Course Schedule
MAJOR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR THE ENTIRE SEMESTER
- How have American conceptions of freedom evolved since 1865?
- How have Americans sought to advance their enjoyment of freedom since 1865?
- Too what degree would Americans in 1865 recognize the America that we live in today?
- What major problems has America failed to resolve since 1865?
- What major problems has America solved since 1865?
- What is the central theme in American history since 1865?
- How has America's relationship with the world evolved since 1865?
- What does it mean to be an American?
MAJOR TERMS/QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL CLASS MEETINGS
Monday, August 20--Course Introductions; We will watch selections from the film Birth of a Nation during class.
Wednesday, August 22--Emancipation: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Key Terms:
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Who freed the slaves?
- William Walker
- Why did the North win the Civil War?
- What did slaves expect following emancipation?
- How did the North plan to reconstruct the South?
- Why did Reconstruction fail?
- What did Reconstruction achieve?
- Southern Homestead Act
- Henry Grady
- Booker T. Washington
- John Hope
- W.E.B. DuBois
- Henry Macneal Turner
- Frances Harper
- Ku Klux Klan
- John Harlan
- Election of 1877
- Special Field Order 15
- Garrison Frazier
- Freedman's Bureau
- Major General O.O. Howard
- Edisto Island, South Carolina
- Black Codes
- Andrew Johnson
- sharecropping
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- 14th, 15th, and 16th Amendments
- Civil Rights Act of 1875
- Robert Elliott
- Alexander Stephens "Cornerstone Speech"
- Frederick Douglass
- Thibodaux, LA
- Ernest Lyon
- What role did black Southerners play in shaping Reconstruction? Were they victims,agents, or both?
Monday, August 27--Reconstruction Historiography: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Key Terms:
- Dunning School
- Revisionists
- Postrevisionists
- How have historians changed their views on Reconstruction?
- How did labor relations in the South change following emancipation?
- How did freedpeople define their freedom?
- What role did the Federal government play in Reconstruction?
- How did white Southerners resist Reconstruction?
- What is the Prussian Road of economic development? Did the South follow this model?
- What does the DuBois quote on p. 48 mean?
- Redeemers
- Eric Foner
- Why does Foner see Reconstruction as a failure?
- Albion Tourgee
- What is Foner's thesis?
- What is Weiner's thesis?
- Be able to compare and contrast Foner and Weiner's articles.
Wednesday, August 29--The Guilded Age: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Key Term:
- Chief Joseph
- How does Chief Joseph define freedom?
- What are Chief Joseph's main complaints about how Americans have treated his people?
- William Graham Sumner
- Social Darwinism
- How does Sumner explain the existence of poverty and social inequality?
- How does Sumner define liberty?
- Ira Steward
- How does Ira Steward define freedom for American workers?
- Henry George
- What does George see as major threats to American freedom?
- Andrew Carnegie
- Homestead Strike
- Edward Bellamy
- How does Bellamy's look into the future reflect the problems that confronted 19th century Americans?
- white wage slavery
- Mary Ellen Lease
- According to Lease, what debt does the American government owe the American worker?
- What problems does Lease address in her message? Who is to blame for these problems?
- Women's Christian Temperance Union
- Lease states that America is "a government of the people by capitalists." What does she mean?
- Populist Party
- What did Populists believe? How did they perceive freedom?
- Why did the Populist Movement fail to develop into a third party standard in American politics?
- Populists call for "one united brotherhood of freedmen." Why does this vision fail?
- Thomas Watson of Georgia
- Why would African Americans support the Populist movement?
- How did the American economy change following the American Civil War?
- What were the social origins of American billionaires in the years following the Civil War?
- transcontinental railroad
- J.P. Morgan
- Is there any significance to the fact that most "robber barons" hired substitutes to serve in their place during the American Civil War?
- John D. Rockefeller
- How did the robber barons become so wealthy?
