American History: a Survey Course Handbook 2016 American History: a Survey Module Structure p 3 Basic Geographical Facts p 4 - 6 Aims and Objectives/ Course Lecturers/ Assistants pp 7 - 8 Lecture Lists pp 9 - 10 Examination Essays pp 11 - 12 Tutorials and Tutorial Presentations pp 12 - 14 Reading Lists pp 14 - 33 Using the Internet p 34 2 MODULE STRUCTURE The present module offers a broad survey of the main developments in the history of colonial America and of the United States down to the 1990s. It is available to be taken by all Senior Freshman Single Honors, TSM and HPS students, as well as to Visiting Students. Assessment of this module takes the form of (i) An essay which is to be submitted by all participants in the module (SH, TSM, HPS and Visiting students) on Mon 28th March 2016. This essay will account for 20% of the overall assessment of this module. And (ii) A three-hour examination which will be held in the examining period commencing 2nd May which will account for 80% of the module’s assessment. Written tutorial assignments will also be required in this course. Failure to complete them may result in candidates being prevented from taking the examination and receiving credit for the course. 3 The United States: Basic Facts Land area: 3,539,225 sq mi (9,166,601 sq km); total area: 3,718,691 sq mi (9,631,420 sq km) Population (2007 est.): 301,139,947 (growth rate: 0.9%); birth rate: 14.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.4/1000; life expectancy: 78.0; density per sq mi: 85 Capital (2003 est.): Washington, DC, 570,898 Largest cities (2003 est.): New York, 18,498,000 (metro area), 8,085,742 (city proper); Los Angeles, 12,146,000 (metro area), 3,819,951 (city proper); Chicago, 8,711,000 (metro area), 2,869,121 (city proper); Houston, 2,009,960; Philadelphia, 1,479,339; Phoenix, 1,388,416; San Diego, 1,226,753; San Antonio, 1,214,725; Dallas, 1,208,318; Detroit, 911,402 Monetary unit: dollar The United States of America 4 Languages: English 82%, Spanish 11% (2000) Ethnicity/race: White: 211,460,626 (75.1%); Black: 34,658,190 (12.3%); Asian: 10,242,998 (3.6%); American Indian and Alaska Native: 2,475,956 (0.9%); Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander: 398,835 (0.1%); other race: 15,359,073 (5.5%); Hispanic origin:1 35,305,818 (12.5%) Religions: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, none 10% (2002) Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $13.84 trillion; per capita $45,800. Real growth rate: 2.2%. Inflation: 2.9%. Unemployment: 4.6%. Arable land: 18%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish; forest products. Labour force: 153.1 million (includes unemployed); farming, forestry, and fishing 0.6%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.6%, managerial, professional, and technical 35.5%, sales and office 24.8%, other services 16.5%; note: figures exclude the unemployed (2007). Industries: leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining. Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber. Exports: $927.5 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): agricultural products 9.2% (soybeans, fruit, corn), industrial supplies 26.8% (organic chemicals), capital goods 49.0% (transistors, aircraft, motor vehicle parts, computers, telecommunications equipment), consumer goods 15.0% (automobiles, medicines) (2003). 5 Imports: $1.727 trillion f.o.b. (2005 est.): agricultural products 4.9%, industrial supplies 32.9% (crude oil 8.2%), capital goods 30.4% (computers, telecommunications equipment, motor vehicle parts, office machines, electric power machinery), consumer goods 31.8% (automobiles, clothing, medicines, furniture, toys) (2003). Major trading partners: Canada, Mexico, Japan, UK, China, Germany 6 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Today the United States is the most powerful country in the world. This course offers a critical and interpretative framework that explains why this came to be so. The aim of this module is to provide students with an introduction and overview of the emergence and development of the United States, from the settlement of the first colonies to the first Gulf War. On successful completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate that they have acquired the ability • to order the main events in North American colonial history in the history of the United States between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries. • to assess the significance of the main trends and developments in American society in this period • to evaluate the critical turning points in the political and social history of the period. • to engage with the most influential books and articles pertaining to the period. • to present a coherent summary and assessment of the historical debates and controversies relating to the period. • to interpret with key primary documents in the political, social and cultural history of the period. • to interact with and apply key electronic databases and resources available for the period • to demonstrate a continuing engagement with the latest developments and outstanding problems in the interpretation of the period. 