HST 1581   Fall 1996                    Professor Ballard C. Campbell
American Society and Government,        233 Meserve Hall
  1877-1920                             373-4448 voice mail
Department of History                   FAX (617) 373 2661
Northeastern Univ., Boston  02115       email: Campbell@neu.edu

This is a one quarter course that has 30 65 minute classes.

Course agenda

I Economic and social changes

1. Resources, agricultural, and western expansion
2. Industrialization and technology
3. The rise of big business
4. The emergence of industrial labor
5. Depressions, 1873-1921
6. Standard of living and the new middle class
7. Immigration and ethnic cultures
8. Race, gender and family
9. Cities, population, and public health

II Politics

1. Fundamentals: ideology, federalism, and political parties
2. Politics in the gilded age: was it laissez faire?
3. Politics in the progressive era: why reform? What was it?
4. Elections: who won and why?
5. Political and administrative reform
6. The rise of the presidential leadership: Cleveland to Wilson

III Public Policy

1. Promotion of business and community development
2. The regulation of railroads
3. Antitrust, the regulation of business, and taxation
4. Labor policy
5. Regulating morals and rights
6. Social policy and income support

IV Global involvement

1. Acquiring the insular empire
2. The Spanish-American War
3. World War I
4. The homefront, 1917-1920

HST 1581 Page Two Campbell Fall 1996

Graded assignments Points Explanation

        Oct  1  (Tu)   Summaries 1  100     summary of  reading: max 3 pages
        Oct 15  (Tu)   Essay 1      200     on course reading
        Oct 22  (Tu)   Midterm      300     Covers Pt I (social/econ topics)
        Nov  5  (Tu)   Summaries 2  100     summary of reading: max 3 pages
        Nov 19  (Tu)   Review       200     Book review; see assignment
        12/6-12        Final Exam   500     Covers PARTS II-IV (civic topics)
                       Class        200     Class attendance, participation
                                   ----
                                  1,600     Total points for course

Attendance in class is mandatory. Absenteeism and tardiness will lower your grade. Credit is given for participation in class discussions.

Pass/Fail option: submit written notice by Fr. week 9 if you decide to take the course P/F. Satisfaction (S) requires 60% or better average.

Reading materials: available in bookstore

        Charles W. Calhoun, ed., ORIGINS OF MODERN AMERICA: ESSAYS
        ON THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY (Scholarly Resources, 1995)

        Melvyn Dubofsky, INDUSTRIALISM AND THE AMERICAN WORKER,
        1865-1920 (Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1996 3e)

        John W. Chambers, THE TYRANNY OF CHANGE: AMERICAN IN THE
        PROGRESSIVE ERA, 1890-1920 (St. Martin's, 1992)

Items on reserve in Snell Library (R) = reserve reading

        Ballard Campbell, THE GROWTH OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT (Indiana, 1995)
        ________________, "Grover Cleveland", "Thomas B. Reed" (1996)
        Morton Keller,  REGULATING A NEW ECONOMY (Harvard, 1990)
        John M. Cooper, PIVOTAL DECADES: THE UNITED STATES, 1900-1920
           (Norton, 1990)

Reading assignments

        l. By 10/1   GILDED AGE: chs 1-3
                Chambers, ch 1, pages 25-38              Dubofsky, ch 1
        2. By 10/22  GILDED AGE: chs 4-7
                Chambers, ch 4, pages 49-53   Dubofsky ch 2, pages 98-124
        3. By 11/5   GILDED AGE Age: chs 9-11
                (R) Campbell, GROWTH, ch 1;   "Cleveland" and "Reed"
                Chambers ch 5, pages 38-44
                (R) Cooper, PIVOTAL DECADES, pages 20-42, 163-9, 175-89
        4. By 11/19  GILDED AGE: chs 8,13,14
                Chambers, ch 6                Dubofsky, pages 86-98, ch 4
                (R) Keller, NEW ECONOMY, ch 2, pages 192-218
        5. By 11/26     GILDED AGE: Ch 12       Chambers chs 7,8, and pages 44-49

Office hours: W 4-5 Friday 10:30-11:30 and by appointment

Submission of written materials: in class, the mailslot at 251 Meserve, or electronic transmission.

Return to H-SHGAPE Home Page.

	Generously Supported by:				Comments to Patrick D. Reagan Tennessee Technological University Copyright ©1999, H-Net, Humanities OnLine
		&