Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Historisches Seminar Sommersemester 2009 PD Dr. Marcus Gräser (Vertretung der Professur für Amerikanische Geschichte) Büro: Historisches Seminar, R. 041 Postanschrift: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg/Historisches Seminar, Postfach 10 57 60, 69047 Heidelberg Telefon: Heidelberg (06221) 54 2276, Frankfurt am Main (069) 798 28111 email: M.Graeser@em.uni-frankfurt.de Sprechstunde: Mo 13-14 Uhr, R. 041 Lecture: Major Problems in American History: 1860-1945 12.10.2009-1.2.2010 Historisches Seminar, Lecture Room Mo 11-13 This lecture will provide an overview of American history from 1860 to 1945. In these decades the United States underwent a series of dramatic political, social and international changes. In addition to bringing into focus an outline of important events and developments (Civil War, Reconstruction, Progressivism, Imperialism, Depression, New Deal and Second World War), the lecture will explore the history of distinct regions and geographical places (The West, The Rise of the Cities) as well as major aspects of social and economic history (Capital and Labor, the Place of Women in American Society, the Situation of Ethnic Minorities). The lecture will also introduce students to some of the most recent historiographical approaches in interpreting American history. Recommended literature Thomas Bender, A Nation Among Nations: America s Place in World History, New York 2006 Orville Vernon Burton, The Age of Lincoln, New York 2007 Alan Dawley, Struggles for Justice: Social Responsibility and the Liberal State, Cambridge, MA, 1994 Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction, 1863-1877, New York 1984 Eric Foner, The Story of American Freedom, New York 1998 Samuel P. Hays, The Response to Industrialism, 1885-1914, Chicago 1995² 1
Barry D. Karl, The Uneasy State: The United States from 1915 to 1945, Chicago 1983 David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945, New York 1999 Walter LaFeber, The American Age: United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad Since 1750, New York 1989 William E. Leuchtenburg, The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932, Chicago 1993² Bruce Levine, Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War, New York 1996 James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, New York 1988 Clyde Milner II et al. (eds.), The Oxford History of the American West, New York 1994 Jon C. Teaford, The Unheralded Triumph: City Government in America, 1870-1900, Baltimore 1984 Jon C. Teaford, The Twentieth-Century American City, Baltimore 1993² Alan Trachtenberg, The Incorporation of America: Culture & Society in the Gilded Age, New York 1982 Ian Tyrrell, Transnational Nation: United States History in Global Perspective Since 1789, New York 2007 C. Vann Woodward, Origins of the New South, 1877-1913 Additional Literature (in German) Willi Paul Adams, Manfred Berg, Die USA vor 1900 u. Die USA im 20. Jahrhundert (Oldenbourg Grundriss der Geschichte, Bd. 28+29), München 2000, 2008 Volker Depkat, Geschichte Nordamerikas. Eine Einführung, Stuttgart 2008 Norbert Finzsch, Konsolidierung und Dissens. Nordamerika von 1800 bis 1865, Münster 2005 Philipp Gassert et al., Kleine Geschichte der USA, Stuttgart 2007 Hans R. Guggisberg, Geschichte der USA, Zwei Bände, Stuttgart 1979 (2. Aufl.) Jürgen Heideking, u. Christof Mauch, Geschichte der USA, Tübingen 2006 (4. Aufl.) Jürgen Heideking, Jürgen u. Vera Nünning, Einführung in die amerikanische Geschichte, München 1998 2
Lecture Plan and Recommended Readings (Recommended readings are just that: recommended. They are listed here as a way for you to dig deeper into the topics of the lecture. It should be possible to pass the exams by following the lecture and reading the recommended literature, but to truly understand your subject you will need to ensure that you read as widely as possible. Please use the fabulous Schurman Library for your education!) 12.10. Introductions/The Coming of the Civil War Bender, Nation, pp. 122-130 Levine, Half Slave, pp. 160-224 McPherson, Battle Cry, pp. 202-275 19.10 Civil War Burton, Lincoln, pp. 104-233 McPherson, Battle Cry, pp. 591-625 u. 751-830 Tyrrell, Nation, pp. 84-93 26.10. Reconstruction and the New South Burton, Lincoln, pp. 234-322 Foner, Reconstruction, pp. 82-123 u. 148-179 Woodward, New South, pp. 107-174 2.11. The West Milner, West, pp. 155-236 u. 501-512 3
9.11. Social Antagonism: Capital and Labor, 1870-1910 Bender, Nation, pp. 246-275 Dawley, Struggles, pp. 98-138 Foner, Freedom, pp. 124-130 Trachtenberg, pp. 70-100 16.11. Cultural Pluralism: Migration, Religion and Society, 1870-1910 Dawley, Struggles, pp. 63-97 Hays, Response, pp. 25-46 Trachtenberg, America, pp. 140-181 Tyrrell, Nation, pp. 94-117 23.11. The Rise of the Cities Hays, Response, pp. 120-148 Teaford, Triumph, pp. 217-250 Teaford, Twentieth-Century, pp. 7-43 30.11. Populism and Progressvism Dawley, Struggles, pp. 141-171 Foner, Freedom, pp. 139-162 Hays, Response, pp. 69-119 4
7.12. Imperialism Dawley, Struggles, pp. 48-55 Hays, Response, pp. 200-225 LaFeber, Age, pp. 181-250 Tyrrell, Nation, pp. 134-153 14.12. World War I Dawley, Struggles, pp. 172-217 Foner, Freedom, pp. 168-184 Iriye, Globalizing, pp. 19-57 21.12. The 1920s Dawley, Struggles, pp. 254-333 Karl, Uneasy State, pp. 50-79 Leuchtenburg, Perils, pp. 157-179 Tyrrell, Nation, pp. 155-169 11.1. Great Depression Karl, Uneasy State, pp. 80-110 Kennedy, Freedom, pp. 70-103 Leuchtenburg, Perils, pp. 241-264 5
18.1. New Deal Foner Freedom, pp. 195-218 Karl, Uneasy State, pp. 131-181 Kennedy, Freedom, pp. 323-380 25.1. World War II LaFeber, Age, pp. 392-431 Iriye, Globalizing, pp. 170-216 Kennedy, Freedom, pp. 746-797 1.2. Exams! 6