HIST2360 History of the United States

This course will cover the history of the United States from its founding in the eighteenth century through the Cold War. There will be particular emphasis on the struggles of marginalized groups to achieve the status of full citizenship; of particularly American notions of masculinity; and of the role of interpersonal violence in both urban and rural United States. 

Week 1

Topic of this lecture: intro

Primary Sources: none

Week 2

Topic of this lecture: colonial era Primary Sources: Bacon stuff (http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1651-1700/bacons-declaration-in-the-name-of-the-people-30-july-1676.php); 662 Virginia law (https://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/chesapeake_pop2.htm)

Week 3

Topic of this lecture: revolution, constitution Primary Sources: the Avalon stuff (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/arms.asp; https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/virginia.asp; https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp; https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rights1.asp)

Secondary sources: Zinn, chapters 3-6

Week 4

Topic of this lecture: early republic and the Jacksonian era Primary Sources: Douglas text (https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/DUGLAS11.asp); Ain’t I a Woman (https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp); Trail of Tears (https://www.nps.gov/trte/planyourvisit/upload/National-Park-Service-Large-Print-Text-of-Trail-of-Tears-Brochure-508.pdf); Whiteman, Manahatta (https://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1881/poems/271)

Secondary sources: Zinn, chapters 7, 8

Week 5

Topic of this lecture: civil war

Primary Sources: cornerstone speech (https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1861stephens.asp); emancipation proclamation (https://www.historynet.com/emancipation-proclamation-text); the Gettysburg address (https://www.historynet.com/gettysburg-address-text);Declaration of Sentiments (https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/declaration-of-sentiments.htm);Whitman (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53027/the-wound-dresser)

Secondary sources: Zinn, chapters 9, 10

Week 6

Topic of this lecture: reconstruction Primary Sources: Amendments 13-15 (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/amend1.asp);

O Captain my Captain (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45474/o-captain-my-captain); Letter from Jourdon Anderson (https://www.facinghistory.org/reconstruction-era/letter-jourdon-anderson-freedman-writes-former-master)

Secondary sources: Zinn, chapters 11, 12

Week 7

Topic of this lecture: “Conquering” the west Primary Sources: Children’s Blizzard (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/recalling-schoolchildrens-blizzard-1888-ca-1930s); Geronimo’s Story of his life (http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Geronimo/GerStory.htm) Chapters VIII, XIII, XIV, XIX

Week 8

Topic of this lecture: immigration and its xenophobic discontents

Primary Sources: Chinatown declared a nuisance – resolutions (http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/wpc3.html); Chinese exclusion act (https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/images/chinese-exclusion-act.pdf) ; Cohen, Out of the Shadow, selections (https://julac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=CUHK_IZ51923318030003407&context=L&vid=CUHK&lang=en_US&search_scope=All&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,out%20of%20shadow&sortby=rank)

Secondary sources: Zinn, chapters 15

Week 9

Topic of this lecture: the 20s, the depression, and the new deal Primary Sources: Langston Hughes, I, Too (https://poets.org/poem/i-too); Amendments 18, 19, 21 (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/amend1.asp); Woody Guthrie Lyrics: (https://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Do_Re_Mi.htm https://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Grand_Coulee_Dam.htm https://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Pretty_Boy_Floyd.htm https://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/So_Long_Its_Been_Good.htm https://woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Talking_Dust_Bowl_Blues.htm)

Note: these are all songs which you can either read or listen to; they are widely available on youtube, spotify, etc.

Week 10

Topic of this lecture: WWII Primary Sources: Japanese internment (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5154 and https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17380544); FDR’s speech: (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5166/); Double-V letter (https://perspectives.ushmm.org/item/should-i-sacrifice-to-live-half-american)

NOTE: read the letter itself, “Dear Editor, Like all Americans…”

Week 11

Topic of this lecture: suburbia, jim crow, and the civil rights movement

Primary Sources: letter from Birmingham jail (https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html); Ginsberg: A Supermarket in California (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47660/a-supermarket-in-california); The Army/McCarthy Hearings (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6444);

Week 12

Topic of this lecture: 1960s Primary Sources: Steal This Book (https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-TNlDHryRIk4DXKAU/Steal%20This%20Book_djvu.txt) the section starting at “STARTING A PRINTING WORKSHOP” through to the line that says “By the way, you can pick up Radio Hanoi on a short wave radio every day from 3:00 to 3:30 PM at 15013 kilocycles on the 19 meter band. ” but skipping the lists of names of newspapers, radio stations, etc; Friedan https://www.npsd.k12.nj.us/cms/lib04/NJ01001216/Centricity/Domain/164/FeminineMystique.pdf); John Kerry’s statement (https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1972VVAW.asp)

Week 13

Topic of this lecture: 1980s

Primary Sources: none

Quizzes: 5%, 10%, 10%

Tutorial: 20%

Take-home exam: 25%

Research paper: 30%

Quiz weeks:

8 February

8 March

12 April

During this semester there are four tutorial sessions, which according to the department’s policy are compulsory. The time and content of each tutorial are the following:

    Tutorial 1: 8 Feb, 13:00-14:30 

    Tutorial 2: 1 Mar, 13:00-14:30

    Tutorial 3: 22 Mar, 13:00-14:30 

    Tutorial 4: 19 Apr, 13:00-14:30 

In each tutorial,  7-8 students should give a 10-minute presentation (with PowerPoint) consisting of textual analysis and an explanation of the historical context. After each presentation, there will be 2-3 minutes for class discussion; and each student must ask at least one question during one of the four tutorials. The students who are going to give a presentation must email the PowerPoint to the TA at least 12 hours in advance of the tutorial session. 

請注意大學有關學術著作誠信的政策和規則，及適用於犯規事例的紀律指引和程序。詳情可瀏覽網址：http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/。

學生遞交作業時，必須連同已簽署的聲明一併提交，表示他們知道有關政策、規則、指引及程序。

• 如屬小組習作，則所有組員均須簽署聲明；所有組員（不論有否簽署聲明及不論有否直接或間接撰寫有問題的內容）均須負上集體責任及受到懲處。
• 如作業以電腦製作、內容以文字為主，並經由大學「維誠」系統 (VeriGuide) 提交者，學生將作業的電子檔案上載到系統後，便會獲得收據，收據上已列明有關聲明。

未有夾附簽署妥當的聲明的作業，老師將不予批閱。

學生只須提交作業的最終版本。

學生將作業或作業的一部份用於超過一個用途（例如：同時符合兩科的要求）而沒有作出聲明會被視為未有聲明重覆使用作業。學生重覆使用其著作的措辭或某一、二句句子很常見，並可以接受，惟重覆使用全部內容則構成問題。在任何情況下，須先獲得相關老師同意方可提交作業。