Class Time: Online Course
Credit Hours: 3 hours
CID Number: 41037
Section Number: HIS 1302 - 03
Semester: Summer II - 2012

Dr. Jeffrey L. Littlejohn
Office: AB4 – 455
Office Hours: Online Anytime
Telephone: 936.294.4438
Email: littlejohn@shsu.edu
Skype: deltahistory
Web: http://www.studythepast.com

In 1876, the United States celebrated its 100th anniversary at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the time, the nation contained 46 million people and 38 states. The vast majority of the country's residents -- some 68 percent -- lived in rural communities, where the traditional agricultural rhythms of the nineteenth century continued to hold sway. Roughly 10 million Americans had moved into new urban areas, but only seven U.S. cities had more than 250,000 inhabitants, and none had yet reached the 1 million mark. The residents of America were young, industrious people with a median age of 20 years. Many if not most Americans still provided their own food, clothing, and shelter. Houses, businesses, and government buildings were lit by oil lamps, and transportation required horses, carriages, or steam trains and boats.

The millions of people who attended the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876 saw dozens of fascinating exhibits that foreshadowed the technological trends of the coming years. President Ulysses S. Grant and Dom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, opened the Exposition by starting the colossal 1,500 horsepower Corliss Engine that drove a series of clocks and other mechanical devices throughout the fairgrounds. At the same time, Alexander Graham Bell debuted his transformative new invention, the “telephone,” while the Remington Company showcased its “typewriter,” which soon replaced handwritten records in hundreds of businesses across the country. Meanwhile, at the concession stand, bananas became a new American favorite, while sarsaparilla sold for three cents a bottle, and coffee went for five cents a cup.

As word of the Exposition's wonderful exhibits spread throughout the country, other stories also excited public attention. In June, news arrived that George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry had been wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne forces at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in the Montana territory, where Indians had refused to give up their lands in accord with the government's demand that they move to reservations. The native victory was short lived, however, for in November, the U.S. Army sent troops to sack a sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River to avenge the loss at Little Big Horn. After murdering dozens of women and children, the U.S. government employed all the forces at its command to drive the Indians onto reservations, despite their continued protests and calls for justice.

Shortly after news of “Custer's Last Stand,” word spread on July 4th that the National Woman Suffrage Association had issued a “Declaration of Rights,” calling for the extension of voting rights and first class citizenship to all women in the United States. At the time, women faced a patriarchal, male-dominated world in which their husbands and fathers controlled the economic and political spheres of life. In many ways the plight of women resembled that faced by African Americans. In March 1876, the black activist Frederick Douglass had remarked on the rising tide of racism and discrimination his people were facing. “There is but one thing I know,” Douglass said, “we must either have all the rights of American citizens, or we must be exterminated, for we can never again be slaves.”

As Native Americans, women, and African Americans struggled to secure the rights of full citizenship, many of the nation's white men were focused on other endeavors. In February 1876, baseball's National League was formed with teams in eight towns stretching from Boston to St. Louis. At the same time, Albert Spalding used $800 to start a sporting goods company that manufactured baseballs, basketballs, and footballs for the new games that had captured the public imagination. Then, in November, the administrative leaders at Columbia, Harvard and Princeton universities formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, which standardized the rules for the game and oversaw the expansion of football throughout the United States.

If this new sporting culture was surprising, so too was the first Transcontinental Express train trip, which traveled on June 4th from New York to San Francisco in 83 hours and 39 minutes. A month after this revolutionary cross-country jaunt, San Francisco also became the first city to sponsor a public exhibition of electric lighting, bringing bright white to the night for the first time in American history. Yet, even this was not enough for the inventor of the light bulb, Thomas Edison, who patented another brilliant invention in August 1876 called the mimeograph machine; it copied text quickly and accurately in a way no press had been able to do before. Yet, perhaps the most revolutionary innovation of the year went to the McCormick Harvester and Wire Binder that shortened the process of grain harvesting in farming, and made large scale corporate farming possible in the century to come.

And, if these stories were not enough, the year also brought an electoral crisis between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, who both claimed victory in the Presidential election of 1876. Ultimately, the politicians settled the controversy in a back room deal, and Hayes was given the presidency in return for a Republican agreement to end Reconstruction and remove all remaining federal troops from the South. This corrupt bargain -- called the Compromise of 1877 -- left African Americans at the mercy of white Democrats in the South, who wasted no time in restricting the rights of the former slaves and placing them into second class citizenship. Many of the human costs created by such a move found fictional coverage in Mark Twain's landmark book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which was published in December 1876 and soon became an American literary classic.

Obviously, most Americans from 1876 would find our nation today a startling departure from the country they called home. With 311 million inhabitants and 50 states, our country has almost seven times the population of the United States in 1876. The vast majority of modern Americans live in urban cities with little or no direct tie to the agricultural world that makes our lives possible. Cable television, cellular telephones, and the personal computer have revolutionized our culture, and these are just the most modern conveniences. Think of all the everyday inventions that have changed life over the last 135 years. Automobiles, radios, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, microwaves, and jet airplanes have all been instrumental in changing the way we live, and that doesn't even take into account the transformations caused by women's rights, racial desegregation, suburbanization, fast food chains, interstate highways, or the pervasive effect of modern medical care.

This course explores the social, cultural, economic, environmental, and political developments that have shaped America over the last 135 years. We will examine technological innovations, economic depressions, international wars, and dozens of other topics. As we do, I hope you will enjoy learning about our fascinating country and the way it has changed over time.

1) Students will gain factual knowledge.
2) Students will learn fundamental principles, generalizations, and theories.
3) Students will learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.

