History 72: American History 1876 - The Present
Survey Course
C. Thomas Long
Funger Hall 108: Tues. & Thurs 2:20 – 3:35 pm
Discussion Sections meet on Wednesday
202 - 994 – 6761 (if no answer, please use e-mail)
tomlong@gwu.edu
Office Hours:
Phillips Hall 303
Tues.: 9 – 10:00 am;
Thurs.: 4 – 5 pm; and by
appointment
CRN 53870
Syllabus and Content available on Blackboard
Graduate Teaching Assistants: Felix Harcourt, Michael Todd Landis, Mary
McPartland, Andrea Katherine O’Brien, and Justin Pope
History 72 is a survey of American History from 1876 to the present. The United
States has undergone remarkable changes during the past 130 years. In 1870, the 37
United States had a population of just over 38.5 million people, who averaged 20 years of
age. Three-fourths lived in rural areas. The total federal budget was approximately
$310,000. There were no electric lights, telephones, or automobiles. The nation was a
marginal player in global affairs. (For example, there were 10,562 men in the U.S. Navy.)
The country was still recovering from the Civil War. One hundred thirty-seven years
later, the United States is the only super-power. It has a diverse population estimated at
over 300 million, a federal budget of two trillion dollars, and a navy with 385,000
individuals on active duty. There are 60,000 women in the army. More than 80 percent of
the population lives in cities and the median age is over 35 years. Sixty-six percent of
American households have a cellular phone and 98 percent had at least one television set.
There were 787 automobiles for every 1,000 residents in 2000.
This course will address the way in which those changes occurred. It will deal
with facts, geography, and chronology, but more importantly, it will deal with pervasive
trends, forces, and issues such as migration (including immigration), urbanization,
industrialization, government expansion, globalization and militarization, and the
extension of civil and political rights. It will encourage students to appreciate history as
an evolving discipline.
Goals
I hope that this survey course engenders in each student an interest in history as a
means of enriching one’s life, regardless of ultimate calling. The course should provide a
general knowledge of modern American history and the analytical tools to enable the
student to place the problems of today’s society in a useful historical context. It should
provide a springboard for students with a deeper interest in history to conduct further
study.
Each student should develop an understanding of the major themes or trends (and
the policy issues they presented) of American History since 1876. To do this, one must
master the historical details, chronology of major events, geography, and key individuals.
Students should also be familiar with the workings of the three branches of the
federal government of the United States as they have evolved during the period.
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Requirements and Grading
The class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:20 to 3:35 in Funger Hall,
room 108. In addition, each member of the class will meet with his or her discussion
section weekly.
Reading, Discussion, and Quizzes
You will have two lectures and one discussion section each week. The lectures
will assume that you have done the assigned reading prior to class. Go to your discussion
section prepared to address the assigned reading and the period or topic assigned. The
success of the course depends on your active, informed participation. We will be reading
an average of approximately 115 pages per week. Review the syllabus and read ahead
when the assignments are short to avoid being unable to keep up when they are longer.
Please take your books to your discussion section meetings.
You are encouraged, and challenged, to think broadly about the topics raised in
the course. Ask yourself questions about the reading. How and why did people do the
things that are the subject of the work? What effect did their conduct have on subsequent
generations? What kinds of lessons can we draw from their conduct? What were the
critical events? How did they affect the development of warfare, or our method of
thinking about it? What type of evidence did the historians use? Are you persuaded of the
validity of their analysis? Why, or why not? What arguments are the most effective? Why
do you think so? Are there hidden biases? How do they affect the author’s credibility?
In all cases, you should understand the sequence of events and the trends that
emerge. You should also make it a point to be familiar the geography involved. Look
over the maps so you know the major locations and the physical conditions that obtained
in those locations. The distance between places where events occurred was particularly
important before modern high-speed communications.
Because participation in the class is important, you are expected to attend all
meetings or to present a doctor’s attestation to the medical necessity for your absence.
More than two unexcused absences from class may result in the reduction of your course
grade by one full grade or more. Your Graduate Teaching Assistant may administer
quizzes on the lectures or readings and base part of your discussion grade on the result of
your quizzes. In addition, there may be quizzes during lectures, in which case, they will
count as part of your exam grades.
