Understanding the United States in the Sixties: Right, Left and Center
History 4391
Dr. Jim Ross
Fall 2012
Phone: 501-569-8357
Email: Jdross2@ualr.edu
Office Hours by appointment (Stabler Hall 601) or by email
Course Description:
People on the left and the right seem to agree that something happened in the ten years
between 1960 and 1969. Some argue that it was a hopeful time, others that it was a
destructive time. Historians argue over many issues related to the Sixties, but no issue is
more important than when the Sixties occurred? Some argue for a literal decade (19601970), others for a “short Sixties” (1964-1968), and still others for a “long Sixties”
(1954-1975). This class will work within the assumption of a “long sixties,” but will
focus most of its attention on the actual events of the decade. The Sixties broadly
conceived as a period spanning from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, saw a dual crisis
of political legitimacy and cultural authority. The changes that occurred during this "long
Sixties" have transformed the United States, and are still evident in many areas of today’s
culture. The Sixties are associated with the political, cultural, and social left-wing
movements, notably the African American freedom struggle and the Black Power
movement, the wildly diverse movements to end the war in Vietnam, women's liberation,
gay liberation, and the counterculture and the communes of the era. However, many
Americans remained indifferent to or actively opposed those movements – indeed, the
conservative movement flourished during the long Sixties. In this course we will try to
construct a narrative of the 1960s that takes into account the many different experiences
of Americans in the era (Right, Left, and Center), and the “Uncivil Wars” that began in
this decade as Americans competed to define what freedom meant.
Texts:
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The 1960s: A Documentary Reader, Brian Ward
Sex in the Heartland, Beth Bailey
From Selma To Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo, Mary Stanton
Backfire: A History of How American Culture Led Us in the Vietnam and Made Us
Fight the Way We Did
Other documents and articles posted to Blackboard.
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Requirements for the course.
This is a 4000 level US history course, and will therefore be reading, discussion, and
writing intensive. You will be responsible for writing three papers answering broad
based questions that will show that you have mastered the readings, discussions, and
other resources provided for each theme. You will also write a critical historical review
of a book from the period. You will be responsible for placing the book in context,
explaining how it was received, and telling us what the book tells us about the 1960s.
Because this is a reading intensive class you are expected to be at every class and your
final grade will be largely dictated by how you participate in class. Participation is not an
option in this class; it is the very essence of what we will be doing each week. What I
most need from you is your participation. I will be prepared and excited each class and I
will expect you to do the same. It will be up to you to understand the syllabus and to
keep up with the readings. Readings will be from the books assigned and from
Blackboard where required and optional articles, videos, documents, and audio will be
found
To Complete:
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Three Essays (5-7 pages) worth 100 – points each
Book Review of Primary Source Book (3-5pages) – 100 points
Plus weekly book discussions to be posted before the class we discuss (This
will be done on blackboard.) – 25 points each
Class Schedule
I have placed the readings from the Brian Ward primary source book on the
syllabus. The page number refers to the page the document begins. Be sure to read
the whole document and be ready to discuss it. You are responsible for using
blackboard to post discussions before we discuss it in class. Once the discussions are
closed they will not be reopened.
Introduction:
August 24: Go over syllabus and assignments
August 27: Historiography of the 1960s and the Question of Political Legitimacy and
Cultural Authority
Reading: Ward: Introduction, 212, 216, 221, 225
August 29: A New Consumer Economy for All
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Reading: Ward: 19 and 31
August 31: Economic Liberalism and the Transformation of Conservatism
Reading Ward: 147, 157, 153, 168
September 3 – OUT FOR LABOR DAY
September 5 – Cold War America
Reading: Ward: 35, 55, 58, 62
September 7 – Jim Crow America
Reading: Ward: 22
September 10 -- Sex and the Baby Boom
Reading: Ward: 26 and 90
THEME ONE: The New Consumer Economy and Cultural Authority
Essential Question: Did the consumer revolution of the post World War 2 era
create a crisis of cultural authority? How and what did this mean politically and
socially?
