Lecture 1 [Available after Monday, September 04, 2006]
Reconstructing the Nation
America has been split apart by three major wars: in the 1770's the American Revolution; in the 1970's the Vietnam War; and, in the middle of this period, the Civil War. Each war has dramatically changed the generation engaged in battles as well as the generations that followed. Lecture #01 will examine the repercussions of the Civil War, its effects on the American people, and the agreements and disagreements within the nation over the meanings of "Reconstruction."

Lecture 2 [Available after Monday, September 04, 2006]
The "New South"
By the late 1860s, some Southerners were already calling for a more diversified economy -- cotton was no longer "king." Increasingly there was a move from farm to factory, and many people encouraged industrialization in the South and an increased capital investment in the Southern economy from outside sources.

Lecture 3 [Available after Monday, September 04, 2006]
Which "Old West" and Whose?
The "Old West" was largely a post Civil War phenomenon from roughly 1865-1890. It included the large-scale settlement of 430 million acres of land. More land was settled during the "old west" than in the first 250 years of American history. In essence, the land area occupied by Americans doubled. During this time three "empires" rose and fell: Mining, especially gold and silver; Farming; and Cattle. Ten new states enter the United States, and by 1912 the lower 48 are complete. It was also during this time that White Americans defeat Native Americans in the so called Indian Wars.

Lecture 4 [Available after Thursday, September 14, 2006]
The Gilded Age and the Politics of Corruption
The term "The Gilded Age" comes from a novel by the same name, published in 1873 by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, which, though fiction, is a critical examination of democratic politics, and corruption in the United States at the time.

Lecture 5 [Available after Tuesday, September 19, 2006]
Businessmen and "That Creature" the Corporation
Names like James J. Hill, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller have struck terror in the hearts of many, yet these same names have inspired millions of other Americans. Between 1870 and 1900, the United States became a world industrial power, in part because of the ingenious business practices of these individuals. Were these early industrialists "Robber Barons" or "Captains of Industry?" What about "that creature" the corporation and its monopolistic cousin, the trust? The debate over whether the business practices of the Gilded Age were corrupt or beneficial rages on even to this day. Even in our own times, corporate mergers, mass layoffs, deregulation, and the ubiquitous Bill Gates remind us that the line between corruption and progress is indeed a fine one.

Lecture 6 [Available after Thursday, September 21, 2006]
The Social Philosophy of American Businessmen
In the years leading up to and immediately after the turn of the century, corporations and the businessmen who were their recognizable heads came under increasing attack. "Laissez-faire," once synonymous with individual freedom, now signified corporations, trusts, and an unprecedented loss of individual freedom. American businessmen found themselves resorting to new ideologies and "scientific" terminology to defend themselves from angry Americans who felt the trusts were destroying their way of life.

Lecture 7 [Available after Tuesday, September 26, 2006]
Labor and the Workers' Search for Power
The dynamic industrialization and urbanization of the nineteenth century redefined the American workplace. Mechanization, a "deskilling" of the workforce, and the emergence of mass production techniques resulted in a changed status of labor, and also required a new mode of worker-management relations. Labor organizations, which had been relatively insignificant before the Civil War, established themselves as a major voice in American political discussions in the late nineteenth century.

Lecture 8 [Available after Thursday, September 28, 2006]
Foreign Immigrants in Industrial America
While conditions in 19th century Europe worsened for millions of her inhabitants, the United States entered a period of incredible prosperity. Millions of Europeans, unable to bear the pressures of the Industrial Revolution, depressions, and famines, began to envision America as a land of opportunity. Unfortunately, their dreams of gold-paved streets and free land were often dashed as they arrived in a society that was experiencing unprecedented turmoil. Many Americans, seeking scapegoats, pointed to the immigrants as the source of the nation's problems.

Lecture 9 [Available after Wednesday, August 25, 2004]
The Great Migration: Blacks in White America
Although chattel slavery had been illegal for three decades by the 1890s, southern blacks often felt that a new kind of slavery had taken its place. Lynchings, Jim Crow laws, and economic hardship made southern blacks feel as if very little had improved since the days of slavery. Beginning in the 1890s and lasting well into the 1970s, a "Great Migration" of southern blacks to the West and North changed the demographic structure of the nation. Blacks turned to the "Promised Land" of the North in search of jobs and toleration. However, even such basic requests fueled great controversy and debate over the place of blacks in white America.

Lecture 10 [Available after Wednesday, August 25, 2004]
How Ya' Gonna' Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?: The Rise of Populism
Worsening conditions in rural America in the 1870s caused people to abandon their farms in droves. At the same time, changes in agricultural practices and the agricultural marketplace forced independent farmers to become more like businessmen, but with none of the power that had made urban businessmen prosperous. In reaction to these trends, farmers began to take political action and in the 1890s organized the Populist movement, out of which a third political party was formed.

