Course Description: An appraisal of American society in a world context from the post-Civil War era to the present.
Emphasis on topical & thematical analysis in a chronological framework.
Course Objectives/Goals:
1.
The student will examine American History from a number of cultural & historiographic perspectives.
2.
The student will identify key actors, concepts and events in American history after 1865.
3.
In accordance with Illinois Articulation Initiative standards, the student will “formulate historical interpretations, both orally and in writing, and defined them critically with reference to primary and secondary sources.”
4.
In accordance with Illinois Articulation Initiative standards, the students will also, “incorporate into historical interpretations, both orally and in writing, an understanding of historical causation reflecting a) knowledge of important figures and events and their chronological relationship to each other and b) an awareness of the contingent relationships among social, political, religious, intellectual, and economic variables.”
Instructor: Mrs. Herrmann Email: JHerrmann@bismarck.k12.il.us
Office Hours: 7:30 am-8:15 am, 8th Hr., 3:15pm-3:35pm, Monday-Frida y
COURSE EVALUATION
Due Dates- All work is due when you come to class.
Homework- You will be writing four modules per quarter. (Eight for the semester) Your responses relate to readings in your texts. For example, one question might read as follows: “In your view, what factors best explain a Union victory in the Civil War?” You will share your responses with members of small groups, and with the rest of the class.
Your grade will be based, in part, upon how well you use the assigned reading in your work. All written responses will be graded and are worth 20 points each. You will take four essay exams. Exams are worth at least 100 points each.
Term Paper
This semester you will write a five to seven page paper on a topic of your choice. Your topic must be relevant to the time period of our course of study. Papers are to be double spaced with 1” margins & page numbers. Papers must be five complete pages of text in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font! Citations must be in APA format. You must have at least five print sources. The term paper is worth 215 points.
The criteria below will be used in grading your written work this semester. It is important to include accurate and factual material in all your essays. Names and places which are key to your essay should be spelled correctly. All of your written work should make specific reference to people and events, and you should provide dates to illustrate change over time.
“A” – Excellent Work
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Use specific and accurate terms and concepts throughout the essay.
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Use complete sentences and paragraphs
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Have a clear introduction and conclusion
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Present and support a specific thesis throughout the essay
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Provide a thoughtful and supported opinion when appropriate
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Demonstrate excellent skills in organization and mechanics
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Present direct answers to all phases of the question asked
“B” – Good Work

Use accurate terms and concepts throughout the essay

Use complete sentences and paragraphs

Have an introduction and a conclusion


Present a thesis and have some support throughout the essay

Provide a thoughtful and supported opinion when appropriate

Demonstrate good skills in organization and mechanics

Present answers to all phases of the question asked
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“C” – Average Work
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Use few accurate terms and concepts
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Use complete sentences and paragraphs
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Have an introduction or a conclusion

Present a thesis but have little support
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Provide a thoughtful opinion without support
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Demonstrate some skills in organization and mechanics

Present some answers to the questions asked
“D” – Below Average Work
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Use few or no terms and concepts
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Use some complete sentences and paragraphs
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Have no introduction or conclusion
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Present disjointed ideas without a thesis or support
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Provide little or no opinion when asked
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Demonstrate few skills in organization and mechanics

Present few direct answers to the question asked
“F” –Failing Work
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Use no terms or concepts

Use few complete sentences and paragraphs

Have no introduction or conclusion

Present disjointed ideas with no support

Provide no opinion when asked

Demonstrate no skills in organization and mechanics

Present only a couple of answers to the questions asked
Books
Berkin, Carol. Making America, Vol. II. 5 th Edition. New York: Houghton-Mifflin: 2007.
Oates, Stephen, editor. Portrait of America, Vol. II. 9 th Edition. New York: Houghton-Mifflin: 2006.
Topical Outline and Chapter Assignments:
Module 1-American Industrialization Berkin Ch. 16 & 17 Oates Ch. 5-7
Due 1/8: Historians often refer to men like Andrew Carnegie as Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. Which do you think is more appropriate and why?
Key Terms: Entrepreneur, Stock Exchange, Recession, Depression, Pacific Railway Act, Andrew Carnegie, Vertical
Integration, Social Darwinism, Laissez Faire, Gospel of Wealth, Robber Baron, Piecework, Ethnicity, Deflation, Most
Favored Nation Status, John D. Rockefeller, Cartel, Horizontal Integration, Monopoly, Trust, Holding Company, Oligopoly,
Interstate Commerce Commission
Module 2-The American West Berkin Ch. 18 Oates Ch. 3 & 4
Due 1/15: The assigned readings have a common theme of people facing overwhelming odds. Some survive, while others do not. Which personal story stood out to you the most and why?
Key Terms: Great Plains, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph, Wounded Knee Creek, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt
Earp, Chinese Exclusion Act, Assimilate, Dawes Severalty Act

