Department of History

History 1502 Fall 2024

United States History Since 1877: A Survey

Course Overview

History 1502 is an introductory course into United States history since 1877. The course examines the development of the U.S. from the end of Reconstruction to the present, utilizing an array of scholarly and historical material. H1502 offers the student an opportunity to explore the circumstances that gave rise to what would become the most powerful country on earth by the mid-twentieth century. Thematic issues such as race, class and gender will be examined throughout the course.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1.   Recall the major events of this period (since 1877) in American history.

2.   Discuss, at a college-level proficiency, the contributions of some of the leaders of the period, and the popular reactions to their leadership.

3.   Analyze the many ways that people in the United States reacted to the ever changing political, social and cultural landscape, and its dynamic notions of democracy.

4.   Identify the complexity of U.S. society and the inextricable relationship that all people in the U.S. share with each other and with nations in the international arena.

Required Work: Each student is responsible for (1) a 2,000-2,500-word paper on an approved topic related to either the Era of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945 or Freedom Summer book. The word count includes citations. Students are required to use at least six sources, which can include journal articles, books (secondary sources), newspapers or government documents (primary sources) for this paper. To be clear, there should be a minimum of six total sources for this paper. They can all be secondary sources. You are not obligated to use a primary source, but you can. The broad topics of your paper can vary, including, 1) FDR’s creation of a liberal government; 2) the strategies and tactics of activists and local people in the Freedom Summer   campaign; 3) how did the government mobilize the U.S. for unprecedented war; 4) how did the media cover Freedom Summer?

You should establish three or four subordinate questions that will guide and inform your project. For example, a research paper topic may the evolution of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, 1959-1972. Subordinate questions may include: “What were the key drivers for U.S. involvement?” “How did involvement escalate from ‘advisory’ to aprotracted war?” “What domestic organizations and leaders discouraged war in Vietnam?”

You determine what questions you will answer about your chosen topic. Papers will be graded on clarity of argument, evidence used, and citation of sources, punctuation and grammar. You must cite your sources in footnote or endnote. Do not cite in text e.g. “(Ogbar, 2012).” Do not simply provide a list of sources at the end of your paper. Be sure to use your TA for assistance to clarify your assignment if you are unclear. Utilize the UConn Writing Center. It is a valuable resource. You can also speak tome.

Among your six aforementioned sources, use at least two actual books. They maybe in digital format. For traditional secondary materials: online sources for the research paper are constricted to digital forms of actual physically-published books, or scholarly journal articles from these pre-approved journals: American Historical Review, American Political Science Review, Journal of African American History, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History, and Journal of Urban History. There are, literally, scores of other scholarly journals that can be used, but you will need approval for any online-based source, other than the ones noted here. Simply send me an email with the name and link to the journal. Use of websites, e.g., History.com, is allowed; however, three such sites count as one primary or secondary source. Submit in your paper topic in written form. to your discussion section TA via email. Students must select their issue by September 20.

You are to use the Chicago Manual of Style. for citation. A guide is available here:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research and citation/chicago manual 17th edition/cmos_formatting and_style_guide/chicago_manual_of_style. 17th_edition.html. There are also reference books at the main library for the Chicago Manual of Style. (2) There will also be four objective quizzes, but your lowest score will be dropped (3) and amid-term and a final exam, which will not be cumulative. In   accordance with University standards, make-ups will only be given with proper excuse from the Dean of Students’ office.

Papers should be submitted in typed, stapled, paginated hard copy format only.

Quizzes

In each module, you will be quizzed on the course materials covered in that module. The quizzes will contain multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank. questions. Note that there are four quizzes, but only three will count to your final grade. You can drop your lowest quiz grade. If, however, you earn a 90% or higher on all four quizzes, you may treat the fourth grade as an extra credit point to your final grade. For example, you earn 91, 94, 91, 90 on four quizzes, (total of 30% of final grade), you can add 1 point to your final course grade. An 86% “B” would become an 87% (“B+”). The extra credit point can be added to up to two other extra credit points. (See below for extra credit details).

Midterm and Final Exams

Both exams will consist of multiple-choice, T/F, fill-in-the-blank questions, and essays. The final exam will not be cumulative. More details will be provided in HuskyCT.

