HIST 128: American History Since 1865
| Course Home Page | Blackboard | Instructor E-mail |
| Course Objectives | Materials | History and the Internet |
| Assignments, Grading, and Exams | Honor Code | Course Mechanics |
| Course Schedule | ||
Course Objectives
Greetings and welcome to the course.
In the past few years distance education classes such as this one have been taken by all sorts of people—those with doctorates, those with high school diplomas, stay-at-home parents, farmers, teachers, social workers, and prison inmates. Distance students have come from Illinois, Wyoming, Alaska, and Hawaii, as well as from North Carolina. Ultimately, then, you are part of a varied student body.
Given the different life experiences that you and your fellow course members have, my challenge has been to create a course that speaks to every person in the group. I want this class to be more than a meaningless exercise, so I've asked myself the question “Why should students study history?”
Of course, there are plenty of practical reasons that bring students to the class. Some of you are completing degree requirements for your professional careers, some of you are trying to better your grades so you can eventually enter UNC on a full-time basis, and some of you are finishing a Carolina degree you previously started. Others of you are taking this class purely out of personal interest.
But on a more philosophical basis, why study history? There are many answers to this question. Certainly in elementary and secondary schools, American history courses are intended to make all of us better citizens, to help “socialize” us. That is why there is a history component to the battery of tests the federal government administers to immigrants who seek to become US citizens. If you live here, the reasoning goes, you should know a little about the place.
This list of why's can go on and on—teaching critical thinking skills, fostering broader thinking about people and issues, and so on. All of these are fine answers, but to me, history is best taught when it becomes personal. That is, somewhere in the course, I want you to become aware that these often-forgotten events have had a very real and significant impact on your lives. If this doesn't happen, then one of the fundamental lessons of history has been lost.
Fortunately, this is a course in recent US history, so seeing these vital, personal connections is not quite as difficult as, say, in a study of ancient history (although the same principles apply). This class will cover the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, for instance, conflicts that probably either directly involved you or certainly impacted friends or family. You will learn about immigration reform in the 1920s and 1960s, which drastically impacted the racial and ethnic composition of the nation. Again, somewhere in your family tree, these policies probably made themselves felt.
I hope that, as you become more aware of these immediate connections, you can start making connections with incidents that may seem less important to you. Populism, Progressivism and the New Deal; Nativism, Prohibition, and the Cold War—all of these shaped the nation, the experiences of those who came before you, and, ultimately, your own life.
Throughout the course, you will be asked to comment on some of these great historical issues. Many times, as a means of further personalizing these issues, you will be asked to put yourself in the place of various actors in a given period.
This process should make you a better citizen. If successful, it will also give you more of a sense of connection with the country in which you live.
Materials
This course is divided into fourteen lessons. Most often, you will be required to read roughly a chapter of the text for each lesson. As a complement to this reading, there will be some original source material document sets, some readings from Studs Terkel's book, and some suggested Web sites. The document sets and many of the Web sites will help you to make your own decisions about historical events without relying on a historian to act as an interpreter. Additionally, the assigned readings will at times be supplemented with a short lecture from your course audiotape or with a historical monograph (book).
As you complete these lessons, pay attention to the large themes you encounter—chapter headings and subheadings are a good place to start. Understanding each of the items listed in the Important Terms section for each lesson will also help. Normally, it is best to work from the general to the specific in mastering these themes. Once you understand what the New Deal was, for instance, then you might study a bit about the first and second New Deals, then about the NRA, the court packing scheme, and so on.
You will find that all of this information does, in fact, fit together into a greater whole. By studying in this manner, you will also be well prepared for your final exam.
The bulk of your reading assignments will come from the following two books:
- Boyer, Paul S. et al. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People: Volume 2: From 1865, 6th edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008.
- Lorence, James J. Enduring Voices, Vol. 2, 4th edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
You will also read an excellent history of the Great Depression based on interviews with those who experienced it:
- Terkel, Studs. Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. New York: Random House, 1970.
The course materials also include a CD containing a series of short lectures by past and present members of the UNC Department of History. Each piece is a supplement to one of your lesson assignments. The CD allows you to hear the voices of some of the people who are engaged in researching and writing about history. It contains a variety of speakers, from long-established professors to those working on their graduate degrees.
You can order these materials from the Higher Grounds bookstore at the Friday Center either online or by using the book order form.
Internet Resources
Each lesson will have some suggested Web sites, and you are encouraged to find additional resources to supplement your studies.
