Prof. A. Keyssar Faculty Assistant: Don Olander

Prof. A. Keyssar Faculty Assistant: Don Olander Taubman 418; 617-495-1042 Taubman 462; 617-496-3885 [email protected] [email protected]

DPI 710 History of the U.S. for Policy Makers, Activists, & Citizens Tuesday/Thursday: 1:10-2:30; RG 20

Introduction

This is a course intended for students, both from the U.S. and from abroad, who would like to strengthen their knowledge of U.S. history. The course will deal with major themes, issues, and turning points in the evolution of the modern United States, primarily -- but not exclusively -- in the twentieth century. These themes and issues have been selected with an eye on enduring problems, challenges, and institutions; yet the most fundamental goal of the course is to help students understand how the United States became the society, polity, and state that it is today. Among the topics to be considered are: the constitution and institutions of governance; the development of government regulation of the economy; immigration; race; labor; regional differences; political parties and ideology; and imperialism. Some attention will be devoted to competing interpretations of major historical developments, as well as to the ways in which historical understanding can fruitfully serve policy makers.

Requirements

The course will be built around a mixture of lectures and class discussion. (Lectures sometimes will, and sometimes will not, directly address the readings for class.) Since class discussions are an integral part of the course, completion of the readings before class and participation in class discussions are required. Some participation may also take place via the course webpage.

The course will also include some films and documentary footage. Some of these will be shown in class; some screenings will take place at designated times outside of the regular class hours. If you are unable to make a screening, you should nonetheless make sure that you have seen these materials by the appropriate class date.

Class presentations: From time to time, students may be asked, individually or in groups, to make presentations in class regarding the class readings.

2 Written Requirements

There are two written requirements for the course: 1) A journal of responses to the reading. Each week (except on Sept. 6) you should write a 1-2 page critical response to the readings (and possibly multi-media materials). These may vary in approach from week to week but should, for the most part, focus on what you think are the key issues in the reading and why you think they are important. (On occasion, you may be asked to address a specific topic in your journal responses.) This should be turned in at Thursday’s class each week. You may skip a journal response four times during the semester, i.e. you are required to complete eight responses. You are welcome to complete more if you choose. 2) A final paper for the course, 10-15 pages in length, will be due approximately a week after the end of classes. Topics will be discussed in class: you will be encouraged to focus on the history of an issue or an institution; or to analyze what you view to be a critical turning point or inflection point in the history; or to explore the relevance of history to a contemporary issue or problem. These papers will require some research beyond the reading list.

PLEASE NOTE: All written work for this course should be appropriately referenced and cited. Students seeking guidance should see the Original Work Code in the HKS Student Handbook.

Grading: The weekly journal/response papers will count for 40% of your grade, as will the final course paper. Class participation will count for 20%.

Readings: Where to Find Them

Those readings marked with an asterisk (*) in the syllabus are in the coursepack; those readings marked with a double asterisk (**) are available on the course webpage. All readings, including the coursepack are on reserve at the HKS library, or are available on the course webpage.

The following books have been ordered at the Coop: they will also be on reserve at the HKS Library. In some cases, you may be able to obtain used copies through Amazon or at local bookstores. You are not required to purchase any of these books. Whether or not you purchase an individual title may well depend on the length of the assignment as well as your possible future interest in the subject of the book.

1. Kevin Boyle. 2004. Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age. 2. Alan Brinkley. 1995. The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism in Recession and War. 3. Roger Daniels. 2004. Guarding the Golden Door. 3

4. Leonard Dinnerstein and David Reimers. 2009. Ethnic Americans: A History of Immigration. 5. Godfrey Hodgson. 2005. America in Our Time: From World War II to Nixon--What Happened and Why. 6. Godfrey Hodgson. 2006. More Equal Than Others: America from Nixon to the New Century. 7. Morton Horwitz. 1999. The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice. 8. Walter LaFeber. 1996. America, Russia, and The Cold War, 1945 – 1996. 9. Walter LaFeber. 1995. The American Search for Opportunity, 1865-1913, vol. 2. 10. William Leuchtenburg. 1963. Franklin D Roosevelt and The New Deal. 11. Thomas McCraw. 1986. Prophets of Regulation: Charles Francis Adams; Louis D. Brandeis; James M. Landis; Alfred E. Kahn. 12. Jack Rakove. 1996. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. 13. Bruce Schulman. 2002. The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics.

