HISTORY 17B—WINTER 2016
History of the American Peoples, 1830s-1920
Instructor:
Time and Room:
Office Hours:
Lisa Jacobson
Office: HSSB 4232
Email: jacobson@history.ucsb.edu
MWF, 2:00-2:50, IV Theater 1
M, 11-noon, W, 3:15-4:15 and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND COURSE OBJECTIVES
This survey of United States history from the 1830s to the end of World War I in 1919 examines
how various transformations—the expansion of commerce and the rise of big business, the
spread of slavery and westward migration, the influx of new immigrants and the growth of
cities—intensified social and political conflict over the meanings of liberty and equality. We
will analyze how Americans’ conflicting visions of freedom led them to embrace conflicting
solutions to the problems and opportunities generated by social, political, and economic change.
While some Americans staged strikes and took up the cause of reform, others staged World’s
Fairs and launched imperial ventures. Eventually (and repeatedly), nearly all Americans became
embroiled in war. To better understand how Americans attempted to advance and reconcile their
competing visions of freedom, we will study traditional ruling elites—politicians, business
magnates, and slaveholding planters—as well as a host of other Americans who shaped who we
are today: saloon keepers, factory workers, Native Americans, enslaved blacks and freed African
Americans, immigrants, suffragists, and women reformers.
This course aims not only to improve your understanding of the American past, but also to equip
you with a host of analytical, writing, and critical thinking skills that you can carry with you
throughout your college and post-graduation careers. By the end of the course, you will have
practiced and honed several skills, including your ability to:
 analyze primary sources—the documents and artifacts produced by historical actors—by
situating them in their historical context, assessing their particular biases, and discerning their
multiple layers of meaning
 evaluate contradictory pieces of historical evidence and use them to formulate a particular
interpretation of the past
 craft a compelling thesis and advance a persuasive argument
 understand how the past informs our current aspirations for a better world and how the past
has shaped the social conflicts, ideological struggles, and problems of inequality we continue
to wrestle with today
REQUIRED READINGS
Copies of the following required readings are available for purchase at the UCSB bookstore and
have also been placed on two-hour reserve at the library.
 Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, fourth compact edition
 John Majewski, ed., History of the American Peoples: A Primary Source Reader
 Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of a Slave
 David Von Drehele, Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
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Additional materials on Give Me Liberty website: This textbook is linked with a website
hosted by the book’s publisher: www.wwnorton.com/college/history/give-me-liberty4/. While
you are not required to use the website, it does contain worksheets, flashcards, and other material
that you might find useful in preparing for exams and deepening your understanding of the
course. The following access code will allow you to use the website: GIVE-LIB4.
How to prioritize your reading: Give Me Liberty provides a useful overview of the main events
and course themes and, along with the course lectures, will supply the essential historical context
you need to interpret and evaluate the other assigned readings. The discussion sections will
focus on the primary source documents in the Majewski reader, Frederick Douglas’s
autobiography, and the riveting history of the Triangle Fire, so it is especially important that you
come to section having carefully read and thought about those particular readings.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
Grades will be based on two papers, an in-class final exam, and participation in discussion
section. Grades will be apportioned as follows:
Paper 1: 20% (due in class Friday, February 5)
Paper 2: 25% (due in class Wednesday, March 2)
Final: 35% (Monday, March 14, 4:00-7:00pm, IV Theatre)
Discussion Section: 20%
Description of papers and exams: The papers, approximately 5-6 double-spaced, typed pages,
will ask you develop an argument based on your analysis of primary sources, secondary
readings, and lecture materials. Questions will be passed out a week in advance, and your TA
will provide more information, including writing advice and formatting instructions, as the
quarter progresses. The final exam will consist of essay questions selected from a list of
questions handed out in advance.
Requirements for a passing grade: To pass the course, students must complete all of the
assignments and earn a passing grade in section. Because participation in discussion is an
important part of the course, three unexcused absences will result in an automatic “F” in
section (and a C- or below in the course).
Procedure for appealing grades: Your TA will grade all of the assignments as well as section
participation. Should you disagree with your TA over a grade, you may appeal to me only after
discussing the grade first with your TA. Every appeal to me must be submitted in writing,
explaining why you believe the grade should be higher. I reserve the right to lower as well as
raise grades in appeal situations. All appeals must be initiated within one week after the
assignment has been returned.
IMPORTANT CLASS POLICIES
Academic Integrity: Plagiarism or any other form of cheating will not be tolerated in this
course. Plagiarism involves borrowing the words from a book, article, Internet source, or
classmate without properly crediting the author. Students may not use unassigned readings
without permission from their TA. Any students caught turning in work that is not their own will
fail the assignment, fail the course, and may face disciplinary action from the university.
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IMPORTANT CLASS POLICIES (CONTINUED)
Conduct during lecture: This is a large class, and it might be tempting to think that your
behavior is invisible to others. Rude and distracting behaviors, however, can affect the learning
outcomes for all students. Please observe basic rules of common courtesy: arrive on time and
stay to the end of class and refrain from shopping online, checking your Facebook page, talking
to friends, etc. during class. If a student repeatedly acts in a rude or distracting manner—
including leaving early without prior authorization—I will ask the TAs to take the student’s
name and penalize his or her grade accordingly.