September 12: The Suburbs, The American Dream and New Consumption Patterns
Reading: Ward: 41 and 46
September 14: The Television and The Crisis of Cultural Authority
Reading: Ward: 48, 50, 168, 177
September 17: Discussion of Beth Bailey, Introduction and Chapters 1-2
September 19: The Pill and Women’s Liberation
Reading: Ward: 125, 129
September 21: Being Gay in the Sixties
September 24: Discussion of Beth Baily, Chapters 3-4
September 26: Student Movements
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Reading: Ward: 90, 95, 104, 151
September 28: Counterculture and Drugs
Reading: Ward: 99, 101, 203
October 1: Discussion of Beth Baily, Chapters 5-6
October 3: Music and Marketing the Counterculture
Reading: Ward: 52 and 65
October 5: Religious changes in the sixties
October 8: Discussion of Beth Baily, Chapters 7-8 and Epilogue
THEME TWO: Civil Rights Struggles in the 1960s
Essential Question: How and why did minorities and others fight of their freedom
and liberty in the sixties? What did these struggles do to the political legitimacy of
the liberal state that had developed after the Great Depression?
October 10: Local People in the South
October 12: Local People outside the South
October 15: NAACP and SCLC: The Adult Struggle
Reading: Ward: 70
October 17: Discuss Mary Stanton, Prologue and Chapters 1-2
October 19: SNCC and CORE: The Student Struggle
Reading: Ward: 69, 79, 83
October 22: Black Nationalism and Black Power
Reading: Ward: 74, 189, 192
October 24: The Urban Uprisings
Reading: Ward: 168
October 26: Discuss Mary Stanton, Chapters 3-4
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October 29: Chicano Uprisings
Reading: Ward: 197
October 31: Native American Uprising
Reading: Ward: 194
November 2: Discuss Mary Stanton, Chapters 5-6
November 5: Women’s Movements
Reading: Ward: 133, 135, and 142
November 7: Gay and Lesbian Movements
Reading: Ward: 138
November 9: Discuss Mary Stanton, Chapters 7-8 and Epilogue
THEME THREE: International Struggle for World Dominance
Essential Question: How did Americans get involved in the Vietnam War and how
did differing Americans respond to the Vietnam War? What did these struggles do
to the political legitimacy of the liberal state that had developed after the Great
Depression?
November 12: Vietnam: The First 3000 Years
November 14: Vietnam: The Age of Imperialism
November 16: American Involvement in Vietnam World War II to 1954
November 19: Discuss Loren Baritz, prefaces and Chapter 1-2
November21: American Involvement in Vietnam 1954-1964
November 23: Out for Thanksgiving
November 26: American Involvement under Johnson
Reading: Ward: 107, 110, 112
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November 28: Discuss Loren Baritz, chapters 3-5
November 30: American Involvement under Nixon
Reading: Ward: 163
December 3: American Opposition to the War
Reading: Ward: 115, 117, 119, 205
December 5: American Support of the War
December 7: Watergate – The End of the 1960s?
Reading: Ward: 209
December 10: Discuss Loren Baritz,, Chapters 6-8
ALL PAPERS DUE DECEMBER 14 at Noon in 601D
Writing Your Papers
Students are expected to write five polished papers based on the essential questions for
each theme. Your papers will focus on a broad topic and must show that you have
mastered the readings, lectures, discussions, and other resources provided for each theme.
Use the following to guide your writing.
1. Make an argument. State a point of view—and then back it up with evidence and
logic. Do not work your way toward your argument in the course of the paper,
and state it clearly only in the end. Instead, figure out what your point is and state
it at the start of your paper (on the first page). Then follow through. Everything in
the main body of the paper should serve to substantiate the point of view stated at
the outset.
2. Put your papers through multiple drafts.
3. Do not include irrelevant information. Stick to your point.
4. Include clear topic sentences at the beginnings of your paragraphs.
5. Include an introduction and conclusion. Briefly state your argument in each.
6. Back up every claim you make with specific evidence from your readings.
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7. Follow proper forms in all matters. This includes spelling, grammar, syntax, and
citations. Sloppiness in these areas will harm your grade. Please consult the
Chicago Manuel of Style online at
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html for guidance.