In addition to the readings assigned for the course, some students with less background in U.S. history might want to consult a college-level textbook. Many of these are available through Amazon or other on-line retailers. Textbooks often try to distinguish themselves from one another by emphasizing particular types of history (e.g. social history, international history, political history), and some have “concise” or shortened editions. Almost all would serve the purpose of giving you a grounding in basic facts and chronology. Among those that would serve the purpose are:

 John Murrin, Paul Johnson, et al. Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People.  Thomas A. Bailey, David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic.  Alan Brinkley. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People  Daniel Kevles, Alex Keyssar, Pauline Maier, and Merrit Roe Smith, Inventing America: A History of the United States.

Schedule of Course Meetings and Assignments

1. Introduction: the Arcs of American History (September 6)  ** The Constitution of the United States. (Read and bring a copy to class.)  **Michael Singh, “How to Construct an Inaccurate Historical Analogy,” Foreign Policy Magazine, February 2012.  ** “Historians Politely Remind Nation To Check What's Happened In Past Before Making Any Big Decisions,” The Onion, issue 47.39

2. The U.S. Constitution and the architecture of federalism (September 11, 13) 4

 ** The Constitution of the United States. (Bring a copy to class.)  *Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, Chapter 13.  *Jack Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution, Chapter 4. (Chapters 3 and 7 on Madison and federalism are recommended.)  *Terry Bouton, Taming Democracy: “The People,” the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution, Chapter 8.

3. Reconstruction, Redemption, Populism, and the South in the Late 19th Century (September 18, 20)  *Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, Chapter 6, pp. 228 – 261 and 271-280; and pp. 575-612 (part of Chapter 12, beginning with “The Electoral Crisis and the End of Reconstruction” as well as the Epilogue.)  ** Worth Robert Miller, “Farmers and Third-Party Politics,” pp. 235-260, in Charles Calhoun, ed., The Gilded Age: Essays on the Origins of Modern America.  **Lawrence Goodwyn, “The Alliance Develops a Movement Culture,” pp. 22-36 in William F. Holmes, ed., American Populism.  **Theodore Mitchell, “The Alliance and the Public School,” pp. 57-68 in William F. Holmes, ed., American Populism.  *Peter H. Argersinger, “Populism and Politics,” pp. 81-88 in William F. Holmes, ed., American Populism.  *Charles Postel, The Populist Vision, Chapters 6 and 9.  *Lawrence Goodwyn, The Populist Moment, pp. 294-298.

4. The Triumph of Industrial Capitalism; the Emergence of Government Regulation; and Progressive Reform (September 25, 27)  *Morton Keller, Regulating a New Economy: Public Policy and Economic Change in America, 1900-1933, Introduction, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 (pp. 55-65), Chapter 4 (pp. 66- 74), and Chapter 9 (192-208).  Thomas McCraw, Prophets of Regulation, Chapter 3.  *Harold U. Faulkner, The Decline of Laissez Faire, 1897-1917, pp. 35-51 (last two sections of Chapter II).  *Michael Katz, In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America, Chapters 6 and 7.  *Daniel Fusfeld, “Government and the Suppression of Radical Labor, 1877-1918,” in Charles Bright and Susan Harding, ed., Statemaking and Social Movements.  **Historiographic Essay: Robert Johnston, “Re-Democratizing the Progressive Era: The Politics of Progressive Era Historiography,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Vol. 1 (January 2002), pp. 68-92.

Recommended (or alternatives, especially for those interested in social reform): o Daniel T. Rodgers, Atlantic Crossings; Social Politics in a Progressive Age, pp. 130- 159 plus Chapters 5 and 6. o Melvin Holli, “Urban Reform in the Progressive Era,” in Lewis Gould, ed. The Progressive Era. 5

o John L. Recchiuti, Civic Engagement: Social Science and Progressive-Era Reform in New York City, Chapter 3. o **Richard McCormick, “The Discovery that Business Corrupts Politics: A Reappraisal of the Origins of Progressivism,” The American Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 2 (Apr., 1981), pp. 247-274.

5. The Emergence of American Empire (October 2, 4)  Walter LaFeber, The American Search for Opportunity, 1865-1913.  ** Historiographic Essay: Thomas G. Paterson, “United States Intervention in Cuba, 1898: Interpretations of the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War,” The History Teacher, 29:3 (May, 1996), pp. 341-361.

