History (HIST) 235

Overview

HIST 235 focuses on the themes of freedom, domination, resistance and change, and fully engages in a range of subjects pertinent to modern US history. These include the political freedoms achieved under Reconstruction in the late 1860s and seventies; the resurgence of white political domination in the South; the conquest of independent Native American societies in the West; the emergence of agrarian protest movements; the growth of corporate capitalism; and early urban challenges to corporatism known as the Progressive Movement. HIST 235 also covers New Deal reformism in the 1930s, the influence of communism among African Americans during the Great Depression, state suppression of civil liberties after WWII; and the civil rights movements of African Americans, women and homosexuals. The core discussion of the closing unit takes on the cycles of crisis and growth within the US economy from the 1970s to present, and the effects of economic crisis on US foreign relations.

Objectives

When you have completed HIST 235: History of the United States, Civil War to Present, you should be able to:

• Grasp the broad-ranging, varied, but interrelated themes and subject matter in US history since the Civil War.
• Analyze the centrality and interrelatedness of race, class and gender in understanding US history.
• Assess the significance of social change in the US South to the broader shaping of modern US society.
• Assess the effects of industrial growth and the emergence of corporate capitalism on various subordinated groups in society, including African Americans, Native Americans, women, and immigrants.
• Analyze the relation between state control and people’s individual and organized resistance to that control, especially during the 1950s and sixties.
• Analyze the effect of economic growth and crisis on US government policy.
• Discuss the concept of imperialism as a defining aspect of US foreign policy.

Outline

Unit 1: Between Reconstruction and Agrarian Revolt, 1865–1890

Unit 2: America from Late Nineteenth Century Imperialism to World War I

Unit 3: The Age of Business, the Great Depression and New Deal Reform

Unit 4: From “Hot” War to Cold War – Repression and Resistance in the United States, 1939–1970

Unit 5: From the End Games of the Cold War to the “War on Terror,” 1970–Present

Evaluation

To receive credit for HIST 235, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a “D” (50 per cent). You must achieve a minimum grade of 50 percent on the examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

The final examination for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.