This is my syllabus from last fall, when the course enrolled about 55. One-third were graduate students, enrolled in our MA program. Among the undergraduates, enrollment is limited to juniors and seniors and I generally enforce that strictly. About half the undergraduates (one-third of the total class) were history majors, and the other half were from a variety of majors, with the largest number from Liberal Studies (an interdisciplinary major often chosen by students seeking a K-8 credential) and Social Science (also interdisciplinary, often chosen by students seeking a high-school social-science credential). Among the remainder, a few were taking the course because it meets an upper-division General Education requirement; English majors were most numerous in that group.

The paper requirements are geared to this diverse student body. I got tired of receiving term papers from students who obviously didn't know how to write a history term paper, and I didn't want to spend time in this class teaching them how to write history term papers. We have a separate course that does that, among other things, so for students who had not taken that course, I devised a series of short papers with explicit instructions intended to guide them through some exercises in historical analysis. I required graduate students and permitted undergraduates who had taken our course in historical analysis to do a term paper, but, again, with some explicit instructions designed to discourage the type of paper that "researches" a topic by drawing upon a half-dozen secondary works to produce a half-baked synthesis. I should add that the short paper focused on a primary source has proven to be the assignment that student most often single out for positive comment.

                             History 426
               HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 1877-1916

                            Fall 1994
                Mon-Wed 2:10-3:35, Burk Hall 202
                        Robert W. Cherny

Course Overview In History 426, we shall explore a major development in Amer- ican history--the transition from a nation that was largely agricultural and rural and also relatively ethnically homogeneous to one that was industrial, urban, and ethnically diverse. During the first half of the semester, we shall look at the various forces of change (industrialization, urbanization, and immigration) and at changes in social patterns (especially those related to class, gender, ethnicity, and race). During the second half of the semes- ter, we shall examine the impact of social and economic change on the politi- cal system and on cultural expression.

Required Written Work: There will be two examinations in class, a mid-term on October 24 and a final on December 12. Both will include a set of short essays intended to test your knowledge of specific information and a longer essay in which you integrate specific information into larger patterns. In addition to the two in-class examinations, undergraduates will submit two book reviews, due on September 28 and October 31, and an essay based on a primary source, due on November 28. History graduate students will submit one paper of fifteen pages instead of these three papers; with the consent of the instructor, advanced undergraduate history majors who have completed History 300 may chose the longer paper rather than the three short ones. This paper will be due December 5. More information on these papers is attached at the end of this syllabus. These requirements will have the following weight in determining course grades:

                                      Proportion of Final Grade
                                             in Course
     two book reviews (15% each)                       30%
     essay                                         15
     (OR 15-page term paper                           45)

     mid-term examination                             20
     final examination                               25
     class participation                              10
                                                  100%

Unless you notify me that you wish to be graded on a CR/NC basis (Credit/No Credit), all grades will be letter grades. If you miss an examination or fail to turn in a paper on time, it is your responsibility to make appropriate arrangements for completing the requirement at a later time. Failure to make up an examination or submit an essay will mean that a zero will be averaged with your other grades, and may mean that the missing grade will cause you to fail the course. It is your responsibility to initiate a request for a grade of I (incomplete). Finally, although it should not be necessary to say so, plagiarism will normally result in failing the course.

Office Hours and Related Information:
Office hours: 12-1:30 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Office: Psychology 411 Office phone: 338-7561 E-mail: cherny@sfsu.edu

Call me to arrange at other times; if I'm not there, leave a message. I'll probably call back during my office hours, so leave a number where you can be reached at those times. If you want to leave a paper or message for me, do not put it under the door of 411; instead, take it to PSY 405, the History Department office, and have it put in my mailbox.

Virtual Office-hours: I usually check my e-mail every day and will usually respond immediately. Don't hesitate to write if you have a question or con- cern about class.

Readings: The bookstore should have the following books:

     Beisner, Robert.  From the Old Diplomacy to the New, 1865-1900, 2nd edn.
     Chambers, John W. The Tyranny of Change:  America in the Progressive
          Era, 18900-1920
     Cherny, Robert W.  A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan
     Fink, Leon, ed.  Major Problems in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

I am requesting that these books be made available in the reserve reading room of the library. In addition to these books, other required readings will also be available in the reserve reading room. Readings are divided into required and recommended categories. Everyone should do the required reading; graduate students should do the recommended reading too. Undergraduates, of course, are welcome to do the recommended reading.

Class Schedule

This schedule is necessarily approximate. Some topics may take somewhat more time than indicated, others may take somewhat less. Please keep up with the reading; if you get behind, you may find it difficult to catch up. Readings preceded by an asterisk (*) are available in the reserve reading room.

Aug. 24: Introduction to the Course Overview of the course and the time pe- riod; review of course requirements.

