HISTORY 1302
UNITED STATES HISTORY AFTER 1877
Spring 2015 CRN 45588
Saturday, 9 A.M. – 12 P.M., Room C252, West Loop Center
INSTRUCTOR: Adjunct Professor C. R. Ritchie
TELEPHONE: 281-414-0854 (cell phone)
E-MAIL: www.charles.ritchie@hccs.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
History 1302 is a survey of American history from 1877 to as near to the present as possible. It
will focus on the economic, social/cultural and political institutions which have defined the
development of the modern United States and its people. Although this course is built around
historical events and processes, it is much more than a simple recitation of facts.
History 1302 is a 16-week 48 contract-hour course which fulfills three hours of the statemandated six-hour history requirement. Completion of this class will also improve performance
in reading, writing, critical thinking, communicating, and computer skills. Prerequisites: Must
be placed into college-level reading and college-level writing.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. Critical Thinking Skills – to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, analysis,
evaluation, and synthesis of information.
2. Communication Skills – to include effective development, interpretation, and expression
of ideas through written, oral, and visual communication.
3. Social Responsibility – to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic
responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national and global
communities.
4. Personal Responsibility – to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and
consequences to ethical decision-making guidelines.
PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES
1.
2.
3.
4.
Students will evaluate historical developments in an essay.
Students will read primary source documents.
Students will analyze historical evidence by writing an analytical essay.
Students will understand the importance of chronology and how earlier ideas and events
shaped later events.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Explain the features of the Gilded Age and the issues on society, culture, and politics.
Summarize Industrialism and Urbanization.
Analyze the New South and Jim Crow.
Explain Populism and Progressivism.
Identify the causes and effects of World War I and the United States.
Discuss America between the wars.
Identify the causes of World War II and the Cold War.
Discuss Post-war America at home.
Discuss Post-modern America.
BOOKS
Text (Required):
James Roark, Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, and Susan M. Hartmann.
American Promise: A History of the United States. Fifth Edition. Value Edition. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012.
Supplementary (Select two for Summary/Reviews):
Roger Daniels. Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants
Since 1882. New York: Hill and Wang, 2004.
Peter Iverson. “We Are Still Here.” American Indians in the Twentieth Century. Wheeling,
Illinois: Harland Davison, Inc., 1998.
W. E. B. DuBois (intro. By Donald B. Gibson). Souls of Black Folk. New York: Penguin Books,
1989.
Edmund Morris. Theodore Rex. New York: Modern Library Paperback Edition. 2002.
Upton Sinclair. The Jungle. New York: New American Library, Signet Classics, 2001.
John Morton Blum. Woodrow Wilson and the Politics of Morality. New York: HarperCollins,
1956.
David M. Kennedy. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 19291945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Doris Kearns Goodwin. No Ordinary Time. Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in
World War II. New York: Touchstone, 1995.
2
J. William T. Youngs, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal and Public Life. New York: Longman,
Library of American Biography, 2006.
Robert H. Ferrell. Harry S. Truman and the Modern American Presidency.
Longman, Library of American Biography, 1983.
New York:
David M. Oshinsky. Polio: An American Story. The Crusade That Mobilized the Nation Against
the 20th Century’s Most Feared Disease. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
William B. Pickett. Dwight David Eisenhower and American Power. Wheeling, Illinois: Harlan
Davison, Inc., 1995.
Stephen B. Oates. Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York:
Harper Perennial, 1994.
Anne Moody. Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of Growing Up Poor
and Black in the Rural South. New York: Dell Publishing, 1997
John Howard Griffin. Black Like Me. New York: New American Library, 2003.
Max Frankel. High Noon in the Cold War: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
New York: Ballantine Books, 2004.
George C. Herring. America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. Fourth
Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2002.
Jules Tygiel. Ronald Reagan and the Triumph of American Conservatism. Second Edition.
Pearson Longman, Library of American Biography, 2006.
GRADED ASSIGNMENTS
The final course grade will be based on the following elements.
Regular Examinations and Final (65%)
There will be two regular examinations and a final. Review sheets will be given before each
scheduled examination. All regular examinations consist of three parts: multiple-choice (20
points), identification and significance (30 points), and essay-type questions (50 points). All
exams will be given numerical grades and will not be grade on curves. Regular exams will be
averaged to count for 25 percent of your grade. The final, which will count for 40 percent,
consists of the same parts of the regular examinations but with different allocations—10 points
for multiple-choice, 30 for identification and significance, and 60 for essay-type questions. You
must pass the final in order to pass the course.
