US History II

There are a total of 4 online days, as explained in the syllabus. On those days we do not meet in person. Please keep up with the reading as assigned.

Each one opens up on Blackboard as a content folder in sequential order, under the Online Days tab. The first one opens up Saturday, April 27.

Each folder contains a single assignment that should take you about the same amount of time we would have spent in class, or less. There is a window of time to submit each one of 1-3 days long, so they don’t have to be done during the exact class period and you have some flexibility to complete them at your own pace within the assigned window.

Keep in mind that the Constitutions Module #3 is due by 11:59 pm on May 1, and the History Now Paper is due by 9:30 am on May 6. Those are separate from the daily online work.

History Now Paper Guidelines

The daily online work is worth a total of 9 points @ 3 points per day. You’ll notice this adds up to 12, not 9. This means you could skip one assignment (or day) without penalty, but you will receive up to 12 points if you complete all four days (i.e. potentially up to 3 points will become extra credit).

The final exam takes place Monday, May 13 at 8:30 am. It covers Chapters 26 – 29. Your lowest exam is dropped, so this one can be your dropped exam if you are happy with the grades on your three previous exams. Exam 4 Study Guide

Welcome to the final unit of our class. We start off with a look at the 1960s – 1970s, an era of liberal idealism, political activism, global conflict, and rapidly changing American society. Reminder that the Constitutions Module #3 is open until 11:59 pm on May 1.

Mon, April 15: No Class, University Holiday

Wed, April 17: Reading Ch 26, up to p. 871

Links for today:
1960 Election Map
Eisenhower’s Farewell Speech – January 17, 1961
JFK’s Inaugural Speech – January 20, 1961
Port Huron Statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), 1962
1964 Election Map
1968 Election Map
1972 Election Map

Fri, April 19: Reading Ch 26, rest of the chapter

Handout: Your Questions from Wednesday, Answered

Mon, April 22: Document Workshop, The 1960s + The New Right and its Critics. Bring book to class.

Study Questions for Chapter 27

Wed, April 24: Reading Ch 27, whole chapter. PSA #7 due by classtime.

Fri, April 26: Last in-person class meeting; wrap-up on the 1970s and the rise of conservatism. From here on out, our classes will take place ONLINE ONLY.

Learning Objectives for this week include:

• Explain the problems of converting from World War II to peacetime and discuss the causes and effects of the postwar economic boom
• Analyze how the 1950s popular culture reflected the expanding consumer-oriented economy and explain the challenges to mainstream culture posted by teenagers, women, and the Beat generation
• Explore the growth of the civil rights movement and identify the strategies used to challenge segregation and discrimination in the 1950s
• Discuss the impact of President Eisenhower’s domestic policies and accomplishments on the Republican Party and the nation

Chapter 25 Study Questions

Mon, April 8: Document Workshop Ch 25. Reading: Ch 25 up to p. 836 Document Workshop preparation worksheet. Bring textbook to class.

Links for Today: “Take Me Back to the Fifties” / Two Ford Family (1950) / Blackboard Jungle (1954) / Rebel Without a Cause (1956) / 1954 Kefauver Hearings on comic books and juvenile delinquency

Wed, April 10: The 1950s. Reading: Ch 25, rest of chapter

Fri, April 12: Exam #3, covering Chapters 22-25.  Exam 3 Study Guide

Levittown, Long Island, 1950s

The learning objectives for this week include:

• Explain the origins of the Cold War
• Identify how the overall strategy of containment changed between 1948 and 1953, and explain in particular how the Korean War affected US Cold War strategy and presidential power
• Analyze the effects of the Cold War on domestic policy
• Evaluate how the Eisenhower administration managed containment throughout the world

Mon, April 1: Document Workshop on Ch 24, McCarthyism and the Hollywood Ten. Bring textbook to work with in class. Preparation Worksheet. Chapter 24 Study Questions.

Links for Monday – HUAC and Hollywood / HUAC Backlash and Implications / Red Channels (NPR)

Wed, April 3: Reading is Ch 24, opening of the Cold War, to p. 808. PSA 6 due.

Fri, April 5: Reading is rest of Ch 24. Exam #3 Study Guide will be handed out, along with the Document Workshop Preparation sheet for Monday and the Chapter 25 Study Questions.

Links for Friday: Nuclear Detonation Timeline animation 1945-1998 / Duck and Cover (1951) / THEM! (1954)

The learning objectives for this week include:

• Identify the key reasons behind the US intervention in World War II and discuss the arguments of those who opposed it.
• Describe the effects the war had on the US economy and on the lives of women and families.
• Compare and contrast the treatment of minority groups and their responses on the home front.
• Discuss the Allied military strategy in fighting World War II on the European and Pacific fronts, including how it affected US-Soviet relations and the Holocaust.

Study Questions for Chapter 23

Mon, March 25: Document Workshop, but you won’t need textbooks. Bring laptop or tablet for in-class work.

I also demo’d how to utilize a library resource for basic scholarly historical research.

Library Homepage –> Subject Guides –> History and Political Science Guide –> US History in Context. Note since this is a WSU library resource you need to be logged into your WSU account to use it.

Links for Monday: DPLA 1929-1945 / The Blitz / It’s Everybody’s War 1942

Wed, March 27: Read first half of Ch 23, up to “Impact of World War II.” PSA #5 due by classtime.

Fri, March 29: Read rest of Ch 23. Constitution Module #2 (on Blackboard) closes at 11:59 tonight.

Welcome back from Spring Break! This week we explore the 1930s – politics, economics, everyday life and pop culture. PSA 4 is due on Wednesday, March 20, and remember that Constitutions Module #2 closes at the end of next week, at 11:59 pm on March 29.