Aug 31: Rural, Agricultural America Topics: Economic, social, and political patterns in rural, agricultural America. Required reading: Cherny, ch. 1

Sept. 7, 12, 14: Industrialization Topics: Industrialization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; government policies encouraging industrialization; the new organizational structure of American industrial capitalism.
Required reading:
Chambers, chs. 1, 3
Fink, ch. 1
Recommended reading:
*Alfred Chandler, "The Beginnings of Big Business in American Industry," Business

History Review, v. 33 (1959).

Sept. 19, 21: Urbanization Topics: Growth of cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; urban politics.
Required reading:
Chambers, ch. 4
Fink, ch. 5
Recommended reading:
*Samuel P. Hays, "The Changing Political Structure of the City in Industrial

America," Journal of Urban History, v. 1 (1974). Terrence J. McDonald, ed., Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (1994).

Sept. 28: 1ST Book review due; term paper topics due Sept. 26, 28: Emergence of a Wage-Earning Class Topics: Nature of work and workers' lives; impact on family structure and gender roles; emergence of unions and labor parties.
Required reading:
review Chambers, pp. 87-90 (ch. 4)
Fink, ch. 2
*David Montgomery, "Labor in the Industrial Era," and Philip Taft, "Workers of

     a New Century," in Richard B. Morris, ed., A History of the American
     Worker (1976, 1983).

Oct. 3, 5: Gender Roles in an Urban, Industrial Society Topics: Impact of social and economic change on gender roles; new definitions of gender roles and gender identities.
Required reading:
review Chambers, pp. 90-102 (ch. 4)
selections by Stanton, Pryor, Freedman, and prohibition poems, in Fink, ch. 6 Fink, ch. 11
Recommended Reading:
Kathryn Kish Sklar, "Hull House in the 1890s: A Community of Women Reformers,"

Signs 10 (1985).
George Chauncey, "The Forging of Queer Identities and the Emergence of

Heterosexuality in Middle-Class Culture," ch. 4 of Gay New York (1994).

Oct. 10, 12: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Nativism Topics: Immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; ethnic enclaves in cities and rural areas; separation and assimilation; nativism. Required reading:
Fink, ch. 8
*John Higham, ch. 4 of Strangers in the Land

Oct. 17, 19: Race Relations Topics: Race relations; disfranchisement and segregation of African Americans in the South; Chinese immigrants in the West; federal Indian policy; Latinos in the southwest; resistance and accommodation. Required reading:
Fink: selections by C.A. Arthur, J. Stands-in-Timber, D.J. Berthong, ch. 3;

all of ch. 7; selection re Congress and the "Chinese Menace," ch. 8 *Sucheng Chan, ch. 3 of Asian Californians (1991), pp. 41-56. Recommended:
*T. Roosevelt, "Expansion and Peace," Independent 51 (Dec. 21, 1899): 3401-5

Mon., Oct. 24: MID-TERM EXAMINATION

Oct. 31: 2nd book review due; progress report on term paper due Oct. 26, 31: The Politics of Stalemate, 1877-1890 Topics: Nature of politics and political decision-making; race, ethnicity, class, gender and politics.
Required reading:
Chambers, pp. 25-38 (ch. 2)
Cherny, chs. 1 and 2 (up to p. 29)
Fink: selections by Nast, Heston, Ingersoll, and Hofstader, ch. 6 Recommended reading:
*James Bryce, The American Commonwealth (various editions), esp. Part III, The

     Party System, with special attention to chapters on Party Organizations,
     Elections and Their Machinery, and Nominating Conventions.
*Samuel P. Hays, "Political Parties and the Community-Society Continuum," in
     The American Party Systems:  Stages of Political Development, ed. by
     W.N. Chambers and W.D. Burnham, 2nd edn. (1975).

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall.

Nov. 2, 7, 9: Political Upheaval, 1890-1896 Topics: Populism; depression in the 1890s; silver; election of 1896; relation of these changes to the emergence of an industrial economy; historiography. Required reading:
Chambers, ch. 1 and pp. 41-44
Cherny, chs. 2, 3
Fink: selections by Bryan and Palmer and from Omaha Platform, ch. 6 Film (in-class: Plowing Up a Storm
Recommended reading:
*selections from W.J. Bryan's speech opposing repeal of the Sherman Silver

Purchase Act, 1893.
*Martin Ridge, "Populism Redux: John D. Hicks and The Populist Revolt," Reviews

in American History, v. 13 (1985): 143-154.

