BTAN23004BA:
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A SEMINAR FOR SECOND-YEAR IEAS STUDENTS
SPRING 2015
Time: Tuesday 12:00-13:40
Place: Main Building 55
Tutor: Máté Gergely Balogh (baloghmategergely@gmail.com)
Office hours: Room 120/2, MON 11:00-12:00, FRI 13:00-14:00, or by appointment
DESCRIPTION OF COURSE:
The History of the United States of America seminar serves as an introductory course to the
history of the United States. Along with the parallel American Culture and Institutions seminar,
it serves as a basis for all subsequent American Studies courses. The course is a general survey
of American history and it introduces and discusses various topics, ranging from the relations
between England and her North American colonies and the War of Independence through the
Civil War and the two world wars to the post-cold war era. Domestic and foreign affairs as well
as social and cultural issues, such as race, ethnic and gender relation as well as immigration, will
be addressed in an attempt to help the students prepare for the in-class final exam.
COURSE GOALS:
Combining mini lectures with seminar discussion, the students will develop a better
understanding of United States history and prepare for subsequent American Studies courses.
Since this is predominantly a seminar course, our emphasis will be on further developing the
four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) of the students.
As this course is a seminar, students may under no circumstances miss more than three
classes. Students are requested to inform the instructor as soon as possible if they know that
they are going to miss a class, and make arrangements to complete any work missed. Missing
a class is not an excuse to turn in assignments late or to come to class unprepared. Failure to
notify the instructor at least a day in advance in case of a missed presentation will result in the
loss of all the credit points for the assignment.
READINGS:
The basic textbook of the course is Davis D. Joyce and Tibor Glant, United States History: A
Brief History for Hungarian Students [USH] (Debrecen: Kossuth Egyetemi kiadó, 2012).
Students will also read some primary documents that are available online. Additional study
guides (lecture guides, lists of events, people, terms, and essay questions) are also available
from my website (http://ieas.unideb.hu/baloghm) Students are strongly advised to consult
these resources BEFORE each class, and will have the opportunity to ask for clarification
from the instructor in case they have any questions.
GRADING POLICY:
Students will be graded on the strength of their class performance (including contributions to
discussion: 10%), occasional written tests (15%), one short (3-5 minutes) oral presentation
(10%), a short take-home paper (10%), a mid-term (20%) and an end-term paper (35%).
The end-term paper may not be missed or rescheduled under any circumstances.
More than three absences will result in a “not fulfilled” grade. Grades will be assigned
according to the following conversion formulae: 0-60% = fail; 61-70% = satisfactory; 71-80%
= average; 81-90% = good; 91-100% = excellent.
RULES OF THE GAME:
Presentations: Students will choose their presentation topics on the first class. If anyone
misses the orientation, it will be their responsibility to ask the instructor to assign them a
topic. The oral presentations will be supported by a one-page outline distributed before
class. A typed handout strictly not longer than one page should be sent or handed in to the
instructor at least THREE DAYS before the presentation for overview. Late submission will
result in a reduction of the grade by one percent per day. Only handouts approved by the
instructor can be presented. The handout should only be a guideline to the presentation and
not a word-by-word transcript. The use of PowerPoint slides for the presentation is optional,
but recommended. You must not read out your presentation. The content of your talk, the
lay-out of your handout, your performance and presentation skills as well as your
pronunciation will be evaluated. If someone does not show up when their presentation is due
and does not notify the instructor in advance, they will lose all the credit points on the
assignment.
Occasional written tests: At the beginning of four or five classes during the semester,
students will be tested on their knowledge of the terms, names and dates from the reading for
the class in question. These short tests will not be announced beforehand, students are
expected to come prepared for each class.
Take-home paper: Along with the presentation, students will also select a person, event,
organization, institution, etc., that has been influential in the history of the United States of
America as a topic for their take-home paper. This must not coincide with the topic of their
presentation. Students will be required to write a short, two-page paper on the importance of
their topic, present its significance, and how it is present in the collective memory of the
United States today. Primary and secondary sources, as well as products of popular culture,
may be used in preparing this assignment. The format of the written assignment should be in
accordance with the guidelines of the Chicago Manual of Style. The essay must be submitted
in paper by Week 13 (May 12) the latest. Late submission will be penalized by the reduction
of the grade by one percent by day. Electronic submissions will not be accepted.