Created Equal: A History of the United States, Brief Edition, Volume 2, 3rd Edition
By Jacqueline Jones, Peter H. Wood, Thomas Borstelmann, Elaine Tyler May, and Vicki L. Ruiz.

You may buy a hardcopy of this book in the la Carte Edition at the campus bookstore. [$50]
You may rent this ebook online at http://www.coursesmart.com. [$35.99]

In addition to the book listed above, you will be assigned a variety of documentary films on the topics discussed.

Quizzes - Twelve quizzes will be offered during the course. Each quiz will cover a single reading assignment. You may access the quizzes in SHSUonline by clicking on the appropriate link in the left menu bar of our course. You will have fifty minutes to complete each quiz. All quizzes must be submitted by the due date. Absolutely no exceptions. Your lowest two quiz grades will be dropped. Ten quizzes will be used to calculate your final score.

Course Portfolios - You will keep a “course portfolio” for each half of the course. At a minimum, each of your portfolios should include an answer to five of the red questions presented in the course schedule. To obtain full credit, responses must each be at least 400 words each (for a total of 2000 words on five entries). Moreover, your entries must fully address the question(s) and demonstrate thorough knowledge of the assigned documentary film. You will submit your portfolios electronically through SHSUonline (and they will be evaluated using turnitin.com). NO LATE COURSE PORTFOLIOS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

As part of this class, you will be expected to check your university email and our SHSUonline page on a regular basis. To email me, you can either go to SHSUonline or send directly to littlejohn@shsu.edu. I am also available on skype. My user name is: deltahistory

You are very fortunate to be enrolled at SHSU, which has an outstanding academic resource to help you succeed as a student: the SAM Center. The SAM Center is now located in CHSS Suite 170. The SAM Center offers academic advising and counseling for numerous issues. They also offer an excellent study skills course. Visit their website for more information: http://www.shsu.edu/~sam_www/.

For those of you who need help with reading strategies, go to the Reading Center located in Farrington 109. See their website: http://www.shsu.edu/~rdg_www/.

The University expects all students to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above reproach. Students are expected to maintain complete honesty and integrity in the academic experiences both in and out of the classroom.  Any student found guilty of dishonesty in any phase of academic work will be subject to disciplinary action.

5.31 The University and its official representatives, acting in accordance with Subsection 5.32, may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of any form of academic dishonesty including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials.
"Cheating" includes the following and similar actions:
(1) Copying from another student's test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files, data listings, and/or programs.
(2) Using, during a test, materials not authorized by the person giving the test.
(3) Collaborating, without authorization, with another student during an examination or in preparing academic work.
(4) Knowingly, and without authorization, using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, soliciting, copying, or possessing, in whole or in part, the contents of an unadministered test.
(5) Substituting for another student, permitting any other person, or otherwise assisting any other person to substitute for oneself or for another student in the taking of an examination or test or the preparation of academic work to be submitted for academic credit.
(6) Bribing another person to obtain a test or information about an unadministered test.
(7) Purchasing, or otherwise acquiring and submitting as one's own work any research paper or other writing assignment prepared by an individual or firm. This section does not apply to the typing of the rough and/or final versions of an assignment by a professional typist.

5.32 "Plagiarism" means the appropriation and the unacknowledged incorporation of another's work or idea into one's own work offered for credit.
5.33 "Collusion" means unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing work for credit.
5.34 "Abuse of resource materials" means the mutilation, destruction, concealment, theft or alteration of materials provided to assist students in the mastery of course materials.
5.35 “Academic work” means the preparation of an essay, dissertation, thesis, report, problem, assignment, or other project that the student submits as a course requirement or for a grade.

2.00 PROCEDURES IN CASES OF ALLEGED ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

2.01 Procedures for discipline due to academic dishonesty shall be the same as in disciplinary actions specified in The Texas State University System Rules and Regulations and Sam Houston State University Student Guidelines except that all academic dishonesty actions shall be first considered and reviewed by the faculty member teaching the class. The faculty member may impose failure or reduction of a grade in a test or the course, and/or performing additional academic work not required of other students in the course. If the faculty member believes that additional disciplinary action is necessary, as in the case of flagrant or repeated violations, the case may be referred to the Dean of Student Life or a designated appointee for further action. If the student involved does not accept the decision of the faculty member, the student may appeal to the chair of the appropriate academic department/school, seeking reversal of the faculty member's decision.

2.02 If the student does not accept the decision of the chair of the academic department/school, he/she may appeal to the appropriate academic dean. The chair of the academic department/school may also refer the case directly to the academic dean if the case so warrants. 

It is the policy of Sam Houston State University that individuals otherwise qualified shall not be excluded, solely by reason of their disability, from participation in any academic program of the university. Further, they shall not be denied the benefits of these programs nor shall they be subjected to discrimination. Students with disabilities that might affect their academic performance are expected to visit with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities located in the Counseling Center. They should then make arrangements with the instructor in order that accommodations can be made to assure that participation and achievement opportunities are not impaired.  SHSU adheres to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. If you have a disability that may affect adversely your work in this class, then we encourage you to register with the Counseling Center and to talk with us about how we can best help you.  All disclosures of disabilities will be kept strictly confidential. Please note: No accommodation can be made until you register with the Counseling Center and provide us with proper documentation.

At the end of the semester, students will be asked to complete an evaluation of the course, but I welcome feedback about readings, assignments, and my instruction throughout the semester. Let’s work together to make this a successful and rewarding learning experience for everyone.

This syllabus is your contract for the course. I will not change the nature of the course, the number of assignments, or the grading system. However, I reserve the right to update the course schedule and reading assignments.