The American City
(History 3361)

Judith Ann Trolander
University of Minnesota-Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota, USA

Spring 1990
 
See related Bibliography used with this course.

SYLLABUS

COURSE OBJECTIVES

  1. To gain a better understanding of how American cities developed by focusing on city planning, economic rivalry, cultural trends and attitudes, local government, and urban problems.


  2. To examine the role and contributions of the city in relation to major themes in American history.


REQUIRED PAPERBACKS

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  1. Kenneth T. Jackson, CRABGRASS FRONTIER: THE SUBURBANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES (1985)


  2. William S. Riordan, PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL (1963)


  3. Jon C. Teaford, THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN CITY: PROBLEMS, PROMISE, AND REALITY (1986)
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COURSE OUTLINE

The Pre-industrial City

  • Introduction
  • Historiography
  • The Colonial City
  • Colonial Town Planning

Town Rivalry

  • Early National Cities on the Eastern Seaboard
  • Town Promotion on the Frontier
  • Ohio River and Great Lakes Cities
  • Town Rivalry in the Industrial City

Technological and Esthetic Developments

  • 19th Century Attitudes towards the City
  • Impact of Mass Transit and Urban Services
  • The Chicago School of Architecture
  • The "City Beautiful" Movement

Factory Towns

  • Exam on Lectures and Jackson (ch. 1-7)
  • Early Factory Towns
  • The Company Town

Machine Politics

  • Boss Politics - Gilded Age
  • Progressive Era Corruption and Reform
  • Mayor Daley - A Study in Power
  • Boss Politics - Post World War II

Apr. 18 -- Poverty and Reform

  • Upward Mobility and Opportunity
  • Poverty and Social Control
  • The Church in the City
  • Settlement Houses and Social Reform

Apr. 25 -- Ghettoes

  • Exam on Lectures, Plunkitt, Jackson, ch. 8, and Teaford (ch. 1,2)
  • Immigrant and Ethnic
  • Black

May 2 -- Housing

  • Low Income
  • The Great Depression
  • Urban Renewal
  • The War on Poverty
  • Urban Minorities since World War II

May 9 -- Suburbia

  • The City Planning Profession
  • Social Class
  • Interwar Suburbs
  • Post-War Suburbs
  • From the Garden City to New Town

May 16 Recent Trends

  • 20th Century Attitudes Towards the City
  • Small Towns
  • Sunbelt Cities
  • Metropolitan Government

May 23 Final Exam on Lectures

  • Jackson (chapter 9-16), and
  • Teaford (Chapters 3-7)

Individuals who have any disability, either permanent or temporary, which might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the start of the quarter. Adaptation of methods, materials, or testing may be made as required to provide for equitable participation.



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