Nov. 14: Submit in writing the primary source you will use for the essay due on November 28; term paper outline due
Nov. 14, 16: The Transformation of American Politics, I: An Imperial Foreign Policy, 1898-1916 Topics: Foreign relations, 1865-1898; development of an imperialist policy; war with Spain; annexation of Hawaii; acquisition of an insular empire; opposition to imperialism; historiography of imperialism and anti-imperialism.
Required reading:
Chambers, pp. 44-49 and ch. 7
Cherny, ch. 4
Fink, ch. 14
Beisner, From the Old Diplomacy to the New Recommended reading:
*T. Roosevelt, "Expansion and Peace," Independent 51 (Dec. 21, 1899): 3401-5 *John M. Cooper, Jr., "Progressivism and American Foreign Policy: A Reconsideration,"

Mid-America, v. 51 (1969).

Nov. 28: Essay on primary source due
Nov. 21, 23, 28: The Transformation of American Politics, II: Progressive Reform, 1900-1916 Topics: Changes in the structure and function of politics; the many varieties of progressive reform; class, gender, ethnicity, and race in relation to reform politics; relation of reform to economic and social change; historiography of progressivism. Required reading:
Chambers, pp. 25-38, 49-53, and chs. 5 and 6 Cherny, chs. 5, 6
Fink, chs. 9, 10, 12
Recommended reading:
*Daniel T. Rodgers, "In Search of Progressivism," Reviews in American History,

v. 10 (1982): 113-132.
*Suzanne Lebsock, "Women and American Politics, 1880-1920," in Women, Politics,

and Change, ed. by L.A. Tilly and P. Gurin (N.Y., 1990), pp. 35-62.

Dec. 5: Term paper due
Dec. 5: Art and Thought in Progressive, Imperial America Topics: New patterns in art, architecture, literature, and philosophy; relation of these changes to industrialization, urbanization, immigration, imperialism, progressive reform.
Required reading:
Chambers, ch. 9

Dec. 7: Overview--The United States in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Mon., Dec. 12, 1:30-4:00 p.m.: FINAL EXAMINATION

INSTRUCTIONS: REQUIRED PAPERS

You will prepare either three short papers or one longer paper. Your papers will be evaluated on the basis of both substance (approximately 2/3) and expression (approximately 1/3). Review what you learned in your required composition course (English 214 or equivalent); errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation, or typing will be penalized. Papers should be done on a word- processor (let me know early in the semester if that poses a problem for you), with one-inch margins on all sides and double-spaced; if you use notes (the long papers will and the short papers may), set your word-processing program for footnotes rather than endnotes. Follow the usual rules regarding quoting and citing; if you are in doubt regarding proper form for footnotes or cita- tions, consult Kate L. Turabian Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, a book that should be a part of the personal library of every serious history student. It is always appropriate to demonstrate the skills you learned in your quantitative reasoning class by analyzing tables, graphs, measures of significance, etc. When you have completed the final draft of your paper, staple it in the upper left-hand corner. Do not put your paper in a binder. For short papers, fold your paper the long way (so that I can get a rubber band around the bundle of papers from the class); be certain that your name appears on the outside.

Book Reviews

Choosing Books to Review A list of acceptable books follows this set of di- rections. You may also find some other book you wish to review. If so, please bring it to me and let me look it over. I must approve any book not on the list.

Planning your Review Your reviews should include three central elements: (1) a concise summary of the subject matter of the book, (2) a concise summary of the thesis of the book, and (3) a critique of the book. (These elements are rarely of the same length; the summary of the subject matter will usually take more space than the other two elements.)

The subject matter of the books will be obvious. Begin your reviews by concisely summarizing the subject. Don't try to relate everything in the book; you cannot possibly accomplish that in the space you have. Closely re- lated to the subject matter is the author's purpose. Sometimes an author will describe his or her purpose in a preface. Read the introductory material to see if the author outlines a reason for having done the study. What questions did the author seek to answer by doing this analysis? Sometimes, of course, the author will not tell you explicitly, and you must draw a conclusion based on your knowledge of the subject matter and of larger patterns of historical development.

The thesis of the book is its most important element. It is not the same thing as the subject matter. It is instead the author's interpretation or explanation of the subject matter. If the author begins with a question ("Why did something happen?"), the thesis is usually the answer to that question ("It happened because . . . "). The thesis usually does not answer questions of "Who?" or "When?" or "Where?" Who-when-where questions usually establish facts. The thesis goes beyond statement of fact to explanation or interpreta- tion. The thesis is the author's conclusion about the reasons things happened as they did, or the author's analysis of the motivation of major figures. It is the historian's analytical construct. In many cases, a book will have a thesis developed in each chapter, and then some unifying final chapter which ties together these sub-theses into a whole interpretation. Sometimes the author will be very explicit in identifying his or her thesis, other times the thesis will be left implicit. Regardless of whether or not the historian is explicit about his or her thesis, you should be explicit in your review.

