They will be able to identify the major domestic consequences of the war, including therise in female employment, a growing civil rights movement and the internment of Japanese-Americans. They will also have a firm grasp on the decision-making process that led to the atomic bombing of Japan and the emergence of the US as a superpower. Week Eleven: The Cold War at Home and Abroad (Textbook: Chapter 31) (Major Problems: Diplomat George F. Kennan Advocates Containment (1946); Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace Questions the "Get Tough" Policy, (1946); The Truman Doctrine Calls for the United States to Become the World's Police (1947); Senator Joseph McCarthy Describes the Internal Communist Menace (1950); President Eisenhower Warns of the Military- Industrial Complex (1961)) Students will study the factors that led to the rise of a cold war and the role that the US and the USSR each played in its rise. They will examine the Marshall Plan, NATO and the Truman doctrine which defined US foreign policy for the next half century. They will also grasp the meaning of containment and its first test in Korea. Students will also study the domestic cold war and manifestations of the fear of Communism at home that led to the rise of McCarthyism. Week Twelve: American Culture in the Fifties (Textbook: Chapters 32 & 33) (Major Problems: Governor Adlai Stevenson Tells College Women About Their Place in Life (1955); Good Housekeeping: Every Executive Needs a Perfect Wife, (1956); Life Magazine Identifies the New Teen-age Market (1959); Newspaper Survey: Are You a

6 Conformist or a Rebel? (1959); Michael Harrington Unveils "The Other America" Outside Suburbia (1961); Feminist Betty Friedan Explores the Problem That Has No Name (1959)) Students will study the postwar economic boom and its implications including the baby boom, increased consumerism, suburbanization, television and a growing consensus that endorsed the nuclear family, sexual containment and rigid gender roles. They will contrast this conservatism with growing impulses that cracked the consensus and prefigured the rebellions of the sixties: youth culture, rock-n-roll, female restlessness, modernism in art, the Beatniks. Quiz #3 Week Thirteen: The Civil Rights Movement (Textbook: Chapter 34) (Major Problems: The United Nations Approves a Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); The Supreme Court Rules on Brown v. Board of Education (1954); Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Defends Seamstress Rosa Parks (1955); The National Organization for Women Calls for Equality (1966); Mexican Americans Form La Raza Unida (1968)) Students will grasp the wartime origins of the civil rights mass movement and the nature of racial discrimination in the south and elsewhere in the 1950s. They will know the significance of the NAACP, the Brown v. Board of Education case, Martin Luther King, and a growing black middle class, all of which contributed to the rise of a mass movement. Students will study examples of racial conflicts such as the desegregation of public schools in the south. Week Fourteen: JFK, LBJ, and the Vietnam War (Textbook: Chapters 34 & 35) (Major Problems: French Leader Charles DeGaulle Warns the United States (1945); Independence Leader Ho Chi Minh Pleads with Harry Truman for Support (1946); President Dwight Eisenhower Warns of Falling Dominoes (1954); White House Counsel John W. Dean III Presents the "Enemies List" (1971); Senator Sam J. Ervin Explains the Watergate Crimes (1974)) Students will grasp the wartime origins of the civil rights mass movement. Students will study how two Democratic presidents attempted to deal with growing domestic problems from civil rights to poverty as well as foreign policy crises. They will grasp the imperatives of the communist containment policy that led to disastrous open and covert interventions in Cuba, Vietnam and elsewhere in the world. The students will also understand the reasons why radical rebellions emerged (anti-war, student, black, New Left, countercultural, feminist, gay) and how they shattered the fifties consensus. Students will study the Nixon presidency and its downfall through the Watergate scandal. Week Fifteen: Contemporary America (Textbook: Chapters 36 & 37) (Major Problems: Reverend Jerry Falwell Calls America Back to the Bible (1980); President Ronald Reagan Sees a Revitalized America (1985); President George H. W. Bush Declares the Cold War Over (1990); Two Workers Flee the Inferno in the Twin Towers (2001); Senator Robert Byrd Condemns Post-9/11 Foreign Policy (2003); President George W. Bush Ranks Freedom Above Stability, (2005); ACLU Warns Against the "Patriot Act" (2001); The Great Recession Has Men Grinding Their Teeth, 2010) Students will examine the political and social history of the United States since the Vietnam War. Students will examine the end of the Cold War and the rise of international terrorism as a global problem in the post-cold War world. Final Exam *guidelines from which instructors may select or adapt Reviewed/revised by: Stephanie Boyle, Ph.D., Spring