Lecture 11 [Available after Wednesday, August 25, 2004]
The Dawn of Liberalism: Progressivism
The Progressive movement is often viewed as the urban counterpart to Populism. Although the two movements shared some characteristics, there were also important differences. For one, "Progressivism" found its support among small businessmen, professionals, and successful middle-class urban dwellers, in contrast to the disgruntled farmers who fueled the Populist movement. A "Progressive movement" is difficult to define; it is more accurately thought of as an umbrella label, under which a variety of reform groups and liberally-minded individuals gathered. So any discussion of "Progressivism" should begin with the meaning of "Liberalism" at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Lecture 12 [Available after Wednesday, August 25, 2004]
The Policemen of the World
In 1898, America entered into its first international conflict--the Spanish-American War. A series of wars and police actions followed in the 20th century, from World War I to the Gulf War. Why did American leaders believe that the US had a right and a duty to police the world? This lecture examines trends of expansionism and imperialism in the period after the Civil War, trends which still influence US foreign policy today.

Lecture 13 [Available after Wednesday, August 25, 2004]
Roosevelt, Wilson, and the Morality of Power
Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, although they disagreed on many issues, both believed that by the beginning of this century, it was time for the U.S. to take its place on the stage of world power. They were both convinced that the United States should use whatever power necessary to see that the cause of justice triumphed.

Lecture 14 [Available after Wednesday, August 25, 2004]
Women, Feminism and Sex in Progressive America
On May 9, 1908 the U.S. Senate rejected a bill that would have established Mother's Day as a national holiday, on the grounds that motherhood was too sacred to be demeaned by a day in its honor. Just 11 years later, in 1919, the Senate passed the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. At the dawn of the 20th century, women activists and their male allies were preaching a new day for women. What were the correlations of the suffrage movement and other feminist campaigns, and why did the women's movement quiet down in the 1920s after women got the vote? This lecture explores the history of the women's movement in America, both the struggle of women to get the vote, and the larger goals of feminism--social and economic equality with men.

Lecture 15 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
The Politics of Prosperity: The 1920s
World War I may not have made the world safe for democracy, but it did create a favorable situation for the American consumer. The 1920s saw the growth of the culture of consumerism, as many Americans began to work fewer hours, earn higher salaries, invest in the stock market, and buy everything from washing machines to Ford Model T's. The culture of consumerism of the 1920s changed the politics of American society and set the tone for American attitudes about money.

Lecture 16 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
The Politics of Frustration: The 1920s
Not all Americans in the 1920s benefitted from the "politics of prosperity." Many servicemen returning from World War I could not get back their pre-war jobs, or any good jobs for that matter. There was an upswing in racism and xenophobia. Moreover, by the 1920s, many Americans were weary of two decades of reforms, moral legislation, and war. Many longed for a time when life was simpler, even if these "good old days" existed only in the popular imagination.

Lecture 17 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
The Politics of Prohibition: The 1920s
NOTE: STUDENTS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS LECTURE IN SPRING 2004. CONTINUE TO LECTURE 18. The 1920s are often viewed as a decade of contrasts and conflict. Freedoms in dress, behavior, and sexual attitudes came up against a new puritanism. The old horse and buggy was being replaced by the automobile. There were conflicts between the traditional small-town way of life and a new urbanism and cosmopolitanism. In the 1920s, some saw life as a glorious orgy, with the popularization of Freud, songs such as "Hot Lips" and "I Need Lovin'" and movies called "Up in Mabel's Room" and "Her Purchase Price." On the other hand, religious fundamentalism underwent a rebirth, as people tried to latch onto the traditional moral standards--either real or imagined--of bygone years. Overall, this time period can be characterized by the decline of the Anglo-Saxon class as the most influential group in American society. Even as the power of the Anglo-Saxon establishment was on the wane, one of its final attempts at holding onto control was the passage of national Prohibition.

Lecture 18 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
Crashing Hopes: The Great Depression
In 1929 Yale University economist Irving Fisher stated confidently: "The nation is marching along a permanently high plateau of prosperity." Five days later, the bottom dropped out of the stock market, ushering in the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in America's history. Although the Great Crash is viewed as the starting point of the Great Depression, it wasn't the sole cause. This lecture examines the roots of the Great Crash and the effect of the Great Depression on the American public.

Lecture 19 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
Liberalism at High Noon: The New Deal
The stock market crash of 1929 was an indication of underlying problems in the U.S. economy, but not the sole cause of the Great Depression. The Crash merely made the cracks in America's superficial prosperity much more obvious. And since the causes of the economic crises were complex, the solution would be complicated as well. This lecture examines the first few years of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration and his New Deal for lifting America out of the Depression.

Lecture 20 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
"Dr. New Deal" Becomes "Dr. Win-the-War"
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First New Deal was followed by what historians characterize as the Second New Deal (1935-1937). Like the First New Deal, it had its Hundred Days, known as the Second Hundred Days. This lecture examines the reform measures of the Second New Deal, economic backsliding in the Recession of 1937, and the reaction of isolationist Americans to growing hostilities in Europe and Asia.