Your critique of the book is the final element in your review. The cri- tique is your evaluation of the book. Among the points to be considered in the critique are such things as: the author's qualifications, background, and bias (if any is discernible); the type of evidence employed (e.g, statistics, quotations from original sources, summaries of works by other historians); effectiveness of presentation (dull, exciting); and the literary quality of the work. The most important single element in your critique is your answer to these questions: Does the author convince you of his/her thesis? Why or why not? This is also the place to discuss the relationship of this book to other works or to the time period as a whole.

A book review is not the same thing as a book report. A book report usu- ally consists of a summary of the contents of the book. A review goes beyond summarizing the contents to analyzing the book itself. In a good book review, you demonstrate that you thoroughly understand the book and that you are able to present the author's interpretations more succinctly and clearly than they appear in the book itself. This is never easy to do. Read with pen in hand, noting key passages as you come to them. Then read back through the book, outlining the central points. The next step is to organize the author's thoughts and ideas more clearly than he or she did in the first place. Once you have done this, you are ready to write your review.

Your book reviews should be about 800-1,000 words, or 3-4 typed, double- spaced pages with margins of one inch on all sides. If you quote the work you are reviewing, be certain to indicate the page number in parentheses following the quotation. If you quote any other material, use the proper form for cit- ing a work. The title of a book review is simply Review or Book Review. The first thing that should appear in any review is a full citation of the book being reviewed. Turabian presents all the information you need to cite a book, in the section on bibliographies. For examples, look at the reviews in a recent issue of the American Historical Review or the Journal of American History and note the way in which those books are cited at the beginning of the review. Your grade will be based on my evaluation of the quality of your summary of the contents (approximately 1/3), your analysis of the thesis and your critique (approximately 1/3), and your expression (approximately 1/3).