Study Questions for Chapter 22

Mon, March 18: Document Workshop on Depression-era United States

Wed, March 20: Read Chapter 22, The New Deal. PSA 4 due

Fri, March 22: Read Chapter 22, New Deal Moves Left and New Deal Liberalism

Links for Monday’s Culture of the 1930s workshop:

Radio:
A Day in Radio (21 Sept 1939)
Mercury Theater of the Air
85 News Radio Programs from the 1930s from Internet Archive

FSA Photographs, WPA Murals
Dust Bowl Texas
Dorothea Lange – farmers
Mural by Charles Klauder, 1940
Thomas Hart Benton, America Today, 1931

Popular Songs:
“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (NPR)
“I’ve Got a Pocketful of Dreams” (Bing Crosby)
“Pennies from Heaven” (Billie Holliday)

Film Clips:
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (Swing Time, 1936)
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (Wizard of Oz, dir. Victor Fleming 1939)
Two for a Penny (Grapes of Wrath, dir. John Ford 1940)
“We’re in the Money” (Gold Diggers of 1933, dir. Mervyn LeRoy 1933, choreographed by Busby Berkeley)
“Remember My Forgotten Man” (Gold Diggers of 1933, dir. Mervyn LeRoy 1933)

Links for Friday’s Discussion of the New Deal
FDR’s First Inaugural, March 4, 1933
Huey Long newsreel, 1936

Image: “Fireside Chat Listener” statue in the FDR Memorial, Washington DC

The next two weeks, which takes us up to Spring Break, cover the time period of 1890-1929 across Chapters 19-21. We look at what made the United States more modern in this era, and also at what *wasn’t* changing in a more progressive direction. Constitutions module #2 is now open, due March 29.

Mon, Feb 25: Document Workshop from Chapter 19 on Muller v. Oregon, 1908. Preparation Questions for Chapter 20 handed out (see Handouts section on Blackboard if you need one). Bring books to class.
Link for today: The Brandeis Brief

Wed, Feb 27: Reading is the first part of Chapter 20 (up to “Extending US Imperialism”). PSA 3 is due by classtime, on any document of your choice.

Highly recommended listening – “The Story of American Imperialism” (NPR Fresh Air, 2/18/19)

Fri, March 1: Reading is second half of Chapter 20 about World War I. Study Guide for the second exam will be handed out, as well as Document 21 study questions and preparation worksheet for Monday’s Document Workshop.

Mon, March 4: Document Workshop from Chapter 21, the “New Negro and the Harlem Renaissance.” Bring books to class. Snow Day – see Blackboard for alternative assignment, due Wed by classtime.

Link: Bessie Smith, “Down Hearted Blues,” Columbia Records 1923

Wed, March 6: Reading is Chapter 21, The Twenties.

Links:
Two Americas: The 1924 Democratic National Convention (PBS, Ken Burns – Prohibition)
“The Day Wall Street Exploded” (BackStory Radio)

Fri, March 8: Exam #2, covering Chapters 18-21.

Have a wonderful spring break! See you back on Monday, March 18

Street scene in Harlem, New York, in the 1920s

Chapters 18 and 19 explore the period at the end of the 19th century and before World War I through the lens of urban life, immigrant experiences, and reform movements often lumped together as “Progressivism.”

Monday, Feb 18: No Class, University Holiday

Download questions to help structure your textbook note-taking and studying of Chapters 18 and 19.

Wednesday, Feb 20: Reading is Chapter 18. Remember that Constitutions Module #1 is due on Blackboard by 11:59 tonight.

Links for today:

NY Tenement Museum
Emma Lazarus’s poem written in honor of the Statue of Liberty, 1883

Friday, Feb 22: Reading is Chapter 19.

Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island Immigration Station in New York City, 1892

Link for today:
The National Memorial to Peace and Justice (anti-lynching), opened 2018 in Montgomery Alabama

Due to the late opening of the university today (Wed Feb 13), we won’t have class. I will be on campus and available after 10 if anyone wants to stop in for office hours. PSA 2s have been graded, please check the “Feedback to Learner” for comments and an uploaded copy of your scored PSA 2 rubric.

To stay on track with the syllabus, I’ll post the slides and lecture notes from Chapter 17 to the Slides and Handouts area of Blackboard by 9:30 am.

Reminders:

Study for Friday’s Exam 1, covering Chapters 14-17. The study guide can be downloaded here and is also posted in Slides and Handouts on Blackboard, and remember you can bring 1 notes sheet (up to 8.5 x 11″) for the exam.

Constitutions Module #1 is open until Feb 20 at 11:59 pm.

Thanks, stay warm and safe! ~ Dr. Hangen

As you study Chapters 15 and 16, notice the economic, cultural, and political changes in this era. Also pay attention to the changing makeup of society in this time period (the scholarly word for studying the social makeup of a society is “demography”) and to new ideas and intellectual debates, especially about the role of government in establishing and securing progress and freedom. We often think about the US as being a society without rigid social classes, one in which social and economic mobility (“rags to riches”) is possible – was that true for the Gilded Age? (Is it true now?)

I’ll also be interested to see if you perceive echoes of the Gilded Age in our own time. How might this chapter’s history be relevant to you today?

A link to explore: check out some of the so-called “summer cottages” of the Gilded Age upper class in Newport, Rhode Island. Many are maintained as house museums – definitely worth a daytrip if you haven’t been.

Watch clips from PBS films The Gilded Age — highly recommended (showed Chapter 1 in class)

Also you might be interested to know that there’s an organization just for historians who study this time period, SHGAPE (Society for the History of Gilded Age and Progressive Era).