8. Use footnotes to document any claims and to show where your evidence is
coming. Try not to use excessive block quotes.
9. Do not plagiarize. Do not plagiarize. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. See the
statement below for a fuller discussion of the policy on this matter.
10. Your papers should be 5-10 pages long, double-spaced, with a one inch margins
all around. Use 12 point Times New Roman font.
Grading scale
90% + = "A"
89-80% = "B"
79-70% = "C"
69-60% = "D"
59% - = "F"
Department Goals
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Demonstrate a significant degree of knowledge about both United States and
World history through completion of a broad selection of courses in history.
Ask appropriate historical questions that demonstrate an understanding of the
discipline of history and distinguish it from those of other disciplines.
Distinguish between primary sources and secondary sources used in the
writing of history and know how to use and analyze each appropriately.
Students will thus be able to:
a. Analyze a primary source as a product of a particular historical context;
b. Respond critically to a secondary source, taking into account the primary
sources used by the historian, the historian’s methodology, the logic of the
argument, and other major interpretations in the field.
Present historical analysis and arguments in a clear written form, including the
ability to construct an argument by marshalling evidence in an appropriate and
logical fashion.
Write a research paper that asks a significant historical question, answers it
with a clear thesis and a logical argument, supports it with both primary and
secondary sources documented according to the standards of the Chicago
Manual of Style, and is written in clear and artful prose with the grammar and
spelling associated with formal composition.
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Course Goals:
We will implement the department goals through our reading, writing and discussion.
You should be better equipped to address the following by the time the semester ends:
Chronology and periodization: To what extent was the Sixties a rupture, a watershed
period demarcating a “before-and-after” in contemporary history? Or would it better to
conceive of it as a bridge between two more stable temporal regimes? How does one
determine when an era such “the Sixties” began or ended? Is it possible to write a
coherent history of the Sixties without adopting a “rise and fall” framework? Can we
conceptualize other models for making sense of the Sixties?
Historiography: What are the prevailing interpretations that condition historical analysis
of the Sixties? Where should we situate the texts we are closely reading in this seminar
in the historiographical literature?
Methodology: How does a chronological period look different when viewed through the
lens of primary source documents instead of secondary sources, or vice versa? What is
the most effective way to balance the sometimes complementary, sometimes
contradictory perspectives of primary and secondary sources when exploring the nature
and meaning of past events?
Historical narrative: Do historical studies written by people who experienced the events
at issue, such as the genre of “memoir-history,” inherently possess more cultural
authority or plausibility than monographs by historians who did not? Are the concepts of
generations or zeitgeist useful in framing and assessing the Sixties as a historical period?
Topical issues: Although much of what has been written about the Sixties emphasizes its
radical bent, to what extent might this approach mask the fundamentally conservative
nature of the period? Are the Sixties best understood as representing the final crisis of
modernity and the birth of the postmodern? How might one synthesize the plethora of
“new social histories,” “histories from the bottom up,” and micro studies to arrive at a
more comprehensive perspective of this complex era?
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UALR statement on plagiarism and academic dishonesty
College and University regulations regarding academic dishonesty, as set forth in the
UALR student handbook and other University documents and publications, will be
strictly enforced in this class. Any student caught in the act of cheating will be assigned a
grade of zero points (F) for the assignment in question. If written work does not appear
to be your own, you will be questioned about it and appropriate action will be taken.
UALR statement on students with disabilities
Students with Disabilities:
It is the policy of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create
inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or
design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate
assessment of achievement–such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web
content, or the use of non-captioned videos–please notify the instructor as
soon as possible. Students are also welcome to contact the Disability
Resource Center, telephone 501-569-3143 (v/tty). For more information,
visit the DRC website at http://ualr.edu/disability/.
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The UALR policy statement on web accessibility
It is the policy and practice of UALR to make all web information accessible to students
with disabilities. If you, as a student with a disability, have difficulty accessing any part
of any online course materials for this class, please notify the instructor immediately.
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