6. Immigration, Restriction, and Thereafter (October 9, 11)  Leonard Dinnerstein and David Reimers, Ethnic Americans: A History of Immigration, Chapters 3-6.  Roger Daniels, Guarding the Golden Door, Chapters 2, 7, and 11.  **Otis L. Graham, Jr. “Uses and Misuses of History in the Debate Over Immigration Reform,” The Public Historian, vol. 8, no 2 (spring 1986): pp. 40-64.

Recommended (for reconceptualizing the issues) o **Donna Gabaccia, “Is Everywhere Nowhere? Nomads, Nations, and the Immigrant Paradigm of United States History,” Journal of American History, 86:3 (1999), pp.1115-1134. o **Mae Ngae, “The Architecture of Race in American Immigration Law: A Reexamination of the Immigration Act of 1924,” Journal of American History (1999), 67-92. Possible film, TBA.

7. Race and Migration in the 20th Century (October 16, 18)  Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age.  Documentary film footage, ** Black Wall Street.

8. The Great Depression and the New Deal (October 23, 25)  William Leuchtenburg, Franklin D.Roosevelt and the New Deal, Chapters 1-8, 10.  Alan Brinkley, The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism in Recession and War, Introduction, Chapters 3 and 10.  * Irving Bernstein, Turbulent Years: A History of the American Worker, 1933-1940, Chapter 13, pp. 635-646 (first sections of “The Revolution in Labor Law”).

Recommended o McCraw, Prophets of Regulation, Chapter 5. 6

Film: The Uprising of ’34.

9. Politics, Ideology, and Growth in Postwar America (October 30, November 1)  Godfrey Hodgson, America In Our Time, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 22, 24.  *Robert Collins, “Growth Liberalism in the Sixties” in Farber, ed., The 60's: From Memory to History.  **Luis Suarez-Villa, “Regional Inversion in the United States: the Institutional Context for the Rise of the Sunbelt Since the 1940s,” Royal Dutch Geographical Society 93:4 (2002), pp. 424-442.

10. The Cold War and the War in Viet Nam (November 6, 8)  Walter LaFeber, America, Russia, and the Cold War, Chapter 2, 3 (pp. 49-69), 4, 5, 10, 12.  *Odd Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times, Introduction, Chapter 4.  **George C. Herring, “America and Vietnam: The Unending War,” Foreign Affairs, 70:5 (Winter, 1991), pp. 104-119.  **Historiographic Essay: Melvyn Leffler, “The Cold War: What Do ‘We Now Know,’” The American Historical Review, 104: 2 (April 1999), pp. 501-524.

Recommended o George C. Herring, ed. The Pentagon Papers, Introduction, pp. 23 – 37, 81-2, 100-3, 118-20, 122-8, 169-70. Film: Hearts and Minds.

11. The Supreme Court (November 13, 15)  Morton Horwitz, The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice.  **Lawrence Solum, “District of Columbia v. Heller and Originalism,” Northwestern University Law Review, pp. 923-40, 980-1.  Rakove, Original Meanings, Chapter 1.  *J. O’Neill, Originalism in American Law and Politics, pp. 146-60.

12.The 1970s, Reagan, and thereafter (November 20, 27, and 29) Please Note: *Thanksgiving break November 21-23  Bruce Schulman, The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics, Chapters 4, 5, 8, 9.  Godfrey. Hodgson, More Equal Than Others: America from Nixon to the New Century, Chapters 4, 7, 9.  *Paul Boyer, “The Evangelical Resurgence in 1970s American Protestantism,” Bruce Schulman and Julian Zelizer, ed., Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s. 7

 *James Patterson, Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush vs. Gore, Chapters 4, 5, 6.  *Bruce L. Gardner, American Agriculture in the Twentieth Century, pp. 213-20 and 241- 49.  *Westad, Global Cold War, Chapter 10 and Conclusion.

Film: With God on Our Side: George W. Bush and the Rise of the Religious Right in America.

13. Conclusion – and some thinking about the uses of history for policy makers (December 4, 6)  * Ernest May and Richard Neustadt, Thinking in Time, Chapters 6 and 13. Chapter 14 is recommended.  * Margaret Macmillan, Dangerous Games: the Uses and Abuses of History, Chapter 8, pp. 140-164, “History as a Guide.”  **Francis Gavin and James Steinberg, “The Unknown Unknowns,” from Foreign Policy, 14 February 2012.  **Doris Meissner, “Learning From History,” The American Prospect, 23 October 2005.