Abstract Due – Jan. 15, 2016
Module 3-The Populist Movement Berkin p. 576-594
Due 1/22: Which candidate would you have supported in the election of 1892 and why?
Key Terms: Populist, Farmers Alliances, Civil Rights Cases, Plessy v. Ferguson, New Immigrants, Old Immigrants, Sherman
Anti-Trust Act, Eugene V. Debs, William Jennings Bryan
Module 4-American & World Power Berkin p. 595-609 Oates Ch. 8 & 9
Due 1/28: In Ch. 9 of Oates, Kohler & Wensyel suggest some lessons to be learned from the Philippine-American War.
Given the current conflicts, do you think those lessons have been learned?
Key Terms: Lili’uokolani, Protectorate, Yellow Journalism, Teller Amendment, U.S.S. Maine, Philippine Islands, Theodore
Roosevelt, Treaty of Paris 1898, Imperialism, Platt Amendment, Emilio Aguinaldo, William Howard Taft, Sphere of
Influence, Boxer Rebellion
1 st Exam-Jan. 29, 2016
Preliminary Bibliography Due-Feb. 12, 2015
Module 5-The Progressives Berkin Ch. 20 Oates Ch. 10 & 11
Due 2/5: Compare and contrast Theodore Roosevelt to at least two other American presidents.
Key Terms: Progressive Part, Socialist Party of America, Muckrakers, Pure Food and Drug Act, Municipal Reform, Direct
Primary, Direct Democracy, Trust Busting, Square Deal, Conservation, Preservationist, Roosevelt Corollary, Dollar
Diplomacy, Treaty of Portsmouth, New Nationalism, Bull Moose Party
Module 6-World War I Berkin Ch. 21 Oates Ch. 13
Due 2/12: In your opinion, was the Versailles Treaty successful? Why or why not?
Key Terms: Triple Entente, Triple Alliance, Slavic, Balkan Peninsula, Nationalism, Central Powers, Sussex Pledge, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Fourteen Points, Self-Determination, Reparations, League of Nations, Treaty of Versailles, Mandate,
League Covenant
Module 7-The 1920s Berkin Ch. 22 Oates 12, 14 & 15
Due 2/19: As you read the texts, what were your reactions to the different views of immigration and race?
Key Terms: Expatriates, Harlem Renaissance, Marcus Garvey, National Origins Act, Eugenics, Isolationism
Module 8-The Great Depression Berkin p. 718-724 Oates Ch. 16
Due 2/25: Interview a person you know who lived through the Great Depression. How do their memories of this time period help you understand this historical event? OR Why were Herbert Hoover’s efforts to fight the Depression unsuccessful? If you had been one of his advisors, what advice would you have given him?
Key Terms: Great Depression, Misdistribution of Wealth, Public Works Projects, Reconstruction Finance Corporation,
Glass-Steagall Act, Federal Home Loan Bank Act, Bonus Army, Hooverville
2 nd Exam-Feb. 26, 2016
Outline Due- Feb. 29, 2016
Module 9-The New Deal Berkin p. 725-747 Oates Ch. 17 & 18
Due 3/4: In what ways was Eleanor Roosevelt a role model for future First Ladies? In your opinion, did Eleanor Roosevelt set unreasonably high expectations for future First Ladies?
Key Terms: New Deal, Brain Trust, Fireside Chats, Dust Bowl, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., National Youth
Administration

Module 10-World War 2 Berkin Ch. 24 Oates Ch. 19-21
Due 3/11: Do you view Ch. 19 in Oates as an apology for American actions or a realistic appraisal of the response the
U.S. adopted toward the Holocaust? –OR- Do you think Truman made the right decision in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan?
Key Terms: Discriminatory Neutrality, Appeasement, Battle of Britain, German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, Internment
Camps, Manhattan Project, Tehran Conference, Yalta, United Nations, Security Council, Final Solution, War Refugee
Board, Potsdam Declaration
Module 11-The Early Cold War Berkin Ch. 25 Oates Ch. 22
Due 3/17: How did the Cold War affect popular culture?
Key Terms: Containment, Iron Curtain, Berlin Airlift, Truman Doctrine, NATO, Rio Pact, 38 th Parallel, Fellow-Trraveler,
House Un-American Activities Committee, Hollywood Ten, Alger Hiss, McCarran Internal Security Act, Ethel & Julius
Rosenberg, Joseph McCarthy
Module 12-The 1950s Berkin Ch. 26
Due 3/28: After reading Ch. 26 in Berkin, what have you learned about the late 1950s that you didn’t already know?
How did it change your understanding of the time period?
Key Terms: Sputnik I, Army-McCarthy Hearings, Fallout Shelters, Third World, Eisenhower Doctrine, Domino Theory,
Standard of Living, Vice Squads, Beats, de facto, de jure, Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
3 rd Exam Mar. 29, 2015
Rough Draft Due-Apr. 1, 2015
Module 13-The 1960s at Home Berkin Ch. 27 Oates Ch. 23 & 25
Due 4/11: How does the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s succeed when Reconstruction failed?
Key Terms: New Frontier, Sit-in, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Freedom Riders, War on Poverty, March on Washington, Civil Rights Acts of 1964, Great Society, Freedom Summer, Freedom March, Voting Rights Act, Watts,
Black Power, Black Panthers
Module 14-Vietnam & Watergate Berkin Ch. 28 Oates Ch. 24, 27 & 28
Due 4/18: What impact do you think Nixon had on the image of the U.S. Presidency?
Key Terms: Robert Kennedy, Spiro Agnew, Henry Kissinger, Vietnamization, Nixon Doctrine, War Powers Act, détente,
Leonid Brezhnev, SALT I, Committee to Re-Elect the President, John Mitchell, Watergate, Saturday Night Massacre
Module 15-Facing Limits Berkin Ch. 29 Oates Ch. 26, 29 & 30
Due 4/25: Based on the assigned readings, do you think the goals of the women’s movement have been achieved? Use examples from the readings to defend your opinion.
Key Terms: Human Rights, Postindustrial Economy, Affirmative Action, Equal Rights Amendment, Roe v. Wade, Right to
Life Movement, Cultural Pluralism, Moral Majority
Research Paper Due-May 2, 2016
Module 16-Entering a New Century Berkin Ch. 30 Oates Ch. 31 & 32
Due 5/5: Explain how the technological revolution has changed your life.
Key Terms: North American Free Trade Agreement, Cultural Imperialism, G-8 Nations, World Trade Organization, Glass
Ceiling, International Monetary Fund, Ethnic Cleansing, Kyoto Protocol, Taliban
4 th Exam-May 6 th , 2016
Final Exam May, 12-13, 2016