HIST 380, THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1945
Instructor: Dr. Hugh Wilford
Phone: 562-985-4422
Office Hours: MW 11:00-12:00; by appointment
Course: History 380, U.S. Since 1945
Times: MW 9:30-10:45
Office: FO2-216
Email: hwilford@csulb.edu
Term: Fall 2007
Class Location: LA1-301
Introduction:
This course examines the political, social, cultural, and economic history of the United
States since the end of World War II. Beginning with President Truman’s decision to
drop atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, and ending with the current Bush administration’s
“War on Terror,” the course focuses particularly on the relationship between domestic
events and international conflicts. Another major theme will be the decline of New Dealstyle liberalism and accompanying rise of neo-conservatism. These subjects will be
addressed by a mixture of lectures given by the instructor, student presentations, and
document-based discussions.
Expected Student Learning Outcomes:
 Increased knowledge and understanding of the main themes and problems in
United States history since 1945, enabling the identification of major historical
debates and issues.
 An enhanced ability to present material orally, exchanging views with both the
instructor and other students.
 An enhanced ability to analyze primary and secondary sources within their
historical and historiographical contexts.
Required Texts:
(all available in the University Bookstore)
Robert Griffith and Paula Baker, eds., Major Problems in American History Since 1945,
3rd ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 2007) (Griffith)
Robert Dallek, Lyndon B. Johnson (Penguin, 2005) (Dallek) (be sure to get the abridged,
Penguin, 2005 edition of Dallek’s book – it’s shorter than earlier versions!)
Thomas Frank, What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of
America (Owl Books, reprint edition, 2005) (Frank)
You must complete the assigned reading specified in the Class Schedule below BEFORE
coming to class.
Please also note that you will find numerous books and journals dealing with aspects of
recent U.S. history in the University Library. Two excellent resources for locating
relevant journal articles are JSTOR and America: History and Life, electronic databases
available through electronic resources on COAST. The history librarian, Greg Armento,
can assist you with specific requests. Contact him at: garmento@csulb.edu
Assignments and Grading:
Your final grade will be based upon the following:
1. Participation and Attendance - 10% (assessed throughout course)
2. Oral Presentation - 10% (various dates)
3. Analysis of Primary Sources - 25% (Wednesday 24 October)
4. Book Review/Analysis - 25% (Wednesday 10 October or Monday 19 November)
5. Final Exam - 30% (Friday 21 December)
Assignment Descriptions:
1. Participation and Attendance: History majors should be able to communicate their
ideas effectively in oral as well as written form. Accordingly, your active, engaged, and
thoughtful involvement in class discussions is required. See evaluation form (to be
circulated separately) for further criteria; you will submit your completed form at the last
class meeting before the final exam.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B3.
2. Oral Presentation: Students will be responsible for a ten-minute presentation in class
which will be evaluated according to the following criteria: clarity, persuasiveness,
interest for audience, command of material, responsiveness to questions, use of visual or
other aids, and organization.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B4.
3. Midterm: For the midterm examination, you will be asked to analyze in writing
segments of the primary source documents from the Griffith textbook which you will
already have discussed in class. Further guidance about this assignment and a sample
exam will be circulated in due course.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B2.
4. Book review: A four-page essay on either Dallek or Frank critically assessing the
chosen book; further guidance will be circulated separately. This essay must be submitted
in class and on-line at www.turnitin.com. It is due at the beginning of the class in which
the selected book is to be discussed (10 October or 19 November). Students have the
option of resubmitting the essay after hearing the discussion; resubmissions are due at the
next class meeting. There are writing and skill development resources available at the
Writer’s Resource Lab (LAB 212, 985-4329, or on-line at www.csulb.edu/~wrl).
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guidelines B1 and B2.
5. Final: An exam to test students’ overall knowledge and understanding of material
covered in all of the readings and in class consisting of short answer (15%) and essay
questions (15%). Essay questions will be distributed in class prior to the exam date;
during the exam, you will answer one question of your choosing.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B2.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the ideas or words of another person or persons
as if they were one's own, without giving credit to the source. Acknowledgment of an
original author or source must be made through appropriate references, i.e., quotation
marks, footnotes, or commentary. Students are cautioned that, in conducting their
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research, they should prepare their notes by (a) either quoting material exactly (using
quotation marks) at the time they take notes from a source; or (b) departing completely
from the language used in the source, putting the material into their own words. In this
way, when the material is used in the paper or project, the student can avoid plagiarism
resulting from word-for-word use of notes. Both quoted and paraphrased materials must
be given proper citations. Students found guilty of plagiarism may receive a failing grade
for the class or be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs for possible probation,
suspension, or expulsion. Please ask the instructor if you have any questions about
plagiarism.