Late assignments will be reduced a third of a grade for each late day, including weekends. For example, after one day, the highest possible grade is an “A-.” After two days the highest possible grade is a “B+.” There will be nounexcused absences for exams or quizzes without proper approval from the dean of student’s office. Students are expected to participate in class discussions  of readings and lecture. Class participation is 10% of total grade. Prompt attendance is expected. There will be extra credit opportunities at various campus lectures and events throughout the semester to be announced in class and in HuskyCT. Students will be able to have up to three extra credit points/percentages added to their final course grade. Details will be in HuskyCT.

Late assignments will be reduced a third of a grade for each late day, including weekends. For example, after one day, the highest possible grade is an “A-.” After two days the highest possible grade is a “B+.”  There will be nounexcused absences for exams or quizzes without proper approval from the dean of student’s office. Students are expected to participate in class discussions of readings and lecture. There will be extra credit opportunities at various campus lectures and events throughout the semester to be announced in class and in HuskyCT. Students will be able to  have up to three extra credit points/percentages added to their final course grade. Details will be in HuskyCT.

Make-up work for missed exams and/or quizzes is not permitted for unexcused absences. An excuse from the Dean of Students ’ office, or note from a medical office, is necessary to complete missed assignments or submit work late without penalty. You are expected to arrive to class on time. I reserve the right to turn tardy parties away.

Artificial Intelligence

When you use or borrow or closely imitate another’s ideas or language–or even syntax–you must formally acknowledge that debt by signaling it with a standard form of academic citation. This means documenting not just direct quotations but also paraphrases and summaries. In less formal or creative genres, you may show your debt to a source (or classmate!) with a signal phrase (“According to Jose Calabra….”) or acknowledgement statement (“In this essay I drew inspiration   from…I got the idea from Kayla during peer review.”). If you have any questions about when and how to credit the work of others, please come talk tome.

You are welcome to use AI writing tools such as ChatGPT onyour research paper, but whenever you use them, you must include an acknowledgement statement that briefly shares that and how you used them. For example, “I used ChatGPT when I was struck at the start and retained substantial parts of what it produced, including X and Y ideas and most of the wording in paragraphs 3 and 4” or “After I wrote my first 2 paragraphs, I used GPT-3 playground to extend the text for another 200 words but then edited …” Please also note that all large language models still tend to makeup incorrect facts and fake citations. You will be responsible for any inaccurate, biased, offensive, or otherwise unethical content you submit, regardless of whether it originally comes from you or an AI tool (these last 2 sentences adapted from the course policies of Ryan S. Baker.pdf, University of Pennsylvania).

If you engage in intentional academic dishonesty–whether plagiarizing or submitting the work of  others or copying from others on a test or failing to acknowledge use of AI or other tools–you will fail not only that assignment but the course.

ATTEND CLASS

●   Academic performance, across multiple studies in the US and abroad, is found to be stronger with high attendance.

● https://er.educause.edu/blogs/sponsored/2019/4/how-student-attendance-can- improve-institutional-outcomes

Assignment Due Dates:

Paper: Nov 19 (20%)                          Mid-term: October 15 (20%)  Final: TBA (20%)

Quiz#1: September 10 (10%)             Quiz#2: October 1 (10%)        Quiz#3:  October 29 (10%)

Quiz #4 November 19 (10%)

(The lowest quiz grade is dropped, as noted above).

The instructor reserves the right to change dates accordingly as the semester progresses. All changes will be communicated in an appropriate manner.

Grading Scale

Final grade: Please do not attempt to negotiate your final grade. All students are evaluated on the work that they submit. Unless there is a missing grade or clerical error, grades are final. One cannot do “extra work” after all assignments are completed, or be elevated to the next grade upon request.

Required texts:

Michael McGerr, et al, Of the People: Volume II: Since 1865 with Sources, 5th Edition, (Oxford University Press, 2021).

John Hollitz, Contending Voices: Biographical Explorations of the American Past, Volume II: Since 1865, Fourth Edition, (Cengage Learning, 2016). (Limited availability in print, eBook version available in bundle and directly from publisher)

John Dittmer, Jeff Kolnick, Leslie-Burl McLemore, Freedom Summer: A Brief History with Documents, (Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016).

Richard D. Polenberg, The Era of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945 A Brief History with Documents Edition:1, (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000).