KC Johnson

U.S. history since the Civil War.

Readings:

• American Yawp (available on-line)
• All journal articles (last three weeks of classes) will be posted in blackboard.
• Primary: documents and maps on this website.

Requirements:

• Final exam: 50%
• Quizzes (based on reading, each class; bottom four dropped): 25%
• Participation: 25%

Weekly Structure:

• Video snippets posted every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday
• Quizzes (based on snippets, due Tuesday night and Thursday night)
• question on snippets/paragraph on item from snippets (due each Sunday night)

Sources:

• New York Times (sign up for access through the college library website)
• Library of Congress
• Nartional Archives: Civil Rights
• Senate Historical Office
• House of Representatives Historical Office
• American Presidency Project
• National Civil Rights Museum
• Anerican Social History Project
• Gilder Lehman Historical Docs
• US Presidential Library

Contact info:

• Email: kcjohnson9@gmail.com
• Text: 207-329-8456
• Office hours, via zoom: M, 11.30-1.00, T 12.15-2.00, and Friday 11.30-12.30
• https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82246646081
• Meeting ID: 822 4664 6081

Schedule:

August 29: Organizational Video

Week 1: Reconstruction

• American Yawp, “Reconstruction“
• 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments
• freed children in SC (1864)
• MS Black Code (1865)
• TX lawlessness (1868)

Week 2: Gilded Age & Imperialism

• American Yawp, “Capital and Labor“ and “American Empire“
• Omaha People’s Party platform (1892)
• Carnegie, Gospel of Wealth (1889)
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
• Mark Twain, “War Prayer” (1904-5)
• William McKinley on US exceptionalism (1903)

Week 3: Progressivism & World War I

• American Yawp, “The Progressive Era“ and “World War I“
• Wilson, New Freedom (1912)
• Washington & DuBois on black progress
• Wilson war declaration (1917)
• Sedition Act (1918)

Week 4: Postwar World

• American Yawp, “The New Era“
• Ku Klux Klan documents
  • Religion and science documents
  • Machine age commentary

Week 5: Depression

• American Yawp, “The Great Depression“
• New Deal programs
• FDR inaugural address

Week 6: World War II

• American Yawp, “World War II“
• FDR, Arsenal for Democracy
• A, Philip Randolph challenges FDR
• WWII diplomatic discussions

Week 7: Cold War

• American Yawp, “The Cold War“
• Internal Security Act
• Truman Veto message
• Long Telegram

Week 8: Civil Rights & Great Society

• American Yawp, “Affluent Society“
• King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
• Key events of Kennedy presidency
• LBJ, “Let Us Continue“

Week 9: Vietnam

• American Yawp, “The Sixties“
• Vietnam documents

Week 10: Watergate & Political Malaise

• American Yawp, “The Unraveling“
• Washington Post remembers Watergate
• Watergate committee report on Strachan; Strachman memo
• Leonard Garment (Nixon lawyer) oral history–pp. 36-44 only
• Liddy oral history excerpt

Week 11: Conservatism Revived

• American Yawp, “The Triumph of the Right“
• Wilson, New Freedom (1912)
• Washington & DuBois on black progress
• Wilson war declaration (1917)
• Sedition Act (1918)

Week 12: Beyond the Cold War

Week 13: The Post-9/11 World

Week 14: The Last Decade

Week 15: Review

Learning objectives for this course include: (1) ability to read and interpret key historical sources; (2) ability to determine how important themes in U.S. history change over time.

The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at this site: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation.

In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services please provide your professor with the course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with him/her.

State law regarding non-attendance because of religious beliefs can be found on p. 56 in the Bulletin.