HIST 399 Outline 2008/09 Fall

COURSE NUMBER:

HIST 399

COURSE TITLE:

Special Topics in History - 2008/09 Fall - History of the United States since the Civil War, 1865-present

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr Will Van Arragon

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3(hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

A course on a topic of figure of special interest to a member of the history faculty and offered on a non-recurring basis.

Prerequisites: HIST 202 or 203

2008/09 Fall
This course will survey the history of the United States from the end of the Civil War until the present day. It will examine the following themes and periods: Reconstruction; race relations and the rise of the Civil Rights movement; America’s movement from isolationism to imperialism and sole world superpower; immigration; religious and political culture. By implication we also will consider the economic, military, cultural and religious dimensions of the global assertion of American power over the past century. The objective of this course is for students to acquire a basic familiarity with American history, a goal made pertinent by America’s role as world superpower and its place as Canada’s crucial neighbour. A Christian perspective will be brought to bear on the subject in two ways. First, the course will consider at length the religious composition of the United States, a nation which is deemed by some to be a “Christian nation.” In other words, the role of Christianity in American culture, politics, economic thought, and imperialism will be examined closely. Second, students will be asked to act as Christian social critics, to analyze and judge America’s actions and place in the world.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History. Volume 2. (Norton, 2005)
Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right (Princeton, 2001)
Samantha Power, “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide (HarperCollins, 2002)

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:

Short response essays (8) (500-700 words)	40%
Book Review 1 (1750-2000 words)	30%
Book Review 2 (1750-2000 words)	30%

	100%

COURSE OUTLINE:

Introductions
The Story So Far: America before 1865
1860s-1870s: Reconstruction
*Discussion: Blight, “Frederick Douglass and the Civil War”
1870s-1900: The Gilded Age
*Discussion: Gerstle, “Roosevelt and American Nationalism”
1900-1920s: Consumer America
*Discussion: Cohen, “Chicago Workers”
1930s-1940s: New Deal America
*Discussion: Brooks, “Japanese American Resettlement”
1950s-1970s: The Cold War at Home
1980s: Reagan’s America
1990s-present: Peace-Dividend America
*Discussion: McGirr, Suburban Warriors (Review # 1 due)
Manifest Destiny: The American West
*Discussion: Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier”
American Empire: The Philippines
*Discussion: Peréz, Jr., “Debt of Gratitude”
Wilsonianism and WWI
*Discussion: MacMillan, “Wilson Comes to Europe”
The “Good War”: America and the Second World War
*Discussion: Kohn, “Enola Gay Exhibition”
The Cold War
9/11 and Beyond
*Discussion: Power, “A Problem From Hell” (Review #2 due)

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.