Choose a book from this list for your first book review (due Sept. 28): Atherton, Lewis. Main Street on the Middle Border. _____. The Cattle Kings.
Avrich, Paul. The Haymarket Tragedy.
Blair, Karen. The Clubwoman as Feminist: True Womanhood Redefined, 1868-1914. Bordin, Ruth. Frances Willard: A Biography. _____. Women & Temperance: The Quest for Power & Liberty, 1873-1900. Boyer, Paul. Urban Masses and Moral Order in America, 1820-1920. Brody, David. Steelworkers in America: The Nonunion Era. Carosso, Vincent P. The Morgans: Private International Bankers, 1854-1913. Chan, Sucheng. This Bittersweet Soil: The Chinese in Cal. Ag., 1860-1910. Chandler, Alfred, Jr. The Visible Hand: Managerial Revolution in Am. Business. Chauncey, Geo. Gay N.Y.: Gender,Urb.Culture,&Making of Gay World,1890-1940 Cochran, T.C., and W. Miller. The Age of Enterprise, rev. edn. Connelly, Mark T. The Response to Prostitution in the Progressive Era. Cotkin, George. Reluctant Modernism: American Thought and Culture, 1880-1900. Davis, Allen F. American Heroine: Life and Legend of Jane Addams. ______. Spearheads for Reform: Social Settlements & the Progressive Movement. Deutsch, Sarah. No Separate Refuge: Cultre, Clss, & Gndr in Am. SW, 1880-1940. Dykstra, Robert R. The Cattle Towns.
Dubofsky, Melvyn. We Shall Be All: Industrial Workers of World. Dye, Nancy Schrom. As Equals & Sisters: Lbr Movmt & Wmn's Trade Union League. Fink, Leon. Workingmen's Democracy: Knights of Labor and American Politics. Gilbert, James. Perfect Cities: Chicago's Utopias of 1893. Griswold del Castillo, Richard. The Los Angeles Barrio, 1850-1890. Gordon, Lynn D. Gender and Higher Education in the Progressive Era. Grob, Gerald N. Workers and Utopia: Ideological Conflict in Am. Labor Mvment. Hacker, Louis M. The World of Andrew Carnegie: 1865-1901. Hagan, Wm. T. Quanah Parker, Comanche Chief. Hawke, David Freeman. John D.: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers. Hammack, David C. Power & Society: Greater NY at the Turn of Century. Harlan, Louis R. Booker T. Washington (either volume). Hays, Samuel P. Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency. Hidy, Ralph and Muriel. Pioneering in Big Business, 1882-1911. Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: American Nativism, 1860- 1925. Hoffman, Charles. The Depression of the Nineties. Hofstadter, Richard. Social Darwinism in American Thought. Hoxie, Frederick. A Final Promise: The Campaign to Assimilate Indians. Kazin, Michael. Barons of Labor: SF Bldg Trades ... in Prog. Era Kennedy, David M. Birth Control in America: Career of Margaret Sanger. Kessner, Thomas. The Golden Door: Italian & Jewish Mobility in NYC. Kinzer, Donald. Episode in Anti-Catholicism: The American Protective Assn. Kirkland, Edward. Industry Comes of Age: Business, Labor, & Public Policy. Kraditor, Aileen. The Ideas of the Woman Suffrage Movement. Kraut, Alan M. The Huddled Masses: The Immigrant in Am. Society, 1880-1921. Kunzel, Regina G. Unmarried Mothers and Professionalization of Social Work. Lamoreaux, Naomi. The Great Merger Movement in American Business, 1895-1904. Leckie, Shirley. Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth. Levine, Susan. Labor's True Woman: Carpet Weavers, Industrialization, etc. Lewis, David Levering. W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919. Livesay, Harold C. Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Businesss. _____. Samuel Gompers and Organized Labor in America. McBride, Paul. Culture Clash: Immigrants & Reformers, 1880-1920. Marable, Manning. W.E.B. Du Bois: Black Radical Democrat. Martin, Albro. James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest. May, Henry F. The End of American Innocence: 1912-1917. Meier, August. Negro Thought in America: 1880-1915. Mohl, Raymond A. The New City: Urban Am. in the Industrial Age, 1860-1920. Monroy, Douglas. Thrown Among Strangers: Mexican Culture in Frontier Calif. Montejano, David. Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986. Myres, Sandra L. Westering Women and the Frontier Experience, 1800-1915. Montgomery, David. Workers' Control in Am.: Work, Tech., & Labor Stuggles. Nelli, Humbert S. Italians in Chicago, 1880-1930: A Study in Ethnic Mobility. Nelson, Daniel. Managers & Workers: The New Factory System, 1820-1920. Nevins, Allan. Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, 2 vols. Olson, James C. Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem. O'Neill, William L. Divorce in the Progressive Era. Paul, Rodman. The Far West and the Great Plains in Transition, 1859-1900. Pisani, Donald. From the Family Farm to Agribusiness: Irrigation, 1850-1934. Pitt, Leonard. Decline of the Californios. Prucha, Francis P. American Indian Policy in Crisis: 1865-1900. _____. The Churches and the Indian Schools, 1888-1912. Riley, Glenda. The Female Frontier: Comp. View of Women on Prairie and Plains. Rischin, Moses. The Promised City: New York's Jews, 1870-1914. Rosen, Ruth. The Lost Sisterhood: Prostitution in America, 1900-1918. Schlereth, Thomas J. Victorian America: Everyday Life, 1876-1915. Shannon, Fred. Farmer's Last Frontier: Agriculture, 1860-1897. Sklar, Kathryn Kish. Florence Kelly & Women's Poltcl Culture, 1820-1940. Spear, Allan H. Black Chicago: Making of a Ghetto, 1890-1920. Stevenson, Louise L. Victorian Homefront: Am. Thought & Culture, 1860-1880. Tax, Meredith. Rising of the Women: Feminist Soldrty & Class Conf., 1880-1917. Teaford, Jon C. The Unheralded Triumph: City Govt in America, 1870-1900. Tentler, Leslie Woodcock. Wage-Earning Women: 1900-1930. Thernstrom, Stephen. Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in 19th Cen. City. Trachtenberg, Alan. Incorporation of Am.: Culture & Society in the Gilded Age. Utley, Robert M. The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890. Vatter, Harold. Drive to Industrial Maturity: U.S. Economy, 1860-1914. Wall, Joseph F. Andrew Carnegie.
Ward, David. Poverty, Ethnicity and the Am. City, 1840-1925. Warner, Sam B., Jr. Streetcar Suburbs: Process of Growth in Boston, 1870-1900. Weeks, Philip. Farewell, My Nation: Am. Indian & the U.S., 1820-1890. Woodward, C. Vann. Origins of the New South: 1877-1913. Worster, Donald. Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, & Growth of Am. West. Ziff, Larzer. The American 1890s: Life and Times of a Lost Generation. Zunz, Olivier. Making America Corporate, 1870-1920.