Lecture 21 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
World War II: The Impact at Home
When France fell to Germany in 1940, the strong pacifist sentiment of the American public was somewhat shaken. Suddenly, Great Britain alone stood between Nazi Germany and the U.S. Once the United States was fully committed to the war in December of 1941, patriotism soared in American society. America's strong backing for the war was demonstrated in its citizens' willingness to carry out blackout drills and civil defense drills; to recycle metals, paper, and even cooking fats; to work longer hours but have fewer consumer goods to buy with their salaries. There were political changes as well, as the country began to shift to the political right. This lecture examines the domestic side of World War II, the changes that took place in American society during the war.

Lecture 22 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
From New Deal to Fair Deal: New Game?
When Harry S Truman became President in 1945, he was nearly a political unknown. Having served as Roosevelt's vice president for only three months, Truman now had to negotiate how to continue Roosevelt's New Deal policies with an increasingly conservative Congress. This lecture examines Truman's attempts to follow up on the New Deal with his own Fair Deal as America began to shift rightward politically, economically, and psychologically.

Lecture 23 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
The Coils of Cold War
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the United States took a turn to the economic, political, and even psychological right. Nothing demonstrated this better than the Second Red Scare, which was known popularly as McCarthyism. The trials, denouncements, black lists, and paranoia about Communism in the Second Red Scare showed the public face of the Cold War. The Cold War--the struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States--transformed anti-communism from a right-wing to a mainstream ideology.

Lecture 24 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
The 1950s: The Cold War and the Affluent Society
The Cold War and the spread of Communism in Eastern Europe, China, and Korea in the late 1940s and early 1950s prompted the United States to dramatically increase its defense spending. As more and more companies came to rely on defense contracts, the power of the military-industrial complex grew. One domestic result of this was a wave of prosperity and the growth of the middle class in the United States. This lecture examines America's foreign policy in the 1950s and the effect of that policy on the American people.

Lecture 25 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
Eisenhower and Kennedy
Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy are often held up as symbols of two radically different eras: the tranquil, prosperous '50s and the tumultuous '60s. Nonetheless, Kennedy himself was a product of the Eisenhower years and his politics, when scrutinized, aren't always as progressive as the Kennedy Myth maintains. This lecture examines the domestic policies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy as well as America's move away from the politics of tranquility.

Lecture 26 [Available after Friday, October 01, 2004]
Civil Rights in an Uncivil Society
During the years of World War II, the modern civil rights movement began to sweep across America, leading to many protests and some reforms in the 1950s and 1960s. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the early civil rights movement was led by different men with distinct philosophies and tactics: Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey. The modern civil rights movement also had many voices of leadership, from A. Philip Randolph, to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Malcolm X. This lecture examines the messages and actions of these three civil rights leaders, the growing movement as a whole, as well as some of the specific gains made in civil rights legislation.

Lecture 27 [Available after Sunday, October 03, 2004]
The Almost Great Society: The 1960s
Novelist Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man, once called Lyndon Baines Johnson "The greatest American president ever for the poor and the Negroes" and this is certainly the way that Johnson wanted to be remembered. This lecture focuses on the two domestic agendas Ellison had in mind: civil rights and the War on Poverty. We will look at President Johnson's philosophies and political methods, the events of the civil rights movement that forced Johnson to act, and the implications of legislation passed during his administration.

Lecture 28 [Available after Sunday, October 03, 2004]
The Asian Connection: The Road to Vietnam
The Vietnam War was the longest and most costly war in US history. The US Asia policy never was coherent; from the Second World War through the end of the Cold War, the US dealt with Asia from a European perspective. The lessons learned in Europe, although not entirely relevant, were directly applied to Asia.

Lecture 29 [Available after Sunday, October 03, 2004]
The Twilight of Liberalism: The Nixon Years
In the early 1960s, it seemed that the political career of Richard Milhous Nixon was over. Having served Dwight D. Eisenhower for eight years as vice president, Nixon lost both the presidential race in 1960 and the California gubernatorial race in 1962. After his 1962 loss, Nixon, who was always distrustful of the media, held a press conference where he conceded "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore." For the next few years Nixon had a successful career as a corporate lawyer at the same time he was rebuilding his political base. In 1968 he won the Republican nomination for president and then the election. This lecture examines Nixon's political comeback after 1968 as well as the changing composition of both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Lecture 30 [Available after Sunday, October 03, 2004]
America Sinking through a Watergate: The Crisis of the Modern Presidency
During the 1968 presidential campaign year, America seemed closer to civil war than at any time since the Great Depression. Society was split by debates on the right of dissent, college campuses were in upheaval, there were numerous riots in cities, and the counter-culture seemed rampant in society. At the core of this dissent was the war in Vietnam, a war considered immoral by its opponents.