The shifting patterns of political, economic, cultural, and social development in the United States as the nation confronted prosperity, depression, and war.
Athena Title
U S 1914-1945
Prerequisite
Any HIST course or ENGL 1101 or ENGL 1101E or ENGL 1101S or ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1102E or ENGL 1102S or POLS 1101 or POLS 1101E or POLS 1101H or POLS 1101S
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about U.S. history between the two world wars by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of the U.S. between the world wars (including race and gender relations) has shaped social and cultural identities, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
Introduction to course, United States at the turn of the century
Progressive Era – reformers and their response to industrialization, immigration, urbanization, and corporate power
Progressive Era - labor issues, African Americans, women
WWI – home front, Committee of Public Information, legislation to stifle dissent, US participation in the war
WWI – Class, race, gender, Wilson’s 14 Points, Treaty of Versailles, League of Nations debates
The 1920’s – overview, public & private power, business practices, new lobbying
The l920’s – prosperity, consumerism, leisure, work patterns, new feminism, changing social and sexual mores
The l920’s - lost generation of writers, Harlem Renaissance, Southern Renaissance, religious conflicts, conformity, Red Scare, Klan, immigration restriction
Depression - Herbert Hoover’s last days and FDR’s “ First Hundred Days”
FDR – policies, critics on the left, impact of the depression
FDR – New Deal l935, labor strife, unionization
FDR – conflicts with the Supreme Court, assessment of FDR’s New Deal
World War II – Rise of Hitler, Spanish Civil War, Axis aggression, Rape of Nanking, US conflicts with Japan
World War II - Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal
World War II - Battle of the Atlantic, Africa, Italy, Normandy invasion, Germany’s defeat
World War II - home front, Japanese internment, Pacific theater (Marianas, Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Nagasaki, Hiroshima), Japanese surrender
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
