9/9/2018 History 342–01: The History of American Conservatism
Seth Cotlar Follow Mar 23 · 6 min read
History 342–01: The History of American Conservatism
Spring 2018
Schedule of Class Meetings
Tue 1/16/2018 Introduction to the Course.
Assignment: Listen to the podcast “The Beginning of Now,” This American Life, 28 April 2017.
Thu 1/18/2018 De ning American Conservatism
Reading: 1) George H. Nash, The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America since 1945 (1976), pgs. 1–80.
2) William F. Buckley, “Our Mission Statement,” National Review, 19 November 1955.
Tue 1/23/2018 Conservatives or Reactionaries?
Reading: 1) Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump (2018), Part 1, pgs. 3–88.
2) Russell Kirk, Excerpts from the Introduction to The Conservative Reader (1982).
Thu 1/25/2018 Conservatism in the Founding Era
Reading: 1) Patrick Allitt, The Conservatives: Ideas and Personalities Throughout American History (2009), 6–26.
2) Primary sources pertaining to the Whisky Rebellion and the Democratic Republican Societies ca. 1793–4 from Lance Banning, Liberty and Order: The First American Party Struggle, pgs. 169–187.
Tue 1/30/2018 Whig Conservatism in Antebellum America
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Reading: 1) Patrick Allitt, “Northern Antebellum Conservatism and the Whigs,” from The Conservatives (2009), 46–66.
2) James Fenimore Cooper, “On Equality,” 1838. (20 pages)
3) Catharine Beecher, Selections from A Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841)
Thu 2/1/2018 Antebellum Southern Conservatism
Reading: 1) Patrick Allitt, “Southern Conservatism,” from The Conservatives (2009), 27–45.
2) John C. Calhoun, Fort Hill Address, 26 July 1831.
3) John C. Calhoun, “Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions,” February 1837
Tue 2/6/2018 The 1850s: When Everyone Claimed to be a Conservative (except for the Abolitionists)
Reading: 1) Adam Smith, The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics, 1846–1865 (2017), 1–22
2) Stephen Douglas, “Homecoming Speech at Chicago,” 9 July 1858.
3) Abraham Lincoln, “Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society,” 30 September 1859.
4) Abraham Lincoln, “Cooper Union Address,” 27 February 1860.
Thu 2/8/2018 Populism and Social Darwinism
Reading: 1) The American Yawp, Chapter 16, Sections 1–6.
2) Joshua Zeitz, “Historians have long thought Populism was a good thing. Are they wrong?” Politico, 14 January 2018.
3) The “Omaha Platform” of the People’s Party (1892)
4) William Graham Sumner, “The Forgotten Man,” (1883)
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Tue 2/13/2018 In-class screening of Inherit the Wind. Note: class will start at 9am so that we can view the entire lm.
Thu 2/15/2018
Reading: 1) Linda Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK (2017), Chapter 1–3.
2) Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt (1922), excerpts on the Good Citizens’ League
Tue 2/20/2018
Reading: 1) Linda Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK (2017), Chapter 4–8.
2) Ku Klux Klan primary sources and cartoons from the 1920s. Single out one or two to discuss in your blog post.
Thu 2/22/2018
Reading: 1) Linda Gordon, The Second Coming of the KKK (2017), Chapter 9–11.
2) Spend an hour browsing the KKK newspaper collection curated by the UC-Berkeley library. Identify (and screenshot) one article to analyze in your blog post.
Tue 2/27/2018 The New Deal and its critics
Reading: 1) Kim Phillips-Fein, Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan (2009), Chapter 1.
2) Watch documentary: “Father Charles Coughlin, The Radio Priest”
3) John Robert Moore, “Josiah W. Bailey and the ‘Conservative Manifesto’ of 1937,” Journal of Southern History (February 1965): 21– 39.
Thu 3/1/2018
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Reading: 1) Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (2017), Introduction through Chapter 3. (80 pages)
2) Friedrich von Hayek, Road to Serfdom (1945 Readers Digest condensed version plus graphic novel version produced by General Motors and published in Look magazine).
Tue 3/6/2018
Reading: 1) Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (2017), Chapter 4–7. (50 pages)
2) Bethany Moreton, “Evangelizing for Free Enterprise,” in To Serve God and Wal-Mart (2009), 145–72.
