SYLLABUS HIST 334Social & Cultural History of the Modern United States
Augustana College l Winter 2008-09 l Dr. Lendol Calder l Office: Old Main 320B l 7679 l lendolcalder@augustana.edu
The Consumers’ Republic:
American Consumer Culture, 1880-Present
After the Civil War a new kind of culture appeared in the United States, a new way of living that defined The Good
Life not in terms of satisfying work, or personal independence, or devotion to God, or commitment to the republic, or
any other ideal honored by previous generations of Americans, but rather was dedicated to the proposition that Good
Living meant having lots of goods--goods bought on the market and made by unknown hands, more goods this year
than last year, the "things," as one of its advertisers said, "that make life worth living!" Though restrained at first by
older, established cultures, this new culture of consumer pleasure came to full flower in the twentieth century,
watered and nurtured by America’s dynamic form of capitalism. By 1950, the culture of consumption had become the
dominant cultural experience for most Americans, the very heart of what people the world over thought of as "The
American Way of Life." In this course we will examine the history of this new way of life: how it began, what it
replaced; who benefited from it, who suffered by it; the development of its key institutions, rituals, practices, ideals,
commodities, arenas, and power relations. Our main aim will be to gain a better understanding of the social and
cultural history of the Consumers’ Republic, and in the process, a better understanding of ourselves.
The Big Question:
Do Americans consume too much?
Critics of American consumer ism say that if we could be satisfied with less, we could have more. What
they mean is that for the good of the planet and for our own well-being, we need to find ways of living that
wreak less destruction on the Earth and build communities up instead of tearing them down. Calls for
simpler, more convivial living are everywhere, and some are compelling. They are hardly new, though, as
ambivalence about wealth and luxury is one of the oldest American traditions. The question directing our
studies in this course, then, is this: how does the history of American consumerism help us think better
about contemporary calls to a simpler life?
LEARNING GOALS
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A Critical & Historical Understanding of “consumerism,” an ideology that, by the end of the 20th
century, lay at the heart of the dominant social and cultural experience for most Americans.
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Knowledge of some of the most important people, events, and developments in American history
since the Civil War.
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A Point of View concerning the promises and limitations of consumerism.
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Critical Abilities that will help you develop a capacity for discernment, including written argument,
teamwork, and the ability to express yourself orally in conversation and in formal presentations.
TEXTS
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Gary Cross, An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America
William Leach, Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture
James Twitchell, Lead us into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism
Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie
Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt
Don Delillo, White Noise
EVALUATION
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Readiness Test 1 over Cross’ All-Consuming Century, chs 1-2
Readiness Test 2 over Cross’ All-Consuming Century, chs 3, 5
Readiness Test 3 over Cross’ All-Consuming Century, ch 4, 7
Readiness Test 3 over Cross’ All-Consuming Century, ch 6
Class Work
Team Class Presentation
Book Review of Contemporary Jeremiad
Quizzes
7
7
7
7
22
15
25
10
100 total points
The Readiness Tests (RTs) ensure that students are exposed to basic concepts and information and have achieved a
minimum understanding or “readiness” enabling higher-order thinking about a period or subject. Students prepare for
the test by reading assigned chapters in The All Consuming Century. The RT begins with an individual test made of
short answer and multiple choice questions assessing understanding and recall of important information in the text.
Then students re-take the same test in RT groups they have been assigned to for the duration of the term. After the
group test has been scored, groups may petition to achieve credit on questions they feel were misleading or
inaccurate. How the individual and group tests are weighted will be decided by the class on the first day. At the end of
the term, students will evaluate the peers in their group, giving a score for every individual which will be used as a
multiplier to increase or decrease the total group score for that individual. This ensures that free riders are penalized,
and hard workers rewarded.
Class work and Quizzes will be assessed on days we are discussing assigned readings and listening to
presentations.
The Team Presentation is a major oral presentation to the class of your thoughts about a contemporary jeremiad
against consumer culture. Students will choose their jeremiads by the Winter Break. Those who choose the same
book (up to a maximum of three) will be placed on a team. After the presentations, students will work individually on
Book Reviews of their jeremiad, assessing its significance in light of the history of consumerism and the jeremiad
tradition.
SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS
(subject to change)
PART I
“A New Basis for Civilization”: The Culture of Consumption
Date Topic
11/17
Readings/Assignments
The Problem of Consumption
Why study the history of consumer culture?
11/19
Historians & the Problem of Consumption
Cross, ch 1; Leach, Introduction
How do historians conceptualize the history of consumerism?
11/21
Before Consumer Culture
in-class screening of Heartland
What ways of living and being preceded the culture
of consumption?
11/24
The Great Transformation
Sister Carrie, chs 1-8
What was it like to live when consumer culture was new?
11/26
No Class
12/1
The Great Transformation
Sister Carrie, chs 9-27
What was it like to live when consumer culture was new?
12/3
The Great Transformation
Sister Carrie, chs 28-47
What was it like to live when consumer culture was new?
PART II
The Making of Consumer Culture: 1880-1930
12/5
Readiness Test #1
Cross, ch 1-2; Leach, Intro & Conclusion
What do we need to know about consumerism 1900-1930?
12/8
Making Consumer Culture—Institutions
Leach, ch 1
What is the “master institution of modern life?”
12/10
Making Consumer Culture--Strategies
Leach, chs 2-4
How is consumer desire created and manipulated?
12/12
Making Consumer Culture--Ethics
Leach, chs 5, 8
How did consumerism gain moral legitimacy?
12/15
Making Consumer Culture--Ethics
Leach, ch 7
How did consumerism gain moral legitimacy?
12/17
Making Consumer Culture—Consumers
Leach, chs 9-11
Who were the new citizens of consumer democracy?
12/19
Making Consumer Culture--Politics
How did consumerism reshape citizenship?
Leach, ch 12, conclusion
   Winter Break   
1/12
When Consumer Culture was Young
Lewis, Babbitt, chs 1-12
What was it like . . . to live in the 1920s?
1/14
When Consumer Culture was Young
Lewis, Babbitt, chs 13-23
What was it like . . . to live in the 1920s?
1/16
When Consumer Culture was Young
Lewis, Babbitt, chs 24-34
What was it like . . . to live in the 1920s?
PART III
Consumer Culture as American Culture: 1930 to 1980
1/19
Readiness Test #2
Cross, chs 3, 5
What do I need to know about consumerism 1930-1980?
1/21
Consumption Communities
Twitchell, Intro, ch 1, 8
What are goods for?
1/23
Selling the Good Life: Advertising
Twitchell, chs 2-3
How did advertisers became the priests of consumer culture?
1/26
Selling the Good Life: Packaging, Branding, Fashion
Twitchell, chs 4-6
Why are we so attracted to the world of goods?
PART IV
Consumer Culture Everlasting? 1980 to Present
1/28
Readiness Test #3
Cross, chs 4 & 7
What do I need to know about the jeremiad tradition?
1/30
Presentations: Contemporary Jeremiads
2/2
Presentations: Contemporary Jeremiads
2/4
Presentations: Contemporary Jeremiads
2/9
Readiness Test #4
Cross, ch 6, Delillo White Noise, chs 1-13
What do I need to know about consumerism 1980-present?
2/11
Consumer Culture Grown Up (and senile?)
Delillo, White Noise, chs 14-21
What was it like . . . to live in the 1980s?
2/13
Consumer Culture Grown Up (and senile?)
What was it like . . . to live in the 1980s?
Delillo, White Noise, chs 22-40