Choose a book from this list for your second review (due Nov. 28): Anderson, Donald. Wm Howard Taft: Conservative's Conception of the Presidency. Beisner, Robert L. Twelve Against Empire: The Anti-Imperialists, 1898-1900. Blocker, Jack S., Jr. Retreat from Reform: Prohibitn Mvmnt in U.S., 1890-1913. Blackford, Mansel G. Lost Dream: Busnssmn & Planning on Pac. Cst., 1890-1920. Blum, John Morton. The Republican Roosevelt, 2nd edn. ______. Woodrow Wilson and the Politics of Morality. Buhle, Mary Jo. Women and American Socialism, 1870-1920. Bullough, Wm. The Blind Boss & His City: C. A. Buckley & San Francisco. Clanton, Gene. Populism: The Humane Preference in America, 1890-1900. Clements, Kendrick A. The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson. Collin, Richard H. Theodore Roosevelt: Culture, Diplomacy, and Expansion. Cooper, John Milton. Warrior and Priest: W. Wilson & T. Roosevelt. Crunden, Robt. Ministers of Reform: Progressivism in Am., 1889-1920. De Santis, Vincent. Republicans Face the Southern Question: 1877-97. Doenecke, Justus D. Presidencies of Jas. A. Garfield & Chester A. Arthur. Fine, Sidney. Laissez Faire & the General-Welfare State: 1865-1901. Flexner, Eleanor. Century of Struggle: Woman's Rights Movement in the U. S. Fowler, Robert. Carrie Catt: Feminist Politician. Gatewood, Willard B. Black Americans and the White Man's Burden, 1898-1903. Glad, Paul A. McKinley, Bryan and the People. Gould, Lewis A. The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. _______. The Presidency of William McKinley. _______. Progressives & Prohibitionists: Texas Democrats in the Wilson Era. Hicks, John D. The Populist Revolt.
Hollingsworth, J. R. Whirligig of Politics: Democracy of Cleveland & Bryan. Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform from Bryan to F.D.R. Hoogenboom, Ari and Olive. A History of the ICC: From Panacea to Palliative. Hoogenboom, Ari. Outlawing the Spoils: History of Civil Service Reform Mvment. _____. The Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. Israel, Jerry. Progressivism and the Open Door: America and China, 1905-1921. Jensen, Richard The Winning of the Midwest: Soc. & Pol. Conflict, 1888-96. Jones, Stanley L. The Presidential Election of 1896. Kirby, Jack. Darkness at the Dawning: Race & Reform in the Progressive South. Kleppner, Paul. Cross of Culture: Social Analysis of Midwest. Pols, 1850-1900. Knock, Thomas J. To End All Wars: W. Wilson & the Quest for a New World Order. LaFeber, Walter. The New Empire: Interpretation of Am. Expansion, 1860-1898. Linderman, Gerald F. Mirror of War: Am. Society & the Spanish-American War. Link, Arthur S. Woodrow Wilson (choose one volume). ______. Woodrow Wilson & the Progressive Era: 1910-1917. McCormick, Richard. From Realignment to Reform: Pol. Change in NY, 1893-1910. _____. Party Period & Public Policy: Am. Politics from Jackson to Prog. Era. McCormick, T. J. China Market: America's Quest for Informal Empire. McGerr, Michael, Decline of Popular Politics: Am. North, 1865-1928. McMath, Robert C., Jr. American Populism: A Social History, 1877-1898. McSeveney, Samuel. Politics of Depression: Political Behav. in the NE, 1893-6. Marchand, C. Roland. The American Peace Movement and Social Reform, 1898-1918. May, Ernest. Imperial Democracy: Emergence of America as a Great Power. ______. The World War and American Isolation, 1914-1917. May, Henry F. The End of Am. Innocence: 1st Years of Our Own Time, 1912-1917. Merrill, Horace S. Bourbon Leader: G. Cleveland & the Democratic Party. Miller, Sally M. Victor Berger & Promise of Constructive Socialism, 1910-1920. Miller, Stuart C. "Benevolent Assimilation": Am. Conquest of the Philippines. Morgan, H. Wayne. William McKinley and His America. Morris, Edmund. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. Nevins, Allan. Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage. Noble, David W. The Progressive Mind, 1890-1917. Nugent, Walter T. K. Money and American Society, 1865-1880. Odegard, Peter H. Pressure Politics: The Anti-Saloon League. Olin, Spencer C. Calif's Prodigal Sons: H. Johnson & Progressives, 1911-1917. Osborne, Thomas J. "Empire Can Wait": Am. Opp. to Hawaiian Annextn, 1893-1898. Perkins, Bradford. Great Rapprochement: England & the U.S., 1895-1914. Plesur, Milton. America's Outward Thrust: Approaches to Frgn Affrs, 1865-1900. Rosenberg, Emily S. Spreading Am. Dream: Am. Econ. & Cltrl Expnsn, 1890-1945. Rothman, David J. Politics and Power: The United States Senate, 1869-1901. Salvatore, Nick. Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist. Schiesl, Martin. Politics of Efficiency: Municipal Admin. & Reform, 1880-1920. Schwantes, Carlos A. Coxey's Army: An American Odyssey. Skocpol, Theda. Protecting Soldiers & Mothers: Pol. Origins Socl Polcy in U.S. Socolofsky, H.E., and A.B. Spetter. Presidency of Benjamin Harrison. Timberlake, James H. Prohibition and the Progressive Movement. Tompkins, E. Berkeley. Anti-Imperialism in the United States. Unger, Irwin. Greenback Era: Social & Pol. Hist. of Am. Finance, 1865-1879. Weinstein, Allen. Prelude to Populism: Origins of the Silver Issue, 1867-1878. Welch, Richard E., Jr. The Presidencies of Grover Cleveland. _____. Response to Imprialsm: U.S. & Phil.-Am. War, 1899-1902. White, Leonard. Republican Era: Study in Administrative History, 1869-1901. Weinstein, James. Decline of Socialism in America, 1912-1925. Wiebe, Robert. Businessmen & Reform: Study of Prog. Movement. Woodward, C. Vann. Tom Watson: Agrarian Rebel. Young, Marilyn Blatt. Rhetoric of Empire: Am. China Policy, 1895-1901.