Exams
There will be a mid-term examination, which will be given during the class
session (scheduled, subject to change, for Thursday, 28 February). The exam will, unless
otherwise indicated, consist of twenty objective questions, five of eight identifications,
and one of two essay questions. The objective questions may include map questions (in
which you are to select the names of locations on the map from a list of choices). The
identification questions will consist of a list of eight names or terms and you are to select
five of them. You are to write short paragraphs specifying to whom or what each term
applies, placing it chronologically, and describing its historical significance. You will
also select one essay question from two presented.
The final examination will be given during the university’s exam period in May.
It will be in the same general format as the hour-exam, with more of each type of
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question. The essay questions will be cumulative, in the sense that you will be expected
to draw on material from the entire course and not merely that covered after the mid-term
exam.
If you miss an exam, you must contact me on the day of the exam to arrange to
take a make-up. If you do not, you will not be allowed to take a make-up exam. (Only the
most extreme medical emergencies will be exempted from this requirement.) I reserve the
right to refuse to administer a make-up exam if the student fails adequately to justify
having missed the original exam. A make up exam will consist of a single essay question.
Paper (due in your discussion section on Wednesday, 9 April 2008)
Each student is to write a paper of five to eight typed pages on the relation of your
family’s experience with one of the major forces affecting the United States during the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Examples of acceptable themes are: the immigrant
experience; migration within the United States (for example, the migration of AfricanAmericans to the north early in the twentieth century or the migration from the farm to
the city); industrialization (establishing a family business); regulation (the impact of
federal oversight of the economy); expansion of individual civil rights and liberties
(participation in the Civil Rights or Women’s Rights movement); and military service of
one or more family members in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II,
Korea, Vietnam, or other conflicts. I will consider other topics.
The paper is to be based on your interviews of family members and your learning
about the impact of the trends generally. It does not require research in sources external
to your family and the course materials. You should show how your family’s experience
was consistent with or different from the general trend.
The paper is to be submitted in hard copy (typed, double-spaced, double-sided.
Use 12 point Times New Roman or Courier type, with margins of 1.5” on the left and 1”
on the other borders), rather than by e-mail, at the beginning of class in your discussion
section during the week of 7 April. You are to use proper history citation format, i.e., use
the footnote format specified in the Chicago Manual, not MLA or in-text citations. (Read
sections 16.1 – 16.45 for a discussion of the citation system and the Paper Guidelines and
footnote formats for examples. Both are posted on Blackboard.). Cite your interviews as
well as course materials. Be sure to keep notes of your interviews and keep a copy of
your paper. Your paper will be graded on the extent to which it conforms to the
assignment, your ability to articulate and substantiate a sophisticated thesis by facts (with
citations), and your writing (including spelling and grammar). Proofread carefully. Do
not rely on spell-check software.
Be sure to turn the paper in on time. Your grade will be lowered one letter grade
for every day the paper is late.
Grades
Regular, informed participation in your discussion section:
Mid-term exam
Paper (due in discussion on 9 April):
Final Exam
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Administrative Matters
Academic Integrity and Citation Procedure
While the success of this class ultimately depends on an effective interaction
among students, all written work is to be done individually.
Academic integrity is essential to the success of this educational experience, as
indeed to any academic enterprise. All students should read and understand the
University Code of Academic Integrity.
Be sure to use proper citations for all your authority. Use the Chicago Manual
footnote format that is used in historical writing. You can rely on either:
 Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
6th ed. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1996.
 The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and
Publishers. 15th ed. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2003.
A set of Paper Guidelines and footnote formats is posted on Blackboard. Consult
it.
Disabilities
Any student who believes that he or she will be unable to perform the assigned
work because of a disability should contact me as soon as possible. To receive an
accommodation on the basis of disability, a student must provide notice and proper
documentation to the Office of Disability Support Services, Marvin Center 242 (9948250). Accommodations will be made solely on the basis of recommendations from the
DSS Office.
Pagers and Cell Phones (and other objects that go “ring” in the night)
Please turn them off during class, except in the case of a genuine emergency.
Notify me before class if you are expecting such an emergency call. Having your
communication device go off in class (without my prior approval) may result in lowering
your course grade ½ step.
