History 5472
The Rise of Modern America: The U.S. 1920-1945
Fall 2004
Professor: Steve Goodson
Place and Time: Pafford 204, MW 3:30-4:45
Office: TLC 3224 Phone: (770) 838-3032 Department Phone: (770) 836-6508 E-mail: hgoodson@westga.edu
Office Hours: MW 12:50-3:20, T-Th 2:00-3:20, or by appointment.
Course Description and Goals: In this course we will explore the social, political, economic, military, and cultural history of the United States from the end of World War I through the end of World War II. This course will expose students to the major trends, events, and personalities of the period, as well as exploring the lives of ordinary people. Assignments will allow students to expand their historiographical knowledge and to sharpen their writing, interpretive, and research skills. Graduate students will be held to higher standards of performance than will undergraduates.
Exams: There will be two midterm exams and a final exam. Exam questions will be drawn from the assigned readings, from class discussions, from lectures, and from any other material (films, music, handouts, etc.) presented in class. The final exam will not be cumulative. Make-up exams will be given only if the student provides a written doctor’s excuse, and it is the student’s responsibility to let me know in advance if he or she will have to miss an exam.
Class Participation: It is important that each student contribute to class discussions, and in order to do so effectively students will need to do the required reading in advance of each class session. In order to encourage students to do the reading, there may be short in-class writing assignments as well as unannounced quizzes. Attendance will be taken daily and a student’s attendance record will play a significant role in determining his or her final grade. Students are expected to arrive in class on time and to remain until class is ended. Inappropriate classroom behavior (talking out of turn, sleeping, etc.) will severely damage a student’s final grade. Please turn off cell phones before entering class!
Paper Assignments: Students will write a 4-5 page paper on each of the books we will read this semester. In addition, each student will write a 15-18 page term paper, which will be due on Dec. 8. Each student will also write brief summaries – in either journal or paper form – of the scholarly essays in Gordon’s Major Problems.
Evaluation: The midterm and final exams will each account for 15 percent of the grade, class participation for 10 percent, the two short papers for a total of 10 percent, the Major Problems summaries for 10 percent, and the final paper for 25 percent.
Reading List (Available at the Campus Bookstore):
William Leuchtenburg, The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932
David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945
Ferrol Sams, Run With the Horsemen
James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers
Colin Gordon, Major Problems in American History, 1920-1945
Tentative Class Schedule – Date and Required Reading:
Aug. 23 – Introduction
Aug. 25 – Perils, Chaps. 4 and 5
Aug. 30 – Perils, Chaps. 6 and 7
Sept. 1 – Perils, Chaps. 8 and 9
Sept. 6 – Labor Day: No Class
Sept. 8 – Perils, Chaps. 10 and 11
Sept. 13 – Perils, Chaps. 12 and 13
Sept. 15 – Freedom: Chap. 1, “The American People on the Eve of the Great Depression”
Sept. 20 – Run With the Horsemen
Sept. 22 – Freedom: Chap. 2, “Panic” – First Set of Major Problems Summaries Due
Sept. 27 – First Exam
Sept. 29 – Freedom: Chap. 4, “Interregnum”
Oct. 4 – Freedom: Chap. 5, “The Hundred Days”
Oct. 6 – Freedom: Chap. 6, “The Ordeal of the American People”
Oct. 11 – Freedom: Chap. 7, “Chasing the Phantom of Recovery”
Oct. 13 – Freedom:, Chap. 8, “The Rumble of Discontent”
Oct. 18 – Freedom: Chap. 9, “A Season for Reform”
Oct. 20 – Freedom: Chap. 10, “Strike!”
Oct. 25 – Freedom: Chap. 11, “The Ordeal of Franklin Roosevelt”
Oct. 27 – Freedom: Chap. 12, “What the New Deal Did” – Second Set of Major Problems Summaries Due
Nov. 1 – Second Exam
Nov. 3 – Freedom: Chap. 13, “The Gathering Storm”
Nov. 8 – Freedom: Chap. 14, “The Agony of Neutrality”
Nov. 10 – Freedom: Chap. 15, “To the Brink”
Nov. 15 – Freedom: Chap. 16, “War in the Pacific”
Nov. 17 – Freedom: Chap. 17, “Unready Ally, Uneasy Alliance”
Nov. 22 – Flags of Our Fathers
Nov. 23-28 – Thanksgiving Break
Nov. 29 – Freedom: Chap. 19, “The Struggle for a Second Front”
Dec. 1 – Freedom: Chap. 20, “The Battle for Northwest Europe”
Dec. 6 – Freedom: Chap. 21, “The Cauldron of the Home Front”
Dec. 8 – Freedom: Chap. 22, “Endgame,” and Epilogue – Final Set of Major Problems Summaries Due
Dec. 10 – No Class – Final Papers Due
Dec. 13 – Final Exam (2:00-4:00)