Primary Source Essay

The required book reviews deal with writings by historians, based on their research into primary sources. In your final essay, you will explore one primary source and relate it to one or more of the major themes explored in this class. This essay should be about 1,000-1,250 words in length, or about 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages with one-inch margins and ten characters to the inch. The following list presents examples of primary sources and questions to help develop your essay: a newspaper or popular magazine (e.g., San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Harper's Weekly): read about an event in the newspaper over at least two weeks. How does the paper treat the event? How does this compare with the treatment in your assigned readings or in a book you have reviewed? Does this source present any information on the way that people reacted to the ev- ent at that time? What additional information did you gain from exploring this source? Examples of events treated in class or in the assigned readings that would be likely to have extended treatment in the newspapers: an election or some dramatic part of an election (the controversy over Hancock's wife's religion in 1880, Bryan's Cross of Gold speech in 1896, the woman suf- frage campaign in some state, the formation of the Progressive party in 1912); consideration of an important bill in Congress (the Chinese Exclusion Act, the McKinley tariff, the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Lodge Force Bill, the Federal Reserve Act or another progressive era measure); a major strike (the 1877 railroad strike, Homestead, Pullman, the anthracite coal strike of 1902); a dramatic event (the assassination of Garfield or McKinley, the Triangle Shirt- waist fire, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the capture of Geronimo); a spectacular technological accomplishment (opening of the Brooklyn Bridge).

Possible primary sources:

an autobiography or diary written by one of the prominent figures of the peri- od. If you do your second book review on Gould's treatment of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, for example, think about reading Roosevelt's Autobiog- raphy; if you do your first book review on Davis's book on settlement houses, think about reading Jane Addams's Twenty Years at Hull House; or if your first review was on Harlan's biography of Booker T. Washington, read Up from Slavery. Many of the prominent figures from this time wrote their autobiogra- phies (sometimes called memoirs or reminiscences) and some of them wrote more than one. The list of autobiographies from this period is top-heavy with white male politicians, including James G. Blaine, William Jennings Bryan, Benjamin Harrison, George F. Hoar, Robert La Follette, Thomas R. Marshall, George W. Norris, Richard Pettigrew, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Sherman. The list of those who wrote autobiographies after making careers in fields other than politics also includes a lot of white males but has more ethnic and gender diversity than the politicians: Jane Addams (Twenty Years at Hull House), Henry Adams (The Education of Henry Adams--one of the outstanding American autobiographies), Black Elk (Black Elk Speaks, as told to John G. Neihardt), Andrew Carnegie (Autobiography), W.E.B. DuBois (Dusk of Dawn), Emma Goldman (Living My Life), Samuel Gompers (Seventy Years . . . ), William Hay- wood (Bill Haywood's Book), Morris Hillquit (Loose Leaves . . . ), Terence V. Powderly (Thirty Years . . . ), John D. Rockefeller (Random Reminiscences . . . ), Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell (All in a Day's Work), Booker T. Washington (Up From Slavery). There are also a number of published diaries or reminiscences of less prominent people , e.g., Olive Anderson (a college student in the 1870s), Anna Cooper (a black teacher), Martha Farns- worth (a Kansas teacher and suffragist), or Frank Roney (a San Francisco iron molder). If you chose to read an autobiography for this essay, think about the following questions: What opportunity did this person have to observe the events described? How is this person's understanding of the era different from our own? How does the person reveal the limits of his or her perspective on events? How does this autobiography illustrate or contradict the generalizations about the time period that you have encountered in the assigned readings or class lectures? Is the author trying to persuade you to accept a particular point of view about events? If so, what? (You should not assume that an autobiography presents an accurate view of the past.)