- monopoly
- Sherman Anti-Trust Act
- Farmers Alliance
- horizontal integration
- vertical integration
- Describe the Federal government's relationship with the robber barons?
- How did the philanthropy of the robber barons reflect their social views?
- Haymarket Square
- Knights of Labor
- What was the "new capitalism" that was referred to in some of the readings?
- Critics of this period argued that the "new capitalism" resulted in a "new enslavement of labor." What does this mean?
- Foner, Documents 99-104
- Zinn, Voices, pp. 226-232; 234-238,
- Zinn, People's History, Chapter 11
Monday, September 3 (Labor Day)-- No Classes Held
Wednesday, September 5--Guilded Age Historiography: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Key Terms:
- Guilded Age: Efficiency or Class Warfare?Download PDF
Monday, September 10--The Nadir of American Race Relations: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Zinn, Voices,pp. 232-234
- Foner Documents 106 and 107
- New Georgia Encyclopedia, Lynching
- New Georgia Encyclopedia, 1906 Atlanta Race Riot
- Atlanta Compromise
- W.E.B. DuBois Critiques Booker T. Washington
Wednesday, September 12--When did Southern Segregation Begin?: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Key Terms
- C. Vann Woodward
- Howard Rabinowitz
- Questions on pp. 46, 104
Monday, September 17--American Imperialism: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Key Terms
- What factors motivated American expansion at the end of the 19th century?
- A. T. Mahan
- White Mans Burden
- Theodore Roosevelt
- open door
- U.S.S. Maine
- Teller Amendment
- Who opposed American expansion and why?
- Why did so many American soldiers die from disease?
- General Calixto Garcia
- Platt Amendment
- Emilio Aguinaldo
- William James
- Anti Imperialist League
- War in the Philiphines
- Foner, Documents 109-111
- Zinn, People's History,Chapter 12
- Zinn, Voices,Chapter 12
Wednesday, September 19--American Imperialism Historiography: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Imperialism: Economic Expansion or Ideological Crusade? Download PDF
Monday, September 24--Immigration Historiography: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Assimilation or Ethnic Pluralism? Download PDF
- Foner, Voices, Document 112.
Wednesday, September 26--Progressive Era: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Zinn, People's History Chapter 13.
- Foner, Documents 113-119.
- Zinn, Voices, Chapter 13.
Monday, October 1--Progressive Era Historiography: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Elitist or DemocraticDownload PDF
Wednesday, October 3--World War One: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Zinn, People's History,, Chapter 14.
- Zinn, Voices,, Chapter 14.
- Foner, Documents 120, 125, 126.
Monday, October 8--MIDTERM EXAM
Wednesday, October 10--The 1920s: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Zinn, A People's History, Chapter 15.
- Zinn, Voices,Chapter 15.
- Foner, Documents 128-134
Monday, October 15--The Grapes of Wrath: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- We will watch a film during class
Wednesday, October 17--The New Deal: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Foner, Documents 135-142.
Monday, October 22--New Deal Historiography: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Revolution or RestorationDownload PDF
Wednesday, October 24--World War II: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Foner, Documents 143-149.
- Zinn, People's History, Chapter 16.
Monday, October 29--The Atomic Bomb: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Download PDF
Wednesday, October 31--The Cold War: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Zinn, A People's History, Chapters 17-18.
- Foner, Documents 150-157
Monday, November 5--Cold War Historiography: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Containment or Hegemony? Download PDF
Wednesday, November 7--The Civil Rights Movement: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
Monday, November 12--The Civil Rights Movement: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
Wednesday, November 14--The Civil Rights Movement: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
Monday, November 19--THANKSGIVING
Wednesday, November 21--THANKSGIVING
Monday, November 26--Rise of Conservatism in America: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Foner, Documents 174-180
- Zinn, People's History, Chapter 21.
Wednesday, November 28--Globalization: Key Terms/ Discussion Questions
- Assigned Readings
- Foner, Documents 181-185
- Zinn, People's History, Chapter 25.
Monday, December 3--FINAL EXAM