History and the Internet
I had a colleague who left the world of academics for a job with a Canadian Agriculture Ministry. Armed with a master's degree in history, he was not quite sure how much of his post-graduate education would translate into real-world job skills. He was pleasantly surprised. Ultimately, he found that his training in analyzing and synthesizing information served him well as he entered an information age workplace.
”You know,” he told me, “using the Internet and writing history require a lot of the same skills.” At the time I was much more of a cyber-novice, so I did not fully appreciate his comment for a few years. But further experience and thought have helped me realize that he was right.
Like historians, focused Internet surfers have to find information relevant to their interests. In historical research, finding one good source often leads to several others, much like the links of any given Web site. As materials are located, they then must be assessed. What sources have been used by the site/document authors, and how reliable is this information? How valid are the arguments presented? Most importantly (and perhaps obviously), just as in historical research, you can't believe everything you read on the Internet. Whether you are completing research on the Internet or in an archive, chances are that much or most of the information you find will be bad. That is to say, the material is not helpful because it is unreliable, poorly organized, and/or irrelevant to your needs.
Treating all of this information after it is gathered is perhaps the most difficult aspect for researchers and historians of all kinds. How can all this material be synthesized in a way that is understandable (essentially making order out of chaos)? What are the important issues and themes that emerge? And, of course, is it possible to present all of this analyzing and synthesizing in a way that will interest an audience?
Assignments, Grading, and Exams
Discussion Forums
Your first contribution to discussion in this class will go into the General Discussion Forum, where you need to introduce yourself to me and your fellow classmates. This forum will remain open throughout the semester for class-related questions and conversations that fall outside the bounds of weekly discussion. Our discussion forums are on Blackboard. See Course Mechanics below for details on how to access the forums.
Using the discussion forums, each student is required to participate in a weekly discussion of our readings. Students will serve as conversation leaders on a rotating basis. Depending on class size, one or more of you will lead the discussion. You can expect to serve as conversation leader at least once, possibly twice in the semester. I will be the conversation leader for the first week. All students, including conversation leaders, will be expected to post responses to the discussion forum by Wednesday. The conversation leaders will post a follow-up by Friday that integrates all responses and guides the discussion further. All other students will be responsible for a follow-up post, due Sunday.
| Day of lesson | Discussion forum minimum requirement |
| Wednesday | First class response to discussion topic due |
| Thursday/Friday | Conversation leaders post integrating responses and guide further discussion |
| Sunday | Follow-up class response for the week due |
Written Assignments
During the semester, you will be required to complete two five- to seven-page essays (2,000 to 2,800 words). As you complete these essays, please keep the following points in mind.
- You need to place each of your responses in proper essay form. That is, you must have an introduction containing a thesis statement (which summarizes the main points of the essay), a body that follows the outline stated in the introduction, and, finally, a summarizing conclusion. You may want to consult a basic English textbook to find more information about the construction of a good essay.
- The general argument(s) in each essay should be your own and thus should reflect your thoughts and words. You should, however, support these fundamental ideas with course materials. For instance, perhaps you might choose to argue that the Cold War was the result of poor decision-making on the part of US policy-makers (your idea). You might then refer to specific actions taken by the Truman and Eisenhower administrations (support from course materials).
- When supporting your arguments with factual detail, try to explain these materials in your own words. If you do occasionally paraphrase or quote from your readings and tapes, be sure to use quotation marks and cite your references.
- Each written assignment must be accompanied by a search for an Internet site relevant to your essay topic. You will locate Web sites and then analyze them using a set of criteria. Categories included in the site assessments will be: sources, intended audience, overall presentation, and general usefulness as a historical resource. Guidelines for this activity will be provided. Information from the site should then be incorporated into your essay.
Submitting Assignments
Send papers as e-mail attachments—preferably in Microsoft Word (.doc) format—to my e-mail address, dlong1@email.unc.edu. If you are unable to save your assignments as Word files, please contact me before sending them.
Grading
- Discussion forum (one third of final grade)
- Written assignments (one third of final grade)
- Final exam (one third of final grade)
Final Exam
A passing grade on the final exam is required to pass the course. The final exam will be available on Blackboard at noon on the scheduled date (see Schedule below).
On the final exam, you will be required to answer two essay questions. One of these will be derived from a question that I want you to keep in mind throughout your studies and speaks to my goal of helping you become aware of the relevance of US history to your life. Therefore, I will give you the question now:
After having studied the period of US history since the Civil War, what seven national episodes, events, or developments have most impacted you and the world in which you live?
