Effective: 2022-03-31

Course Description

The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.

General Course Purpose

HIS 122 surveys the general history of the United States from 1865 to the present. This course allows students to reach a basic understanding of the historical development of the United States through a combination of educational methods including lecture, document analysis, and historical methodology.Students will learn about the important political, economic, social, intellectual, cultural and religious changes that shaped the development of the United States.

Course Objectives

• Written/Oral Communication
• Compose an effective narrative that describes and analyzes the history of the United States in response to an analytical question.
• Explain the changing social, cultural, economic, and political structures and development of the United States from the end of Reconstruction to the present through written activities and/or oral presentations/discussion.
• Describe the key events, developments, and people from 1865 to the present through written activities and/or oral presentations/discussion.
• Critical Thinking
• Describe, analyze, and evaluate conflicting historical interpretations within the context of the United States from the end of Reconstruction to the present.
• Differentiate between fact, inference, and opinion as these items pertain to U.S. history between 1865 and the present.
• Quantitative/Graphic Analysis
• Analyze numerical data, graphs, and maps as they pertain to understanding the development of events and trends throughout American history from Reconstruction to the present
• Reconstruction: Suggested Context - Emancipation, Presidential Reconstruction, Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction, The Unofficial and Official Ends of Reconstruction
• Analyze the diverse meanings of freedom between African Americans and Anglo Americans and how each group sought to shape the emancipation experience.
• Explain the need for the Freedmen's Bureau.
• Articulate what the black codes meant for freed people.
• Describe the actions of the national and Southern state governments during Presidential Reconstruction.
• Explain the changes Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction brought to the South.
• Discuss the ways in which Reconstruction ended (both unofficially and officially).
• The Gilded Age: Suggested Context - The New South, The West, Industrialization and the Rise of Organized Labor, Urbanization, Immigration, Gilded Age Politics, The Populist Movement
• Explain the changes that arose in the New South after Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow (de jure) segregation.
• Discuss the causes and impact of settlement in the West on all the groups involved.
• Examine the rise of big business in American and analyze its effect on work and everyday life.
• Describe the growth of American cities and the changes in urban life
• Explain the challenges and contributions of immigrants of the late nineteenth century/early twentieth century United States.
• Assess the mainstream politics of the Gilded Age.
• Analyze the causes of discontent among farmers in the late nineteenth century and the rise of the Populist Movement.
• The Progressive Era: Suggested Context - American Imperialism, Origins of the Progressive Movement, Progressivism, World War I and its Aftermath
• Discuss the causes of American overseas imperialism and its impact.
• Compare and contrast the Populists and Progressives.
• Describe the origins of the Progressive movement and the guiding forces behind the reform efforts.
• Explain the influence of the different reform efforts that arose from the Progressive movement and who were the progressives.
• Analyze the role the United States played in World War I.
• Analyze the ways in which World War I and its aftermath changed American society.
• The Modern Nation: Suggested Context - The New Industrial Model, Rise of Mass Culture, Reactions to Rapid Changes
• Analyze the role that changing manufacturing techniques and consolidation played in the growth of American business in the 1920s.
• Describe the new media formats that gave rise to mass culture and the beginnings of the homogenization of American society.
• Discuss the cultural shifts in American literature, art, and music.
• Explain the discontent that arose from the rapid changes in American social and cultural mores.
• The Great Depression and the New Deal
• Review the origin and underlying causes of the Great Depression.
• Identify the ways in which the Hoover administration attempted to deal with the Depression and how black politicians responded to his new deal election.
• Discuss the social, political, environmental, economic impact of the Great Depression on American society.
• Describe the New Deal and evaluate the social, political, environmental, economic impact it has on American society.
• World War II: Suggested Context - Coming of World War II, The United States during World War II
• Describe circumstances at home and abroad before U.S. involvement in World War II.
• Identify the significant military and political aspects of World War II.
• Evaluate the social and economic impacts of World War II on the home front.
• Discuss how World War II desegregation of the military challenged racism at home in the United States.
• The Cold War: Suggested Context - Origins of the Cold War, American Cold War Diplomacy and the Arms Race, The Impact of the Cold War on American Society
• Analyze the origins of the Cold War, foreign policy developments, the Korean War, and major events of the administrations from Truman through Kennedy.
• Discuss the "Arms Race" and nuclear proliferation.
• Examine and describe the impact of the Cold War on American domestic politics and society in the era after World War II.
• Evaluate how Brown vs Board of Education and desegregation impacted the Cold War Era.
• A Changing American Society: Suggested Context -The Affluent Society, The Struggles for Equality, The Vietnam War, Cultural Shifts, Watergate, The Conservative Revolution
• Analyze the social, cultural, demographic, and economic changes in the United States during the Cold War era.
• Evaluate the scientific and technological developments in America during the 1940s and 1950s.
• Assess the efforts and impact of groups such as African Americans, women, Latinos/Latinas, Native Americans, disabled, and LGBTQ in their struggles to gain equality.
• Identify the Civil Rights movement as a central element of change in world order.
• Identify primary motives for U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, key events in the Vietnam War, and the effects of this conflict at home and abroad.
• Describe the cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s.
• Discuss Watergate and its impact on American political culture.
• Explain why political, social, and cultural upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s led many Americans to want a return to smaller government and conservative ideas.
• A New World Order for America: Suggested Context - The New World Order, America in an Interdependent World, The Information Age, Grappling with Contemporary Problems
• Discuss the sweeping changes in world affairs in the late 1980s and early 1990s that created a "New World Order."
• Assess increasing global interdependence, the potential for conflict, and the U.S. role in world events in the present and future.
• Evaluate the impact of the Information Age on the culture and society of the United States.
• Identify the major contemporary social, environmental, economic, and political issues, the groups involved, and the controversies engendered by those issues.
• Analyze the impact of 9/11 on American political and social affairs.

Major Topics to be Included

• Reconstruction: Suggested Context - Emancipation, Presidential Reconstruction, Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction, The Unofficial and Official Ends of Reconstruction
• The Gilded Age: Suggested Context - The New South, The West, Industrialization and the Rise of Organized Labor, Urbanization, Immigration, Gilded Age Politics, The Populist Movement
• The Progressive Era: Suggested Context - American Imperialism, Origins of the Progressive Movement, Progressivism, World War I and its Aftermath
• The Modern Nation: Suggested Context - The New Industrial Model, Rise of Mass Culture, Reactions to Rapid Changes
• The Great Depression and the New Deal
• World War II: Suggested Context - Coming of World War II, The United States during World War II
• The Cold War: Suggested Context - Origins of the Cold War, American Cold War Diplomacy and the Arms Race, The Impact of the Cold War on American Society
• A Changing American Society: Suggested Context -The Affluent Society, The Struggles for Equality, The Vietnam War, Cultural Shifts, Watergate, The Conservative Revolution
• A New World Order for America: Suggested Context - The New World Order, America in an Interdependent World, The Information Age, Grappling with Contemporary Problems