Withdrawal Policy:
It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from classes. Instructors have no obligation
to withdraw students who do not attend courses, and may choose not to do so.
Withdrawal from a course after the first two weeks of instruction requires the signature of
the instructor and department chair, and is permissible only for serious and compelling
reasons. During the final three weeks of instruction, withdrawals are not permitted except
in cases such as accident or serious illness where the circumstances causing the
withdrawal are clearly beyond the student’s control and the assignment of an incomplete
is not practical. Ordinarily, withdrawals in this category involve total withdrawal from
the University. The deadlines to withdraw from classes are listed in the Schedule for
Classes for Fall 2007.
Attendance Policy:
Excused absences include:
1. Illness or injury to the student
2. Death, injury, or serious illness of an immediate family member or the like
3. Religious reasons (California Education Code section 89320)
4. Jury duty or government obligation
5. University sanctioned or approved activities (examples include: artistic performances,
forensics presentations, participation in research conferences, intercollegiate athletic
activities, student government, required class field trips, etc.)
Faculty members are not obligated to consider other absences as excused.
Faculty members may require students to provide documentation for excused absences.
Make-Up Policy:
This course will include some graded in-class activities that it will not be possible to
recreate. If you expect to have an extended absence or multiple absences, you should
speak to the instructor about the feasibility of keeping up with course work.
If you miss graded assignments other than the in-class activities because you are absent
and the absence falls under the conditions for an excused absence, I will work with you
to help you make up the work through comparable, but alternative assignments. Be
prepared to show documentation.
Disability Policy:
It is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor of a need for accommodation of a
disability that has been verified by the University.
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Schedule of Classes and Assignments:
Week 1
9-5
Introduction, Griffith, chap. 1
ESSAYS
Thomas G. Paterson, The Origins of the Postwar International System
Alan Brinkley, The Legacies of World War II
Byron E. Shafer, The Puzzle of Postwar Politics
Week 2
9-10/9-12
Origins of the Cold War, Griffith, chap. 2
DOCUMENTS
1. President Harry S. Truman Discusses the Atom Bomb at Potsdam, July 1945
2. George F. Kennan's "Long Telegram," 1946
3. Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace Urges a Conciliatory Approach, July 1946
4. Soviet Ambassador Nikolai Novikov Reports on the U.S. Drive for World Supremacy,
September 1946
5. The Truman Doctrine, March 1947
6. Senator Joseph McCarthy Charges the Democrats Are "Soft on Communism"
7. The President's Advisors Urge Military Expansion (NSC-68), April 1950
ESSAYS
Arnold A. Offner, President Harry S. Truman and the Origins of the Cold War
John Lewis Gaddis, Two Cold War Empires
Week 3
9-17/9-19
The Cold War at Home: The U.S. in the 1950s, Griffith, chap. 3
DOCUMENTS
1. U.S. Business Celebrates the "Miracle of America," 1948
2. A Report on the "Baby Boom," 1954
3. Newsweek Decries the Problem of Dangerous Teens, 1955
4. Life Magazine Identifies the New Teen-age Market, 1959
5. U.S. News and World Report Assesses the Perils of Mass Culture and the Evils of
Television, 1955
6. Vance Packard warns against the "Hidden Persuaders," 1957
ESSAYS
Roland Marchand, Visions of Classlessness
Kelly Schrum, Making the American Girl
Week 4
9-24/9-26
The October Crisis: JFK and Cuba, Griffith, chap. 4
DOCUMENTS
1. Fidel Castro Denounces U.S. Policy Toward Cuba, 1960
2. President John F. Kennedy Calls for an Alliance for Progress, 1961
3. A Board of Inquiry Reports on the Bay of Pigs, 1961
4. A Senate Committee Investigates U.S. Plots to Assassinate Castro 1960-1965, (1975)
5. President Kennedy and His Advisers Debate Options in the Missile Crisis, October 16,
1962
6. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev Appeals to President Kennedy, October 26, 1962
7. Soviet Ambassador Anatoly I. Dobrynin Reports on His Meeting with Robert
Kennedy, October 28, 1962
ESSAYS
Thomas G. Paterson, Spinning Out of Control: Kennedy's War Against Cuba and the
Missile Crisis
Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow, Aftermath
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Week 5
10-1/10-3
The Struggle for African American Equality, Griffith, chap. 5
DOCUMENTS
1. The New York Times Reports a Murder in Georgia, 1946