Office Hours – Phillips 303:
My office hours are Tuesday from 9:00 to 10:00 am and Thursday from 4:00 to
5:00 pm and I am happy to meet with you at other times to discuss any questions related
to the course material. Please see me after class or send me an e-mail to arrange an
appointment.
Individual Class Descriptions and Assignments
A copy of the syllabus is available on Blackboard. Any readings other than those
in the required books will be posted in the Files part of Blackboard. Other useful material
may be posted from time to time. I will also use your official GW e-mail address to send
out course materials. Be sure your account is operative (and not overfull).
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Class Schedule (Subject to Change at the Discretion of the Instructor)
Week One: Introduction and Context
Tuesday, 15 Jan. 2008 – Class 1: Introduction, Course Structure, and Context
We will make introductions, discuss the syllabus, and go over the procedures for
the course.
The Civil War was a genuine watershed in American history. It unified the
country from a group of “United States” into a single “United States.” It has been called
the “ultimate Constitutional litigation,” and it resolved fundamental questions about the
relationship among the states and between the states and their citizens. Or did it?
We will review the state of the United States in 1876. We will also discuss some
fundamental issues, such as the nature of historical causation and the fundamental forces
which we will highlight over the next four months.
What were the major forces that affected the United States between 1876 and the
present. I submit that they included: the growth of government, immigration,
industrialization, militarization, technology, racism, and legalism. Can you suggest
others?
Do individuals affect history or is it the product of larger forces? Which
individuals had the greatest effect on the United States since 1876? (Lincoln?, TR?
FDR?, Stalin?, Hitler etc.?)
Discussion Ideas:
What were the greatest effects of the Civil War on Americans?
What did “freedom” mean to the former slaves?
Thursday, 17 Jan. 2008 - Class 2: Post-war America - Reconstruction
Please read the assigned material before class.
Reading in Inventing America Text
Pauline Maier, Merritt Roe Smith, Alexander Keyssar, and Daniel J. Kevles. Inventing
America: A History of the United States. 2 vols. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton,
2d. ed., 2006, Chapter 17, “Reconstruction (1865-1877)” (hereafter, Maier,
Inventing America).
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, Chapters 1-2.
Document 95: the “Mississippi Black Code” from Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom: A
Documentary History. vol. 2. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007
(hereafter identified as, Voices of Freedom)
Week Two: Industrialization, Immigration, and Urbanization
Tuesday, 22 Jan. 2008 – Class 3: Industrialization
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al, Inventing America, Chapter 18, “Rise of Big Business and the Triumph of
Industry: (1870-1900)”, pages 511-535.
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Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 6, and 11, and look
through the rest of the book. This work is history. It caused people to focus on the
problems of urban tenements.
Document 100: William Graham Sumner on Social Darwinism and Document 103:
Edward Bellamy from Looking Backward in Voices of Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
What were the most surprising things you learned from Jacob Riis’s book? What
effect did the activities of men like Jacob Riis have on the lives of immigrants?
What was the relationship among industrialization, immigration, and urbanization
in nineteenth century America? How did they each affect the lives of America’s citizens?
Thursday, 24 Jan. 2008 – Class 4: Migration - Immigration and Urbanization
Submit a very brief description of the topic of your paper (and the sources you
expect to employ if you plan to rely on material other than texts for the course and
interviews of family members). The description should not be more than a few sentences
to permit me to evaluate the appropriateness of your idea.
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapters 18, pages 535-539, and 19: “An Industrial
Society: (1870-1910),” pages 540-567.
Week Three: The Growth of the State and Popular Unrest
Tuesday, 29 Jan. 2008– Class 5: American Labor and the New Politics
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapter 20, “Politics and the State: (1876-1900)”; pages
569-579 and 581-597.
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Robert W. Cherny, A Righteous Cause, The Life of William Jennings Bryan. Norman,
OK: University of Oklahoma, Chapters 1-4
William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech, 1896 in the Files Section of
Blackboard.
Document 106: Justice Harlan’s dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson in Voices of Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
How different were the lives of American farmers, industrial workers, and
African-Americans in the late nineteenth century? What did each group do to better its
condition? How successful were they?
Thursday, 31 Jan. 2008– Class 6: Populism
Reading in Inventing America Text
None
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, Chapter 3
The Populist Party’s 1892 Platform, Document 105 in Voices of Freedom.