3) Pro-free market, anti-socialist animated lms produced by Disney animators and funded by the US Chamber of Commerce, General Motors, the New York Stock Exchange, and Harding College for distribution in American schools: Going Places (1948), Meet Joe King (1949), What Makes Us Tick (1952), It’s Everybody’s Business (1954), Working Dollars (1957).
Thu 3/8/2018
Reading: 1) Nicole Hemmer, Messengers of the New Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics (2016), Preface and Part I (Networks)
2) Republican Party platform 1956.
Tue 3/13/2018
Reading: 1) Nicole Hemmer, Messengers of the New Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics (2016), Part II (Leaders)
2) John Birch Society Blue Book (1958), excerpts
Thu 3/15/2018
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Reading: 1) Nicole Hemmer, Messengers of the New Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics (2016), Part III (Elections)
2) Ronald Reagan, “A Time for Choosing.” (1964)
3) “Confessions of a Republican,” (1964) and (2016)
4) “Choice,” an ad made for the Goldwater campaign but which was never broadcast. (The entire thing is stunning, but you’ll get the point after the rst 4 minutes.)
Tue 3/20/2018
Reading: 1) Nicole Hemmer, Messengers of the New Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics (2016), Part IV (Adaptations)
2) Bruce Bartlett, “Revenge of the Reality-Based Community,” American Conservative (26 November 2012).
3) Charlie Sykes, “Where the Right Went Wrong,” New York Times (15 December 2016).
Thu 3/22/2018
Reading: 1) Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (2017), Chapter 8–12.
Tue 4/3/2018
Reading: 1) Kevin Kruse, White Flight, Introduction and Chapters 1–3 (pgs. 3–103)
Thu 4/5/2018
Reading: 1) Kevin Kruse, White Flight, Chapters 4–6 (pgs. 105–179)
Tue 4/10/2018
Reading: 1) Kevin Kruse, White Flight, Chapters 7-end
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2) Lester Maddox speaking about integration.
Thu 4/12/2018 What makes for an e ective history podcast?
Assignment: 1) Listen to Man of the People and The Portrait from Gimlet Media. What makes these history podcasts e ective?
2) Technical tips for producing excellent podcasts: Finding the Story When You Know Too Much, Barf Draft with an Iphone, Send it to the Basement.
3) Bring a rough draft of your script to workshop in small groups.
Tue 4/17/2018 Class, Race, and Family Values in the 1970s
Reading: 1) Matthew Lassiter, “Inventing Family Values,” in Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the Seventies (2008), 13–28
2) Thomas Sugrue and John Skrenty, “The White Ethnic Strategy,” in Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the Seventies (2008), 171–192
3) “The Revolt of the White Lower Middle Class,” New York Magazine, 14 April 1969.
Thu 4/19/2018 Gender, Race, and the Reagan Revolution
Reading: 1) David Farber, “Ronald Reagan,” in The Rise and Fall of American Conservatism (2010), 159–208.
2) Rickie Solinger, “Constraining Choice: Welfare Queens as Illegitimate Consumers,” in Beggars and Choosers (2001), 139–182.
3) Ronald Reagan, Address to the National Association of Evangelicals, 8 March 1983. Transcript.
Tue 4/24/2018 Discussion of book review podcasts.
Assignment: Listen to book review podcasts and ll out evaluation sheets for each one.
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Thu 4/26/2018 Conservatism and/or Populism…where does the GOP go from here?
Reading: 1) Joshua Zeitz, “Does the White Working Class Really Vote Against its Interests?” Politico, 31 December 2017.
2) Charles Postel, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Populism,” Raritan 37:2 (Fall 2017): 133–55.
3) Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains, Conclusion, 207–34.
List of books to choose from for book review assignment:
Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right (2001)
Michelle Nickerson, Mothers of Conservatism
Bethany Moreton, To Serve God and Wal-Mart (2009)
Jennifer Burns, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (2009)
Joseph Crespino, In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution
Dan Carter, The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics (1995)
Darren Grem, The Blessings of Business: How Corporations Shaped Conservative Christianity (2016)
Ronald Formisano, Boston Against Busing: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s (1991)
Daniel K. Williams, God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right (2010)
Heather Cox Richardson, To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party
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Darren Dochuk, From Bible Belt to Sun Belt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism
Leah Wright Rigeur, The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power (2014)
Kim Phillips-Fein, Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan (2009)
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