3
Required Book Summary/Reviews (25%)
Each student will be required to submit two summary/reviews of the books indicated on Pages 2
and 3. This assignment will count for 25 percent of your grade. Each summary/review should
be no more than five to seven double-spaced typewritten pages and should reflect your
understanding of the respective work’s contents as well as your critical abilities. The first paper
will be due March 28. The second paper will be due May 9. Failure to submit the required
paper on time will result in a reduced grade or an F for the course.
Your regular examination average can be enhanced with a third summary/review. This paper
may be on one of the books listed or one of your own choosing. If the choice is the latter, then
the book must be approved by the instructor. The grade received on this paper will replace the
lower regular examination score.
Class Participation (10%)
Participation in class discussions is strongly recommended. This grade will be based on regular
attendance, arriving in class on time, participation in class discussions, quality and regularity of
input, ability to meet deadlines and follow directions and course requirements, and general
classroom behavior. “Pop quizzes“ will be given frequently. Sometime during his lecture the
instructor will unexpectedly submit a sheet of four or more questions to be answered in three to
five minutes. The questions will be based on the text assignment for that day. The purpose of
this exercise is to motivate the student to keep current with the reading assignments. The quiz
score total will be factored into your grade based on class participation.
Grading will follow the usual college standards (A=100-90; B=89-80; C=79-70; D=69-69; F=
below 60.) There will be no extra credit assignments. Be certain to keep up with your grade
average as the semester proceeds. Do not hesitate to ask the instructor about your grade
situation.
No makeup examinations will be given for any reason. You are allowed to miss only one
examination. Your final examination score will be counted as the score of the missed
examination. This option should be exercised only in the event of an unavoidable absence.
Missing another regular examination without a legitimate excuse will be counted as an absence.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Regular attendance is critical to success in this course and failure to attend regularly is one of
the most important reasons for lack of success. Attendance will be taken at each class. Two
absences are allowed; more than that unless accompanied with legitimate excuses and
documentation (for example, a note from a physician, the death of a family member, an
automobile accident, jury or military reserve duty) can lead to being administratively dropped
from the course. Please avoid being late. Classes will start on time. Some of the most important
information in any class is given during the first five to ten minutes. Frequent tardiness is one of
the most significant indicators of poor performance in college. If late, please enter the classroom
4
as unobtrusively as possible and let the instructor know the reason for the tardiness. Failure to
respect this policy is usually the biggest reason for receiving a poor participation grade. Unless
there is an emergency, please do not leave class until the appropriate time and without notifying
the instructor before the class begins. Failure to do so will result in being counted absent. If a
class is missed, the student is nevertheless responsible for all information and assignments given
during that class.
Perfect attendance will be rewarded with a five-point bonus added to the final grade average.
Perfect attendance means no absences of any kind, no tardiness, no leaving class until the
appropriate time.
Nonattendance will not necessarily result in being automatically dropped. If a student chooses
to stop attending class it is his/her responsibility to formally withdraw. That can be done at the
Registrar’s Office at any Southwest Campus. The last date for official withdrawal is Tuesday,
March 24. Failure to officially withdraw by that date will result in failure of the course.
International students, veterans, and those on financial aid should be fully aware of the grade and
minimum hours policies affecting their situation. In particular, pay attention to the rules
regarding withdrawal (“W”) from a course. Once a “W” is officially recorded it will not be
changed to another grade regardless of circumstances.
Twenty-Minute Break
Because this class is three hours long, it is essential that there be a twenty-minute break. The
instructor will begin promptly after the break. Roll may be taken shortly thereafter. Please do
not risk being counted absent or tardy.
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by HCCS policy
and the rules of this class.
Plagiarism is the use of the ideas or words of another person (either whole or in part) without
crediting the sources and constitutes the theft of another person’s intellectual property. It is the
most common form of academic dishonesty. If you are unclear as to what constitutes plagiarism,
you should seek clarification before beginning an assignment.
Cheating involves fraud and deception for the purpose of violating legitimate testing rules. It
includes, but is not limited to, copying from another student’s test paper; using during an exam
materials or resources not authorized by the instructor; collaborating with another student
during a test; knowingly using, buying, selling whole or part(s) of unadministered test(s).
Any questions about academic dishonesty should be referred to the Student Council section of
the College System catalogue. Violations of this policy will result in automatic failure of the
course and/or expulsion from HCCS.