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Discussion Ideas:
What was different about the Populists? Who were their leaders? What did they
accomplish?
Why was Bryan such a vocal advocate of the Populist ideas? Why would he not be a
Populist candidate, rather than a Democrat?
Week Four: A New American Vision
Tuesday, 5 Feb. 2008 – Class 7: The Role of Women
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapters 19 : pages 559-562; 20 : pages 579-581, and
22: pages 642-646.
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Rosalind Rosengerg, Divided Lives: American Women in the Twentieth Century. New
York: Hill and Wang, 1992. Chapters 1-3.
Document 116: Margaret Sanger on Free Motherhood in Voices of Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
How different were women’s lives in the 1920s than they had been in 1900? What
were the greatest differences between the lives of women and men? Was the situation of
all women the same?
Thursday, 7 Feb. 2008 – Class 8: Navalism and Empire
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapter 21, “A New Place in the World (1865-1914).”
Week Five: Progressive Reform
Tuesday, 12 Feb. 2008 – Class 9: The Progressive Era
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapter 22, “The Progressive Era: (1900-1916),” pages
625-642 and 646-656.
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Cherny, A Righteous Cause, The Life of William Jennings Bryan. Norman, OK:
University of Oklahoma, Chapters 5-9
Document 118: Woodrow Wilson on the New Freedom and Document 119: the
Progressive Party Platform in Voices of Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
What were Progressivism’s greatest achievements? Biggest failures? How did
Progressivism differ from Populism?
Thursday, 14 Feb. 2008 – Class 10: Progressive Leaders
Reading in Inventing America Text
None
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Week Six: Emergence and Implosion
Tuesday, 19 Feb. 2008 – Class 11: World War I and the Boom of the 1920s
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 23, “The Great War (1914-1919).”
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Rosenberg, Divided Lives, Chapter 4.
Document 115: International Workers of the World on Freedom of Speech and Document
122: Eugene V. Debs speech to the jury in Voices of Freedom.
Woodrow Wilson’s “Peace without Victory” and “Fourteen Points” addresses, in the
Files Section of Blackboard
Discussion Ideas:
Why did the United States participate in World War I? Was it inevitable that the
U.S. participate? What would have happened if the U.S. had not entered the war? How
effective as a wartime leader was Wilson?
Thursday, 21 Feb. 2008 – Class 12: Depression
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapter 24, “A Conservative Interlude,” pages
676-699 and Chapter 25 “The Great Depression and the New Deal (1929-1940), pages
701-709.
Week Seven: The New Deal
Tuesday, 26 Feb. 2008 – Class 13: The New Deal
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapter 25, “The Great Depression and the New Deal
(1929-1940),” pages 709-733.
Discussion Ideas:
Review for the exam.
Thursday, 28 Feb. 2008 – Class 14: Mid-term Exam
The exam will cover through class 13.
Week Eight: World War II and its Effects
Tuesday, 4 Mar. 2008 – Class 15: The Coming War
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 26, “Whirlpool of War (1932-1941).”
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, Chapter 4.
Document 142: FDR on the Four Freedoms in Voices of Freedom.
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Discussion Ideas:
How did World War II affect the daily lives of Americans during the war?
Afterwards? What were the most important ways in which the Second World War
changed America?
Thursday, 6 Mar. 2008 – Class 16: Global Conflict
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 27, “Fighting For Freedom (1942-1945).”
Week Nine:
Tuesday, 11 Mar. 2008 – Class 17: The Beginnings of the Cold War and the
Korean War
Reading in Inventing America Text
None
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Melvyn P Leffler, The Specter of Communism. (New York. Hill and Wang, 1994)
Complete.
Document 150: NSC 68 and document 154: McCarthy on the Attack in Voices of
Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
Is it inevitable that citizens’ civil liberties be curtailed in a time of war or other
threat to national security? Which is the more important function of government,
protecting the nation or preserving individual liberty?
Thursday, 13 Mar. 2008 - Class 18: McCarthyism, the Supreme Court, and the
Beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 28, “A Troubled Peace (1945-1953).”
Next Week, 17 – 21 March 2008 - Spring Break- No Classes – Enjoy!