2. African-American Parents Petition the Clarendon, S.C., School Board, 1949
3. A South African Novelist Examines the Plight of "The Negro in the North," 1954
4. Franklin McCain Remembers the First Sit-in, 1960
5. Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream," 1963
6. Stokely Carmichael Explains "Black Power," 1967
7. A Senate Committee Reports on the FBI's Campaign Against Martin Luther King,
1963-1968 (1976)
8. Police and Fire Department Logs Record an Urban Riot, 1967
ESSAYS
Charles Payne, The View from the Trenches
Thomas J. Sugrue, The Continuing Racial Crisis
Week 6
10-8
Post-War Liberalism: LBJ and the Great Society, Griffith, chap. 6
DOCUMENTS
1. President Lyndon B. Johnson Declares War on Poverty, 1964
2. Congress Strikes Down Segregation in Public Accommodations: The Civil Rights Act
of 1964, Title II (1964)
3. Ronald Reagan Warns of the Dangers of the Welfare State, 1964
4. Two White House Aides Report the Achievements of the Great Society, 1966
5. A Conservative Strategist Hails an "Emerging Republican Majority," 1969
6. Earth Day, 1970
ESSAYS
James T. Patterson, The Rise of "Rights Consciousness"
Michael D. Lassiter, Suburban Politics and the Limits of the Great Society
10-10
Week 7
10-15/10-17
Discussion of Dallek’s Lyndon B. Johnson
DALLEK BOOK REVIEW DUE
“The 60s”: New Left and Counterculture, Griffith, chap. 7
DOCUMENTS
1. Students for a Democratic Society Issue the Port Huron Statement, 1962
2. Jerry Rubin Declares Himself a "Child of Amerika," 1970
3. Radicals Proclaim: "You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind
Blows," 1969
4. The FBI's Secret Campaign Against the New Left, 1968-1971 (1976)
5. Raymond Mungo Searches for a New Age at Total Loss Farm, 1970
6. A Pollster Reports on "The Big Chill," 1974
ESSAYS
Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin, The Contradictory Legacy of the Sixties
Hugh Heclo, The Sixties and the Origins of "Postmodern" America
Week 8
10-22
The Second Wave of American Feminism, Griffith, chap. 8
DOCUMENTS
1. Betty Friedan on "The Problem That Has No Name," 1963
2. NOW Statement of Purpose, 1966
3. Redstockings Manifesto, 1970
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4. Welfare is a Women's Issue, 1972
5. A Redbook Magazine Reader Discovers Consciousness-Raising, 1973
6. The Supreme Court Rules on Abortion: Roe v. Wade, 1973
7. The Equal Rights Amendment, 1972
8. Phyllis Schlafly Proclaims the Power of the Positive Woman, 1977
ESSAYS
Alice Echols, Women's Liberation and Sixties Radicalism
Beth Bailey, Women at Work
10-24
ASSIGNMENT: ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY SOURCES
Week 9
10-29/10-31
Vietnam and the Crisis of American Empire, Griffith, chap. 9
DOCUMENTS
1. The Vietnamese Declare Their Independence, 1945
2. President Dwight D. Eisenhower Explains the Domino Theory, 1954
3. Final Declaration of the Geneva Conference on Indochina, 1954
4. A South Vietnamese Peasant Explains Why He Joined the Vietcong, 1961 (1986)
5. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964
6. President Lyndon Johnson's Advisors Debate Expanding the War, 1965
7. A "Tunnel Rat" Testifies About the My Lai Massacre, 1968, 1969
8. The Paris Accords, 1973
ESSAYS
Michael H. Hunt, The Wages of War
Arnold R. Isaacs, Competing Memories
Week 10
11-5/11-7
The Right Resurgent: Reaganism and After, Griffith, chap. 10
DOCUMENTS
1. President Jimmy Carter and the Crisis of the American Spirit, 1979
2. Presidential Candidate Ronald Reagan Calls for New Economic Policies, 1980
3. A New Right Activist Explains Conservative Success, 1980
4. President Ronald Reagan Proclaims America's "Spiritual Reawakening," 1983
5. A Congressional Committee Reports on "Irangate," 1987
6. An Environmentalist Attacks the Administration's Record, 1988
7. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop Recalls the Administration's Response to the AIDS
Crisis, 1981-1988 (2001)
ESSAYS
Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter, The Republicans Take Control
Jules Tygel, A Disputed Legacy
Week 11
11-12
11-14
Veterans Day – no class meeting
The New Economy, Griffith, chap. 11
DOCUMENTS
1. "New Democrats" Hail the "New Economy," 1998
2. A Federal Reserve Report Extols "Mass Customization," 1998
3. Money Magazine Asks of Wal-Mart, "How Big Can it Get?" 1999
4. A Critic Assails the Influence of Wal-Mart, 1999
5. A Columnist Decries "Outsourcing" in the Global New Economy, 2004
6. Americans for Democratic Action Reports Growing Poverty and Inequality, 2004
7. A Research Firm "Segments" the American Market, 2000
ESSAYS
Barbara Ehrenreich, Working at Wal-Mart
Michael J. Weiss, The Fragmenting of America
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Week 12
11-19
11-21
Discussion of Frank’s What’s the Matter With Kansas?