In answering this question, be sure to explain why you made the selections you did and be sure that you fully identify these historical issues by using factual materials from the course. Also be sure to comprehensively cover the time period from 1865 to the present. Do not, for example, make seven selections from the 1980s and 1990s. You must cover the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well. (I am afraid that I will also have to limit your options here to only those episodes, events, or developments covered in the class readings or tapes.)
Honor Code
Remember that as a student of UNC-Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University's Honor Code.
Course Mechanics
Blackboard
Your discussion forums and final exam are accessed through a software package called Blackboard, and you will need to login to Blackboard using a unique identifier known as your UNC Onyen (Only Name You'll Ever Need) and Onyen password.
Use your Onyen to login to Blackboard, then click on the “HIST 128 CCO” link. You will see navigation buttons on the left taking you to the Discussion Forums and so on.
If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:
- If you do not already have a UNC Onyen, go to the Onyen Web site and follow the instructions for creating an Onyen.
- If you have an Onyen but have forgotten it (or the password), go to the Onyen Web site.
- If you have your Onyen but can't log in to Blackboard, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.
- If you can log in to Blackboard but can't find this course listed, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.
- If you can't locate a forum in Blackboard, contact the Instructional Designer at the Friday Center.
- If you have technical problems while using Blackboard, contact Blackboard Help (use the Help button in Blackboard, or call 919-962-HELP).
Library Services and E-reserves
Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online can access online library resources from the UNC Library System by linking to Library Services for Distance Education Students. This site includes information on using general online reference works as well as accessing e-reserves.
If you are using an off-campus computer , you will need to enter your Onyen to access the readings that are available through the e-reserve system. The UNC library staff is available to assist any students who have difficulties accessing online library resources. If you encounter difficulties, please report your problem by visiting this Web page for reporting a problem.
All communication from your instructor will go to your UNC Onyen e-mail address (the one that appears when you post to the discussion forum). Off-campus users can access their UNC e-mail using Webmail. You can have your e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking “Forward e-mail” at the Onyen Web site.
If you use a filter on your e-mail account, you are responsible for ensuring that it does not prevent you from receiving messages from me, the course listserv, or Friday Center staff. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses “blind carbon copy” to protect privacy. We recommend that you use your UNC Onyen e-mail account rather than forwarding to Hotmail for this course.
It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send to your instructor via e-mail. If your instructor doesn't receive your work, you must have a duplicate copy, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.
Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to your instructor, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save a copy of all work that you submit to your instructor and that you save the copy for several months beyond the end of the course.
Other Questions
Contact your instructor with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. There is an e-mail link to your instructor at the top of every lesson page. Please include “HIST 128 CCO” in the subject line of your e-mail.
Contact the Instructional Designer at the Friday Center about problems with this Web site, including bad links.
If you have any logistical questions as you work through the course (enrollment, Onyen, credits, withdrawal, and so on), contact the Student Services staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669).
Course Schedule
We follow the approved UNC-Chapel Hill academic calendar. Pay close attention to the schedule and the calendar. Click on the link for each lesson to view the assignments and my notes.
| Lesson 1 | Introductions; The Reconstruction of the Post-Civil War American South |
| Labor Day holiday | |
| Lesson 2 | The West and North in the Post-Civil War Era |
| Lesson 3 | The (Continuing) Rise of Urban America |
| Lesson 4 | Populism and Expansionism, Symbols of a New Era |
| Lesson 5 |
Progressivism and Increasing Government Intervention in Domestic Affairs |
| Written Assignment #1 due | |
| Lesson 6 | World War I and the Battles at Home and Abroad |
| Lesson 7 | The Roaring Twenties |
| Lesson 8 | The Depression and the New Deal Eras |
| Fall Break | |
| Lesson 9 | World War II |
| Lesson 10 | Origins of the Cold War |
| Written Assignment #2 due | |
| Lesson 11 | American Culture and Society and the Continuing Cold War in the 1950s |
| Lesson 12 | The Push for Equal Rights |
| Lesson 13 | The Troubled American Presidency: The Cold War Becomes “Hot” in Vietnam |
| Lesson 14 | Social, Political, and Economic Changes in the Post-Vietnam Era |
| Lesson 14 Supplement | Past as Prologue: Contemporary Events as History |
| Final Exam: Your final exam will become available on Blackboard at 12 pm. | |
| Please complete a brief online course evaluation. We want to know if this course met your needs and expectations. | |