Week Ten: Cold War and Korea (100)
Tuesday, 25 Mar. 2008– Class 19: The New Consumer Society
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 29, “Eisenhower, Affluence, and Civil Rights
(1954-1960),” pages 818-842 and 850.
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (in the Files section of Blackboard).
Discussion Ideas:
Eisenhower has often been viewed as a “caretaker” president who had little
impact on the nation’s future. Do you agree?
Thursday, 27 Mar. 2008 – Class 20: JFK’s World
Reading in Inventing America Text
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Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 30, “Reform, Rage, and Vietnam (19601968),” pages 852-865.
Week Eleven: The Long 1960s - Reform and Escalation
Tuesday, 1 Apr. 2008– Class 21: LBJ and the Great Society
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 30, “Reform, Rage, and Vietnam (19601968),” pages 865-872.
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, Chapters 5-6
Document 167: Port Huron Statement in Voices of Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
Did FDR or LBJ have the greater impact on the government of the United States?
On the lives of its citizens? Which was the more effective leader? What made him
effective?
Thursday, 3 Apr. 2008 – Class 22: Vietnam from FDR to Ford
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 30, “Reform, Rage, and Vietnam,” 872-872 and
Chapter 31, “Revival of Conservatism, 1969-1980” pages 888-894.
Week Twelve: Unrest at Home (Papers due in Discussion Section on Wednesday)
Tuesday, 8 Apr. 2008 – Class 23: The Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s and
1970s
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 29, “Eisenhower, Affluence, and Civil
Rights (1954-1960),” pages 843-851; Chapter 30, “Reform, Rage, and Vietnam,” pages
860-862 and 876-887.
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Rosenberg, Divided Lives, Chapters 5-6.
Document 162: Martin Luther King on the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Voices of
Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
How effective was the federal government in advancing the civil rights of
African-Americans in the 1960s? Why? Which organs of government were the most
effective?
Thursday, 10 Apr. 2008 – Class 24: Nixon and Watergate
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 31, “Revival of Conservatism (1969-1980),”
pages 894-904.
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Week Thirteen: The Right Turn
Tuesday, 15 Apr. 2008– Class 25: The Troubled Nation (Ford and Carter)
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 31, “Revival of Conservatism,” pages 904-920.
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Work on William C. Berman, America's Right Turn, Chapters 1-4.
Document 169: Betty Friedan, Feminine Mystique in Voices of Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
Richard Nixon is often reviled as one of the worst presidents in history? Do you
agree? Which of his actions had the biggest long-term impact on the country?
Why did the country move to the right in the 1980s? Was it inevitable?
Thursday, 17 Apr. 2008 – Class 26: The Reagan Revolution
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America Chapter 32, “The Cold War is Over” (1981-1992).
Week Fourteen: Lessons: Post Cold-War America
Tuesday, 22 Apr. 2008 – Class 27: Bush-Clinton-Bush – Modern Progressivism
and the New World Order
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapter 33, “Innovations and Divisions in a Globalizing
Society (1970-2000)” and Chapter 34, “The Politics of Division (1993-2001)”
Monograph and Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
William C. Berman, America's Right Turn, Chapters 4-Conclusion
Document 175: Phyllis Schlafly on the Equal Rights Amendment and Document 180: the
Beijing Declaration on Women in Voices of Freedom.
Discussion Ideas:
What are the greatest challenges facing America today? What lessons can we
draw from the events of the past 140 years to help overcome those challenges?
Thursday, 24 Apr. 2008 - Class 28: Retrospective and Prospects
Reading in Inventing America Text
Maier, et al., Inventing America, Chapter 35, “At War Against Terror”.
Primary Document Readings for Discussion and Analysis
Document 165: Barry Goldwater on Extremism in Defense of Liberty; Document
183: the National Security Strategy; Document 185, the Second Inaugural Address of
George W. Bush; and Document 188: the opinion of Sandra Day O’Connor in Hamdi v.
Rumsfeld in Voices of Freedom.
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Required Books:
The following books are required for students in the course.
1. Pauline Maier, Merritt Roe Smith, Alexander Keyssar, Daniel J. Kevles, Inventing
America: A History of the United States. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006 (Second
Edition). ISBN: Volume II: 0-393-18425-0 (Pbk). (This is a special ISBN that
packages the second edition of Inventing America with Voices of Freedom,
below). If you can’t get the package, do get the second edition.
2. Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History. vol. 2. 2nd ed. New York:
W.W. Norton & Co., 2007. ISBN: 9780393931082
3. William C. Berman, America's Right Turn: From Nixon to Clinton, 2d ed.
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998). ISBN: 0801858720 (pbk. :
alk. paper).
4. Robert W. Cherny, A Righteous Cause, The Life of William Jennings Bryan.
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. 0-8061-2667-1; 225.
5. Melvyn P. Leffler, The Specter of Communism. New York: Hill and Wang, 1994.
0-8090-1574-9.
6. Jacob A, Riis and David Leviatin. How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the
Tenements of New York The Bedford series in history and culture;. Boston:
Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1996. ISBN: 0312128096 (hardcover)
0312117000 (pbk.) LCCN: 95-83514.
7. Rosalind Rosenberg, Divided Lives: American Women in the Twentieth Century.
New York: Hill and Wang, 1992. 0-374-52347-9.
8. C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow. Third Revised ed. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1974. 0-19-501805-2.
Additional Short Readings:
Other materials will be on line in the folders for each class in the Outline segment
of Blackboard.
Potentially useful and interesting links for primary sources:
Be careful doing historical research on line. Most material is not subject to scrutiny in the
way most books are. Be sure that your source is reliable. A good rule of thumb suggests that,
before you cite a web site, you obtain independent corroboration of the facts asserted, preferably
from a print source. Use the web as a source for ideas, then verify what you learn. People with an
agenda can create very persuasive, totally erroneous websites. Books can be used in the same
way, but it is much harder. Consider the source before granting it your credence.
Government Sources:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ and http://www.whitehouse.org/
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/
Commerce Department: http://www.commerce.gov/
Labor Department: http://www.dol.gov/
Navy Historical Center – this is a terrific resource with lots of data in the FAQ
material and access to many Navy photos: http://www.history.navy.mil/
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U.S. Army Center of Military History: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/
U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency: http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/afhra/
U.S.
Marine
Corps
History
and
Museums
Division:
http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/
U.S.
Coast
Guard
Historian’s
Office:
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/gcp/history/collect.html
Legal and diplomatic documents (e.g., The Treaty of Versailles, Executive Order
Establishing the Office of Homeland Security (8 October 2001), The Bretton Woods
Agreements, the Hague Conventions, UN Resolutions Relating to the Middle East, etc.) –
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. This is a great resource for primary
governmental documents from very early times (e.g., Acilian Law on the Right to
Recovery
of
Property
Officially
Extorted,
122
B.C.):
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/pre18.htm.
Archival Sources:
Journals of the Continental Congress (1774 – 1789):
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html (This has the complete text of the
Congressional Journals and is word-searchable).
First Federal Congress: http://www.gwu.edu/~ffcp/ (This is a brief overview of
the First Federal Congress Project with some documents included).
Smithsonian Institution: http://www.si.edu/ (each museum is accessible from this
general site.)
Legal Information Institute (Cornell University; statutes, cases, etc.):
http://www.law.cornell.edu/
Library of Congress on-line catalogue: http://catalog.loc.gov/
National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/
British National Archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
George Washington Papers (open edition):
http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu:8080/pgwde/dflt.xqy?mode=menu&keys=menu-infohome-public.
Other Miscellaneous Sites
The American Revolution Roundtable:
http://www.xenophongroup.com/patriot/arrt/arrt_web.htm
The History News Network, sponsored by the Center for History and the New
Media: http://hnn.us/
Virginia 400 – websites devoted to the four hundredth anniversary of the landing
at Jamestown: http://va400.org/wwwvirginia.php
Virginia and Maryland Probate inventories (1740-1810) provide insight into the
society of the day (George Mason): http://chnm.gmu.edu/probateinventory/
Military History on line: http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/
Naval History on line: http://www.naval-history.net/
Naval History: http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/
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International Journal of Naval History (on line journal):
http://www.ijnhonline.org/
Maps
Maps – University of Texas link to on-line maps:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/map_sites/hist_sites.html
West Point Atlases of Military History:
http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/atlases/atlas%20home.htm
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