PART I: A FRACTURED REPUBLIC
I. The Market Revolution, Expansionism, and American National Identity
Jan. 4: Introduction to History 17B
Jan. 6: Commercial Development and American Political Culture
Jan. 8: An Empire for Liberty? Slavery, Native Americans, and Western Expansion
Readings for Discussion Section Week 1:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 9 (pp. 320-341, 347-353), Chapter 10 (esp., 355-364, 379394)
 Documents on GauchoSpace:
o Document 1: “Alexis de Tocqueville Marvels at the Mobile Northern Society, 1831”
o Document 2: “The United States Democratic Review Argues That ‘White Slavery’
Threatens the Urban North, 1842”
II. Domestic Ideology, Moral Reform, and Feminism
Jan. 11: Domestic Ideology and the Rise of the Middle Class
Jan. 13: Moral Reform and Abolitionism
Jan. 15: The Emergence of Women’s Rights
Readings for Discussion Section Week 2:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 9 (pp. 341, 344-347, 349-351; sections on “The Great
Awakening,” “Mormonism,” “The Cult of Domesticity,” “Women and Work”), Chapter 12
 Nancy Cott, “Feminism and the Private World of Women” (linked to on GauchoSpace)
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 2, 3, 4, 5 (pp. 7-23, 27-28)
III. Slavery and Race
Jan. 18: HOLIDAY—NO CLASS!!
Jan. 20: Southern Society and Proslavery Ideology
Jan. 22: Slave Culture in the Antebellum South
Readings for Discussion Section Week 3:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 11
 Douglass, Narrative of the Life of a Slave
Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Document 6 (pp. 29-32)
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IV. The Coming of the Civil War
Jan. 25: Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War (Receive Topics for Paper #1)
Jan. 27: Sectionalism, the Republic Party, and the Tumultuous Politics of the 1850s
Jan. 29: Abraham Lincoln and the Secession Crisis
Readings for Discussion Section Week 4:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 13
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 7, 8, 9, 10 (pp. 33-55)
V. Civil War and Reconstruction
Feb. 1: The Civil War as Total War
Feb. 3: Who Freed the Slaves?
Feb. 5: Was Reconstruction a Failure? (Paper #1 Due)
Readings for Discussion Section Week 5:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 14, 15
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 11, 12, 13 (pp. 57-81)
PART II: THE INCORPORATION OF AMERICA
VI. The West and the Rise of Big Business
Feb. 8: “Redeeming the South, Conquering the West”
Feb. 10: Cultural Conflict and Dispossession in the West
Feb. 12: The Rise of Big Business
Readings for Discussion Section Week 6:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 16 (pp. 592-621)
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 14, 15, 16 (pp. 85-98)
VII. Labor, Capital, and the Cities
Feb. 15: HOLIDAY—NO CLASS!!
Feb. 17: “Eight Hours for What We Will”: Labor and Leisure
Feb. 19: Cities and the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago
Readings for Discussion Section Week 7:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 16 (pp. 621-636)
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 17, 18, 19 (pp. 99-116)
 Drehle, Triangle (begin reading—this week’s reading is relatively light and next week’s is
relatively heavy, so this is a good week to read at least half of Triangle in preparation for
next week’s discussion)
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PART III: POPULISM AND PROGRESSIVISM:
CONTESTED VISIONS OF THE NATION AND AMERICAN GLOBAL POWER
VIII. Radical (and not so Radical) Responses to Corporate America
Feb. 22: The Populist Response to Big Business (Receive Paper #2 Topics)
Feb. 24: Varieties of Progressivism and the Growth of the State
Feb. 26: The Triangle Fire and the Promises and Limitations of Progressive Reform
Readings for Discussion Section Week 8:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 17 (pp. 637-648; section on “The Populist Challenge”) and
Chapter 18
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 (pp. 119-149)
 Drehle, Triangle (finish reading)
IX. Racial Ideology, Nativism, and Progressive Reform
Feb. 29: Southern Progressivism and African American Responses to Jim Crow
Mar. 2: Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism (Paper #2 Due)
Mar. 4: Prohibition and Pressure Politics
Readings for Discussion Section Week 9:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 17 (pp. 648-680; sections on “The Segregated South,”
“Redrawing the Boundaries,” “Becoming a World Power”)
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 25, 26, 27 (pp. 151-167)
X. World War I: the Culmination of Progressive Reform?
Mar. 7: Women’s Suffrage and the Politics of War and Peace
Mar. 9: State Power and Wartime Citizenship
Mar. 11: “Safe for Democracy”?: The Contested Meanings of Freedom
Readings for Discussion Section Week 10:
 Foner, Give Me Liberty, Chapter 19
 Majewski, Primary Source Reader, Documents 28, 29, 30 (pp. 169-181)
Mar. 14: Final Exam, 4:00-7:00pm, IV Theater