a book written at the time about an issue that was then current. Some exam- ples: Louis Brandeis, Other People's Money (1914, about economic concentra- tion); James Bryce, The American Commonwealth (1888, 2 vols., the classic ac- count of the structure of American politics in the Gilded Age); Andrew Carne- gie, Triumphant Democracy (1886, a paean to American institutions); Herbert Croly, The Promise of American Life (1909, about progressivism); Thomas Dixon, The Clansman (1905, a novel about Reconstruction that made the KKK the heroes); W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk (1902, about race relations); Henry George, Progress and Poverty (1879, a critical look at recent economic changes); Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Woman and Economics (1898, an early femi- nist analysis); Jack London, The Iron Hand (1907, a novel about a working class uprising); Frank Norris, The Octopus (1901, a novel about the Southern Pacific Railroad); Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1890, about life in the slums of NYC); Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906, a novel about the meatpacking industry); Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of the Cities (1904, about ur- ban corruption); David A. Wells, Recent Economic Changes (1889, about the emergence of big business); Frances Willard, Women and Temperance (1888). For these books, think about the following questions: Why was the book written? What is the author's intention--is he/she trying to persuade you to think dif- ferently about something? How does this book contribute to our understanding of the time period? To what extent do historians today accept or contradict this author's analysis?

some other primary source. Examples: a published collection of letters; an official report (for example, the 10th annual report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1894, presented an anlysis of strikes during the previous ten years or so); or the Republican (or Democratic) national platforms from 1876 through 1916 (see Johnson and Porter, eds., National Party Platforms).

If you're having trouble finding something, come and talk to me about this assignment. Once you've chosen your primary source, I want to know what it is. You should let me know, in writing, no later than November 9.

Term Paper

The term paper is required of graduate students and optional for stud- ents who have completed History 300 or the equivalent. It should be about 3,500-4,000 words in length, or about 15 full pages (double-spaced, one inch margins), exclusive of notes and bibliography. This essay will replace the book reviews and primary source essay, and is accordingly worth as many points as those assignments combined. It should include footnotes and a bibliogra- phy. Speak to me early if any of these requirements pose a problem for you.

The topic of the paper must be agreed upon between the student and the instructor, based on your paper due September 28 and my response to it. Two types are possible: (1) an historiographical essay, and (2) an original re- search paper. Each is described below.

(1) Historiographical essay. Write an extended essay in which you explore the contributions of various historians to the understanding of a topic. An historiographical essay typically answers the question, "What have historians said about this topic and how have different historians treated the topic dif- ferently?" (For examples, see the essays by Ridge, Rodgers, or Lebsock in the recommended readings.) Examples of topics:

     Development of the steel industry, 1877-1916
     Development of U.S. labor unions, 1877-1916
     Gender and American society, 1877-1916
     The settlement house movement
     Experience of an immigrant group (e.g., Germans, Italians), 1877-1916
     Patterns of nativism, 1877-1916
     The prohibition movement, 1877-1916
     Federal Indian policy, 1877-1916
     Race relations, 1877-1916
     U.S. policy toward a particular country or region, 1877-1916
     The tariff as a political issue, 1877-1916
     Agriculture and politics, 1877-1916
     American socialism before World War I

In choosing a topic, try to pick one that spans the entire time period of this course (1877-1916), or much of that time period. Plan to use at least five books (or a combination of books and articles equivalent to at least a thou- sand printed pages) in addition to the required reading in order to develop this essay. (Textbooks and encyclopedia articles are not appropriate.) Many of the required and recommended readings are good places to begin, and you may address them in your essay so long as you use other works as well. Be sure to include in your essay a treatment of the contributions of the authors of the books you use. (If you've not done an essay of this sort before, consult with the instructor before selecting a topic and beginning to work.) Begin your essay by indicating your topic and what you hope to learn by exploring it. You may want to conclude with a set of questions for further research.

(2) Original research paper. Select a topic that you can explore using primary sources (whether archival or published). Set up your research problem by referring to one or more secondary works in the general area of your topic, either drawn from the required readings or from other works. Define a thesis question, explore it using primary sources, and draw a conclusion. Topics must be centered on the time period 1877-1916.

In developing either type of paper, follow this timetable:

     Aug. 24-Sept. 26:meet with instructor to discuss possible topics
     Sept. 28:       submit a one-page (or less) definition of your topic
     Oct. 31:        1ST PROGRESS REPORT:  submit a list of secondary works
                    and, if appropriate, likely primary sources
     Nov. 14:        2ND PROGRESS REPORT:  submit a one-page outline of the
                    paper
     Dec.  5:        submit completed paper

You will be graded only on the final paper, not on the interim papers. Howev- er, I shall respond to the interim papers, to assist you in developing the final paper; the point of these papers is for me to provide you with specific suggestions for your paper. Since the first three papers will not be graded, obviously there will be no penalty if you do not submit them on time, or even if you do not submit them at all. However, I shall not accept your final pa- per unless you tell me (in writing) your topic and major sources at least four weeks before the paper is due (i.e., Nov. 7). The grade will be based on my evaluation of the quality of your research (approximately 1/3), analysis (ap- proximately 1/3), and expression (approximately 1/3).

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