Master of American History and Government Ashland University

AHG 660: The History of the United States from 1898 to 1945 Sunday, July 22 to Friday, July 27, 2007

Professors: Jean Edward Smith and Jeremi Suri

Course Description

This course will investigate the rise of America as a global power and the domestic transformations that underlay this process during the period from the Spanish—American War through the end of the Second World War. We will focus on politics, society, economics, diplomacy, and military affairs. The course will concentrate on American history, but it will also examine the international context for national development. We will read a combination of primary and secondary sources on the period.

Course Objectives

This course will examine the history of the United States from 1898 to 1945. Readings, lectures, and discussions will focus on three main themes: the integration of the nation as an industrial economy, the growing influence of the federal government on local life, and the rise of the United States as a world power. We will analyze these issues from diverse perspectives: including the evolution of policy, the transformations in individual lives, and the experiences of war and depression. Students in this course will be expected to read assigned materials closely, attend all lectures, and participate actively in classroom discussions.

Required Texts

Daniel Rodgers, Atlantic Crossings, ISBN — 10: 0674002016

John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest, ISBN — 10: 0674947517

Alan Dawley, Changing the World, ISBN — 10: 0691122350

David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear, ISBN — 10: 0195144031

Jean Edward Smith, FDR, ISBN — 10: 1400061210

Jeremi Suri, Henry Kissinger and the American Century, ISBN — 10: 0674025792 q

Major Problems in American History, Volume II: Since 1865, ISBN — 10: 0618678336

Course Requirements

The course will conclude with a final essay exam. The instructors will provide students will two essay questions that will require them to analyze key themes and readings from the course as a whole. The instructors will expect students to provide thoughtful, well informed, and well written answers to each of the two essay questions. Students should submit their answers in typed, word processed form.

Students auditing the course as a part of a Teaching American History Grant program must complete the readings and fully participate in the seminars during the week. Course Schedule

Sunday, July 22

4:30 — 6:00 pm Session 1: Introduction to key themes and concepts

7:30 pm Session 2: Sunday evening lecture

Attendance is required

Monday, July 23

9:00 — 10:30 am Session 3: Politics at the Turn of the Century

Reading:

• Cooper, The Warrior and the Priest, chapters 1—;5.

10:45 am — 12:15 pm Session 4: The War of 1898

Reading:

• Cooper, The Warrior and the Priest , chapters 6—;10.

4:30 — 6:00 pm Session 5: Alternative Internationalisms

Reading:

• Rodgers, Atlantic Crossings, chapters 1—;3.
• Dawley, Changing the World, introduction.

Tuesday, July 24

9:00 — 10:30 am Session 6: Theodore Roosevelt and the "New Nationalism"

Reading:

• Cooper, The Warrior and the Priest , chapters 11—14.

10:45 am — 12:15 pm Session 7: William Howard Taft and "Dollar Diplomacy"

4:30 — 6:00 pm Session 8: Woodrow Wilson and the "New Freedom"

Reading:

• Cooper, The Warrior and the Priest , chapters 15—18.

Wednesday, July 25

9:00—10:30 am Session 9: The Great War and its Aftermath

Reading:

• Rodgers, Atlantic Crossings, chapters 6—;8.

10:45 am—12:15 pm Session 10: The League Fight and its Aftermath

Reading:

• The Warrior and the Priest, chapters 19—;21.

4:30 6:00 pm Session 11: The 1920s: Informal Internationalism

Reading:

• Dawley, Changing the World , chapters 1—;4.

Thursday, July 26

9:00—10:30 am Session 12: The Great Depression

Reading:

• Kennedy, Freedom From Fear, chapters 1—8.

10:45—12:30 pm Session 13: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal

Reading:

• Smith, FDR, chapters 14—16.

4:30 — 6:00 pm Session 14: Franklin Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy

Reading:

• Smith, FDR, chapters 22—26 .

Friday, July 27

9:00—10:30 am Session 15: The United States and the Second World War, Part 1

Reading:

• Kennedy, Freedom From Fear , chapters 16—22 and Epilogue.

10:45 am 12:30 pm Session 16: The United States and the Second World War, Part 2

Reading:

• Suri, Henry Kissinger and the American Century, chapters 1 and 2.

1:30 3:00 pm Session 17: The Legacies of the Second World War for American Society

Reading:

• Suri, Henry Kissinger and the American Century, chapters 3 and 4.