FRANK BOOK REVIEW DUE
Thanksgiving Holiday – no class meeting
Week 13
11-26/11-28
Race and Ethnicity in a Changing World, Griffith, chap. 12
DOCUMENTS
1. Coming to America, 1900-2002
2. Proposition 187: Californians Seek to Close the Door to Undocumented Immigrants,
1994
3. Two Reporters Describe Los Angeles's Racial Tensions, 1995
4. Social Scientists Report on the "New Americans," 1997
5. An African-American Novelist Decries "Race Talk," 1993
6. Richard Rodriguez Ponders What It Means to Be "Brown." 2002
7. Americans Express Support for Both Unity and Diversity, 2003
ESSAYS
George J. Sanchez, Race, Immigration and Nativism
Thomas C. Holt, Race, Nation and the Global Economy
Week 14
12-3/12-5
Postmodern Politics, Griffith, chap. 13
DOCUMENTS
1. Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton Promises a "New Covenant," 1992
2. "Gays in the Military" Prompts Mobilization of Conservatives, 1993
3 The Republican "Contract with America," 1994
4. President Bill Clinton Ends "Welfare as We Know It," 1996
5. Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr's Indictment of President Clinton, 1998
6. Who Voted for Whom in 2000: A Chart
7. A Columnist Reports on How the Nation's Agenda is Set, 2000
ESSAYS
Bruce Miroff, Bill Clinton and the Postmodern Presidency
Matthew A. Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg, The Imperial Presidency Redivivus
Week 15
12-10/12-12
The New World Order, Griffith, chap. 14
DOCUMENTS
1. President George H.W. Bush Announces a New World Order, 1990
2. One World: An American Diplomat Hails the Opportunities of a New Era, 1995
3. Osama Bin Laden Declares Jihad Against America, 1998
4. The New York Times Reports Last Words from the World Trade Center, 2001
5. President George W. Bush Announces a New National Security Strategy, 2002
6. Senator Robert C. Byrd Charges "The Emperor Has No Clothes," 2003
7. An Army Officer Ponders How America Is Losing Hearts and Minds in Iraq, 2004
ESSAYS
John Lewis Gaddis, Setting Right a Dangerous World
Michael H. Hunt, In the Wake of September 11
Week 16
FINAL EXAM
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And finally….
Important Information for History Majors:
The History Department now requires majors to move through a series of courses that
begins with History 301, is followed by 302, and culminates in a Senior Seminar (499)
that matches one of the areas of concentration selected for the major. History 499 must be
taken in the last semester of work, or after 18 units of upper-division work have been
completed in the major. Those 18 units must include at least six units (two courses) in the
concentration that is the focus of the 499. Students in 499 are required to assemble a
portfolio that reflects their work in upper-division history courses. This portfolio is
designed to enable students to show development in the major, and their mastery of key
analytical, mechanical, and presentation skills. As a part of the process, history majors (or
prospective majors) should save all work from upper-division history courses for
potential inclusion in the portfolio. For portfolio guidelines, see
www.csulb.edu/depts/history. For questions and/or advising about the portfolio, contact
Professor Sharlene Sayegh-Canada at ssayeghc@csulb.edu
Dr. Hugh Wilford
August 2007
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