Mid-term and end-term papers: These will be a combination of dates, names, terms, and
short essays.
Academic dishonesty or Plagiarism (failure to acknowledge and note the use of another
writer’s words and ideas) is both unethical and illegal and will result in a failure of the course.
Tardiness and early departures are not allowable. They are offensive to your fellow
students and to the instructor because they disrupt class work. If you have a compelling
reason for arriving late or leaving early, speak with your instructor about the problem. If you
regularly cut the beginning and/or the end of class sessions, it can add up to unexcused fullclass-time absences.
WEEK-BY-WEEK DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE:
Week 1 (February 17): Introduction and Orientation (syllabus, rules of the game, study aids,
lists, how to use them)
Week 2 (February 24): Relations between England and Her North American Colonies.
Readings: USH, pp. 9-38 (2012 book: 9-36), lecture notes and The Declaration of
Independence available at the institute website.
Focus point: Why did the colonies rebel? What was at the core of the conflict?
Presentations topics: Sam Adams, Captain John Smith, Benjamin Franklin
Week 3 (March 3): From the Washington Administration to the War of 1812. Readings:
USH, pp. 39-43 (37-40), 50-59 (48-57), lecture notes, lists.
Focus point: What made it necessary to amend the first constitution?
Presentations topics: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton
Week 4 (March 10): Territorial, Cultural and Economic Expansion between the War of 1812
and the Civil War. The Road to the Civil War: American Politics, 1812-1860.
Readings: USH, pp 43-49 (41-47), 59-77 (57-73), lecture notes, lists.
Focus point: Why was the War of 1812 the “second war of independence?”
Presentations topics: the Monroe Doctrine, abolitionism, the frontier theory, Sitting Bull,
Buffalo Bill, Andrew Jackson
Week 5 (March 17): Civil War (1861-65) and Reconstruction (1865-77).
Readings: USH, pp. 77-81 (73-78), lecture note, lists and Abraham Lincoln, The
Emancipation Proclamation available at the institute website.
Focus point: Why did the Civil War break out? Why was secession a constitutional issue?
Presentations topics: Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant
Week 8 (March 24): The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.
Readings: USH: Chapters 6-7, lecture notes, lists and the Progressive Amendments to the US
Constitution.
Focus point: Why was it a “gilded” historical period?
Presentations topics: Muckrakers, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Theodore
Roosevelt
Week 7 (March 31): MID-TERM TEST
Week 8 (April 7): World War I.
Readings: USH, Chapter 9, lecture notes, lists.
Focus point: Why did the US enter the war as an Associated and not as an Allied power?
Presentations topics: the Zimmerman Telegram, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, the League of
Nations and the Paris Peace Treaties
Week 9 (April 14): CONSULTATION WEEK
Week 10 (April 21): The Interwar Years.
Readings: USH, Chapter 10, lecture notes, lists.
Focus point: Why was depression viewed as a great American tragedy?
Presentations topics: Charles Lindbergh, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding,
Calvin C. Coolidge, Herbert Hoover
Week 11 (April 28): World War II.
Readings: USH, Chapter 11, lecture notes, listsFocus point: What did the US learn from WWI?
Presentations topics: the Manhattan Project, Douglass MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Week 12 (May 5): The US Since 1945.
Readings: USH, Chapter 12, lecture notes, lists.
Focus point: The atomic bomb: pro and contra.
Presentations topics: the Cuban Missile crisis, Henry Kissinger, George F. Kennan, JFK,
Richard Nixon
Week 13 (May 12): The US Since 1945.
Readings: USH, Chapter 13, lecture notes, lists and Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a
Dream” available at the institute website.
Focus point: The idea of equality: myth or reality.
Presentations topics: Lyndon B. Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Betty Friedan, Elvis
Presley
Week 14 (May 19): END-TERM TEST
Please remember that not knowing the rules is no excuse to break them.