History 117B: U.S. History since 1865

INTRODUCTION

This course will emphasize the growth of the United States within the context of world events. Since the Civil War, U.S. history has been dominated by four issues:

  1. Growth. The United States has experienced explosive growth since the Civil War, in several dimensions: population, the economy, occupation and use of its land area, and world hegemony. Growth always implies change, and change always "stirs the pot," in terms of social structure and political power.
  2. The role of the U.S. in world events. Despite the United States's size, geographical isolation, and relatively recent entry on the world scene, it has never been possible to consider domestic events without also considering both how they are influenced by outside forces and ideas, and in turn influence other countries.
  3. Attempts to deal with diversity. How has the U.S. attempted to include or exclude religious minorities, women, blacks, Native Americans, immigrants, homosexuals, or other groups from full participation in society? Have these attempts been successful? Why or why not?
  4. The changing relationships between individuals and government. The United States began as a novelty, with an experimental form of government which tried to balance the will of the majority with the rights of the minority. It is not one government but a hierarchy of national, state, and local governments. How this arrangement has worked in the past, and how the relationships among its parts have changed over time, will be a constant theme in this course.

This document explains the basic requirements for this course and the procedures for meeting these requirements.

MATERIALS

The following materials are necessary for this course:

  1. 1. Divine, Robert A., T.H. Breen, George M. Frederickson, R. Hal Williams, Ariela J. Gross, and H.W. Brands. America Past and Present, Vol. II (since 1865), 8th Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, Inc., 2007. ISBN 0-321-44661-5. The publisher refers to this edition as the "books à la carte" version. It is packaged in loose-leaf format (so you will also need a 3-ring binder), and includes access to the publisher's "MyHistoryLab" web site.
  2. Frakes, Robert. Writing for College History. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
  3. Access to the World Wide Web, either from your own computer or from one of the computers in the labs on campus.
  4. A notebook for taking notes in class.
  5. Bluebooks and a pen with dark blue or black ink for the midterm and final examinations.

You can purchase all of the supplies at the campus bookstore.

REQUIREMENTS

To earn three semester units of transferable college credit for this course, you must complete the following requirements with a cumulative average of "C" or better:

  1. You must be enrolled in the appropriate section of History 117B.
  2. You must attend classes. Quizzes (see below) are given during class time; in addition, examinations will cover lecture material as well as readings. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class meeting, so if you must arrive late, be sure to see me after class.
  3. You must pass one essay midterm and an essay final examination, both of which must be written in bluebooks, in ink. If you cannot take the exams at the regularly-scheduled times, you must present an excuse signed by a physician, counselor, performing arts instructor, or sports team coach. Failure to take the final exam will result in an automatic "F" regardless of your average grade prior to the final.
  4. You must write one four- to six-page paper based on primary sources. Instructions for this assignment will be distributed during the semester.
  5. You must complete an oral history project. Full instructions for this will be distributed approximately four weeks into the semester. Briefly, this project will require you to interview someone who has lived through a major, "defining" event in modern American history. You will then transcribe the interview and compare it with those you will read in one of the books listed above. The person you select can be a family member or acquaintance, a neighbor, a resident of a retirement home, or anyone else who has a good memory and is willing to discuss his or her experiences with you.

The class also includes three brief quizzes dealing with the lecture and reading materials. These quizzes will require you to write a paragraph or two which identifies a person, place, or thing, and explains its historical significance. The quizzes may be written on ordinary notebook paper, using pen or pencil. No make-up quizzes will be given, but the lowest of the three quiz grades will be dropped.

There is no prerequisite for this class, but ..., as you can see from the descriptions above, the class involves considerable reading and writing. I expect you to be able to write grammatically-correct English sentences, to be able to compose cohesive paragraphs, to understand the concepts of an essay and a thesis, and to be able to write an effective essay. If your English skills are weak, you may wish to consider enrolling in an introductory English class (such as Engl 101A) either concurrently or before you take this class.

