Themes in United States History: 1877-1914

History 338-9321, Fall 1996
Tuesday 6:30-10:00, 1P-109
Professor Catherine Lavender


Course Description:

This course will provide an in-depth immersion in the historical development of the US from the end of Reconstruction to the onset of World War I. The course will examine significant political, social, economic, and intellectual developments of the period, including industrial and urban growth, immigration, Populism, Progressivism, and imperialism. The course will also emphasize the literature and other cultural products (such as advertising and fine arts) as artifacts of the time. A portion of this course will emphasize the use of online historical resources available via the World Wide Web, and training in basic uses of educational technologies will be included in course materials.

The course will also aim to familiarize the student with historical method and historiography, emphasizing the construction of historical arguments (thesis, methodology, historiography, evidence, sources, research, and narrative), as well as identifying areas for further research.

Getting In Touch with The Professor:

My office is 2N 203, and my office phone is 718-982-2869; I have office hours 4:30 to 6:30 Tuesdays, 1:00 to 3:30 Thursdays, and by appointment. You may also reach me via email at lavender@postbox.csi.cuny.edu. You can also visit my homepage, or see additional optional materials for this course.
Course Requirements:

All students are required to attend class meetings and take part in discussions. Papers will require students to synthesize discussion materials as well as readings. Students must also read and assimilate required readings, and be prepared to discuss readings on the schedule given below. Students will submit papers and assignments on time; late papers will not be accepted without prior arrangement with the professor. As this is a discussion- and participation-intensive course, attendance and participation will be extraordinarily important for student success.

Assignments:

Each week you will be asked to write an informal response to a series of questions about the readings and lectures; this will constitute the majority of written work for this course. Your grades for these essays will be averaged, and the average will account for 35% of your course grade.

In addition, your semester-long assignment will be to choose one historical artifact of the period from 1880-1914 (such as a novel, artwork, building, political speech or essay, etc.), and analyze it in an essay. This will account for 35% of your course grade.

Finally, you will be required to attend class and take part in discussions. This will account for 30% of your course grade.

Required Texts:

Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: The United States, 1877-1919
Michael Kazin, Barons of Labor: The San Francisco Building Trades and Union Power in the Progressive Era
Lawrence Goodwin, The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America
Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward
Neil McMillen, Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland
Course Schedule:

Week One: Introduction to the Course/History and Historiography (Tuesday, 3 September)

Week Two: The Ends of Reconstruction (Tuesday, 10 September)
Reading for this week: Painter, "Introduction," Chapter 1.

Week Three: Growing Unrest (Tuesday, 17 September)
Reading for this week: Painter, Chapter 2; Use Who Built America in History Computer Lab.

Week Four: Corporations and Economic Consolidation in Agriculture and Industry (Tuesday, 24 September)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapter 3; Use Who Built America in History Computer Lab.

Week Five: Free Week (Tuesday, 1 October)
Class will not meet; instead, work in library or archives on final project.

Week Six: Labor, Immigration and the Industrial City (Tuesday, 8 October)
Reading for this Week: Michael Kazin, Barons of Labor; Use Who Built America in History Computer Lab.
Explanation of final project due in class.

Week Seven: No Classes (Tuesday, 15 October)
No Classes (Columbus Day); Visit SIIAS on own to research immigration to Staten Island.

Week Eight: Populism and the West (Tuesday, 22 October)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapter 4; Lawrence Goodwin, The Populist Moment.

Week Nine: The Gilded Age (Tuesday, 29 October)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapter 5; Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Week Ten: The Origins of Progressivism (Tuesday, 5 November)
Reading for this Week: Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward.

Week Eleven: Progressive Reform (Tuesday, 12 November)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapter 6; View (in class) Battle for Wilderness.

Week Twelve: Civil Rights and Race Reform (Tuesday, 19 November)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapter 7; Neil McMillen, Dark Journey.

Week Thirteen: Sisterhood and Suffragists (Tuesday, 26 November)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapter 8; Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland.

Week Fourteen: Building an American Empire (Tuesday, 3 December)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapters 9-11; Use Jim Zwick's Anti-Imperialism Site in History Computer Lab.
Final Project Essay Due.

Week Fifteen: The Ends of Progressivism (Tuesday, 10 December)
Reading for this Week: Painter, Chapter 12.

Prepared by Professor Catherine Lavender for History 338 (Themes in US History, 1877-1914), The Department of History, The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York, Fall Semester 1996.
Last modified: Friday, 2 May 1997