5
DISABILITY NOTIFICATION
Any student with a documented disability (e. g., physical, learning, psychiatric, visual, hearing,
etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Support
Service Counselor, Dr. Becky Hauri (713-716-7909) at the beginning of the semester. The
instructor is authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Office of Disability
Support Services (DSS). Students who are requesting special test accommodations must first
contact the office.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that is not tolerated by the Houston
Community College System. Any student who feels that he or she is a victim of sexual
harassment has the right to seek redress of the grievance. HCCS provides procedures for
reviewing and resolving such complaints through its grievance policy.
HCCS NOTICE ABOUT “THREEPEATING”
Students who repeat a course three or more times may soon face significant tuition/fee increases
at HCCS and other Texas public colleges and universities. If you are considering course
withdrawal because you are not earning passing grades, then confer with your
instructor/counselor as early as possible about your student habits, reading and writing work,
test-taking skills, attendance, course participation, and opportunities for tutoring and other
assistance that might be available.
CLASS ETIQUETTE
Cell phones, beepers, and such devices should be silenced before the beginning of class.
Important calls must be taken outside of the classroom. No electronic devices are allowed in the
classroom during examinations. Using a laptop for note taking during class is acceptable.
However, please do not surf the web or send e-mails during the class lectures. Please do not
bring food into the classroom. Coffee and bottled sodas are allowed.
CLASS ROUTINE
Lectures
Lectures from a vital part of this course. Material covered will overlap, sometimes transcend, the
assigned textbook; therefore, attentive and discriminating note taking is essential. Each lecture
will be outlined on the class instruction board. Information which the professor writes on the
board should be included in your notes. Please ask questions if you do not understand part(s) of
his lecture(s).
6
Textbook
Your textbook—replete with illustrations, photographs, maps, figures and tables—contains the
“bedrock” information you will need. Study it carefully as you will be responsible for all text
material assigned. The Assignment Schedule (see Pages 7 & 8) includes the text material to be
covered for each class.
Articles and Films
Newspapers and magazine articles and films are correlated with the lectures and text assignments
to underscore the relevance and add dimensions to certain ideas, movements, and events covered.
For articles go to the Southwest College web page. Click on “Learning Web.” On “Find a
faculty member” type “Ritchie” then enter. Then click on the icon/silhouette of “Robert Ritchie.”
Then click on “Articles” under “History 1302: United States After 1877, CRN 45588.”
Downloading will commence and take no more than five minutes.
EGLS3—EVALUATION FOR GREATER LEARNING STUDENT SURVEY SYSTEM
At Houston Community College, professors believe that thoughtful student feedback is necessary
to improve teaching and learning. During a designated time, you will be asked to answer a short
online survey of research-based questions related to instruction. The anonymous results of the
survey will be made available to your professor and division chair for continual improvement of
instruction. Look for the survey as part of the Houston Community College Student System
online near the end of the term.
ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
(SUBJECT TO CHANGES)
January 24
Introduction.
January 31
Chapters 17 & 18 (pp. 521-535).
February 7
Chapters 18 (pp. 536-552) & 19 (pp. 555-577).
REVIEW.
February 14
Chapters 19 (pp. 578-586), 20 (pp. 586-605), & 21 (pp. 617-638).
February 21
Chapter 21 (pp. 638-650).
REVIEW.
February 28
Chapter 20 (pp. 606-616) & 22 (pp. 651-657).
March 7
Chapters 22 (pp. 658-705)
REVIEW.
7
March 14
EXAMINATION.
Chapters 17 – 22
Chapter 23 (pp. 683-705).
March 21
SPRING BREAK.
NOTE; MARCH 24 IS THE LAST DAY FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE/STUDENT WITHDRAWALS
March 28
FIRST BOOK SUMMARY/REVIEW DUE.
Chapter 23 (pp. 706-713) & 24.
REVIEW.
April 4
SPRING HOLIDAY.
April 11
Chapter 25.
REVIEW.
April 18
EXAMINATION.
Chapters 23-25.
Chapter 26 (pp. 780-800).
April 25
Chapters 26 (pp. 800-808) & 27.
REVIEW,
May 2
Chapters 28 & 29.
REVIEW.
May 9
SECOND BOOK SUMMARY/REVIEW DUE
Chapters 30 & 31.
REVIEW.
May 16
FINAL EXAMINATION.
Chapters 26-31.
8
9