GRADING

The requirements discussed above will be assigned the following weights when computing your course grade:

Quizzes10% (5% each)
Research paper   15%
Oral history project20%
Midterm20%
Final35%

The midterm and final will be evaluated for your ability to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships in analyzing the facts of U.S. history. They will not be primarily a drill on names and dates; however, you must know the facts before you can analyze them. Therefore, minor slips in dates will probably result in no more than a correction, with no deduction in your grade. (Major errors of fact, however, will result in a decrease in your grade.) More important, though, is your ability to demonstrate that you understand the relationships among events.

There is no grading curve for this class. If you do the work well and demonstrate that you understand the material presented, you will receive an A. If you fail to do all of the work assigned, or demonstrate inadequate understanding of the material, you will receive a lower grade.

Extra credit: If you like, you may do an oral presentation as extra credit. You will prepare a lecture and teach about 20 minutes of one class, focusing on the topic of your choice. If you are interested in doing this, please see me as soon as you have identified a potential topic. You must present your lecture at the time appropriate to its chronological position in the lecture sequence.

CHEATING and PLAGIARISM

It would seem to go without saying that cheating is not allowed. The penalty for cheating on an assignment or a test is an automatic F for that assignment. The instructor may also give the student an F in the class, and may, in extreme cases, refer the student to the Vice President of Student Services for administrative sanctions (such as suspension or expulsion).

Here are some examples of cheating:

  1. Copying from another person's test, or obtaining answers from another person during a test;
  2. Submitting work previously presented in another course, unless the instructors of both courses explicitly allow this;
  3. Consulting unauthorized materials during an examination;
  4. Taking an examination for someone else, or having someone else take an examination for you.

Plagiarism is the act of representing someone else's work as your own. Avoiding plagiarism does not require you to avoid using other people's work; it does require you to give proper credit to the source of the material. In scholarly papers, such credit is typically given in footnotes. Copying material, either verbatim or in substance, from published sources without giving the original author appropriate credit is plagiarism. Please be aware that copying from Web sites without giving credit is plagiarism, just as much as copying from a book or from another student's paper, and I will find out.

You can, and should, read the College Academic Dishonesty Policy, or you can obtain a copy from your Division Dean's office or the Office of Student Services.

MISCELLANEOUS INSIGHTS

This is essentially a lecture class, but pertinent questions are always welcome. Some class time will be devoted to discussion of the readings in your textbook. I strongly encourage you to keep up with the reading schedule as the semester proceeds. You will need to have read the assigned materials to participate in class discussions and to take quizzes; additionally, postponing the readings to the night before a test makes it virtually impossible to put the ideas and events mentioned in the text into their proper historical context—this is largely the purpose of the lectures. While this course will not emphasize memorization of names and dates, some memorization is unavoidable, and it is easier to memorize one thing per day than fifty things in one night.

Learning takes place most effectively in an atmosphere of courtesy and mutual respect. This does not mean blindly accepting everything I say; it does mean treating my opinions, and those of your fellow students, with respect. While it is a reasonable presumption that I know more about American history in general than you do, it is virtually certain that one or more of you will know more about a particular aspect of it than I will. When this is the case, please do not be shy about sharing your insights with the rest of the class. (This includes correcting my errors!)

Courtesy also takes more mundane, but no less important, forms, to wit:

  1. Please do not bring food or beverages into the classroom, or chew gum during class.
  2. I will make every attempt to start class on time. When class starts, please give me your attention. If extenuating circumstances force you to arrive after class has started, please take your seat with a minimum of disruption.
  3. I expect you to demonstrate a commitment to education that lasts at least as long as the class period. Falling asleep during class, engaging in activities not related to this class, or engaging in any disruptive behavior will, when noticed, solicit a request that you leave the classroom, and you will be counted absent for that day.
  4. If you have a cellular telephone, pager, or beeping watch, please TURN IT OFF before you come to class. If you cannot afford to be out of telephone contact for the duration of the class, you cannot afford to take this class.
  5. If you must leave class early, please let me know this at the beginning of class (obvious emergencies excepted).

OFFICE HOURS

I will hold office hours from 11:30 to 12:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Room NC2221. If you cannot meet with me at those times, please see me immediately before or after class to make an alternative appointment. I can also be reached by e-mail at shanna@ohlone.edu, but please allow at least 24 hours for me to read and respond to your e-mail.