7 Course Team: The lecturers for the course are Prof. Ciaran Brady (Room 3116, email: [email protected]), Prof. Patrick Geoghegan (Room 3110, email: [email protected]) The tutorial assistants are Alexandra Tierney [email protected] and Mary Hatfield [email protected] The course co-ordinator is Prof. Brady who will welcome any feedback, positive or negative, about the course during the year either directly or through your student representatives. 8 LECTURE LIST 2014 From Colonies to Empire: the course of American History, 1607 - 1991 1. Inventing America: myth, historiography and history and the formation of the United States 2. Starting out late: European Settlements in New Spain, New France, the Chesapeake and New England, 1584 –1640. 3. Independents: colonial self-development, 1640 - 1690. 4. Imperial America: war and territorial growth, 1660–1763. 5. Revolutionary America: political, social and ideological upheaval, 1763 – 1776. 6. Republican America: revolutions and counter-revolutions, 1776 – 1815. 7. Expanding America: territorial and economic growth, 1790–1840. 8. Democratic America: political and social change, 1815 – 1840. 9. Divided America ; war, sectionalism, and slavery, 1840 – 1858. 9 10. Origins of the American Civil War, 1848 – 61. 11. War, Reconstruction and territorial growth, 1861-1893. 12. Industrial America: economic development and social conflict, 1860 - 1900. 13. Urban America: social change and social thought, 1896–1920. 14. Progressive America: the transformation of the American political system, 1900 –1914. 15. Global America: the emergence of the U.S. as a world power, 1898 – 1940. 16. Modern America: the response to economic crisis, 1920 – 1940. 17. Affluent America: social and cultural developments, 1940 - 1960. 18.Militant America: World War II, the Cold War, and American Foreign Relations,1940 – 60. 19. America in crisis: the 1960s. 20.Contemporary American Challenges: from ‘the Great Society’ to ‘the Reagan Revolution’. 21.Contemporary American Challenges: American foreign policy from Cuba to the Gulf War 1961-1991. 10 EXAMINATION ESSAY TOPICS Assessment essays are due from all participants in the Module (SH, TSM, HPS and Visiting Students) on Monday 28th March 2016. Essays should be approx.2,500 words long. The essay topics for this Module are as follows: 1. Assess the social and economic consequences of colonial wars, 1660 - 1760. 2. Assess the development of colonial attitudes toward the Empire, 1660 - 1770. 3. Colonial defences of slavery. 4. What was new about American republican thought, 1770 – 1820? 5. Assess the accuracy of Tocqueville’s view of America. 6. What distinguished the Republican Party from earlier sectional third parties? 7. Ethnic Cleansing? Federal policy toward native Americans 1800 - 1865 8. Critically assess the constitutional case for secession 1832 – 1861. 9. What were the successes and failures of Reconstruction? 10. Explain the rise of the Populist movement in the 1890s. 11. Women and society, 1870-1920;or Women and politics, 1920- 1968. 11 12. The press and political reform, 1920 - 60. 13. How accurate is the image of the 1920s as ‘an era of complacency’? 14. US foreign policy during the Cold War. 15. How accurate is the image of the 1960s as ‘an era of revolution’? 16. Account for the rise of ‘the New Right’ in American politics. TUTORIALS AND TUTORIAL PRESENTATIONS There will be six weekly tutorials in Hilary term, in the weeks 23 – 6, 28 - 29 The tutorials for American history: A survey will be lead by Alexandra Tierney [email protected] and Mary Hatfield [email protected] Documents and other material will be distributed in the first tutorial class of the term, however, students should collect a copy of the reading for tutorial 1 from the appropriate box outside the departmental office. Discussion and debate are the fundamental catalysts of all tutorial sessions, and thus there is a responsibility on students to read material and at least attempt to form some opinion on the subject being studied. 12 Tutorials: Week 23, Tutorial 1: Document: A Relation of the Indian War (1676). Week 24, Tutorial 2: Document: The Constitution of the United States (1789). Week 25, Tutorial 3: Document: The Monroe Doctrine (1823) Week 26, Tutorial 4: Document: The Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858). Week 27, Reading week/Study week: No Tutorials Week 28, Tutorial 5: Document: Henry Demarest Lloyd, “Wealth against Commonwealth” (1894) Week 29, Tutorial 6: Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” (1918) Please Note: Tutorials are an essential part of this course and regular attendance and participation are mandatory.