GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
History 110:
United States History
Instructor, Dr. Levon Marashlian
Office: SR 354 (818) 240-1000, ext. 5463
Hours: MWF, 8:15-9:30 TTh, 9:45-10:15
E-mail: levonm@glendale.edu
I. Course Description
This course is a survey of United States history from the colonial period to the present. It provides an interpretation of the more significant events, issues, and ideas that have shaped the American republic and the issues and policies that currently influence the lives of the American people and the development of international relations. The course also encourages students to develop analytical and critical thinking skills with which they may better understand ongoing developments in American society.
II. Prerequisites
Recommended preparation: Eligibility for English 120 or ESL 151.
III. Course Objectives Include:
1. Understanding the ideological and economic foundations of the American Revolution, the Articles of Confederation, and the American Constitution.
2. Understanding how westward expansion, economic developments, and moral issues contributed to causing the Civil War.
3. Understanding developments involving industrialization, immigration, labor movements, overseas expansion, and participation in World War I.
4. Understanding the economic and social atmosphere of the postwar period and the changes brought about by the Great Depression.
5. Understanding the US role in World War II, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and major domestic and foreign policy issues up to the present time.
IV. Course Materials
* Required textbook: The American Journey, by David Goldfield, et al., Brief Third Edition, Combined Volume. Prentice Hall, 2004.
* Recommended readings from the current press.
V. Attendance
Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Too many absences can lead to a lower grade. If a student wishes to withdraw from the class, it is the student's responsibility to notify the Office of Admissions and Records before the deadline. Failure to do so may lead to a failing grade.
VI. Exams and Grades
There are three one-hour exams and a two-and-a-half hour final exam.
All exams are worth a maximum of 100 points. No grades can be dropped. The final grade will be an average of the four exam grades, according to the following percentage scale:
90 to 100 = A 80 to 89 = B 60 to 79 = C 50 to 59 = D 0 to 49 = F
VII. Exam Make-Up Policy
Make-up exams are allowed only if the instructor is convinced there was a good reason to miss the regularly scheduled exam.
VIII. Academic Dishonesty Policy
All students are expected to do their own work. All forms of cheating and plagiarism are absolutely forbidden. This is the official policy of Glendale Community College and the instructor of this course. Students found to be using unauthorized materials on exams, copying from other students' exams, copying other written material without proper credit to the original author, or cheating in any other way, will have the particular assignment marked F and may receive a failing grade for the course.
IX. Assignments and Requirements
Students will be a required to use a balanced combination of four sources of information when writing their exams:
* Reading assignments in the textbook that will be given during the semester.
* Classroom lectures and discussions.
* Documentary films and other video material presented during lectures.
X. Course Outline
Part One: Re-Discovery to Revolution, 15th Century to 1784
* Introduction to the study of history
* The great explorations of the seas
* The Enlightenment, Mercantilism, & Classical Liberalism
* Royal power & democratic institutions in the colonies
* Navigation, sugar, stamps, tea & political representation
* Businessmen as rebels
* The American Revolution and its place in world history
EXAM #1
Part Two: Nation-Building to Civil War, 1785-1865
* The Constitution: democracy, capitalism, individualism
* Manifest Destiny and the West
* The American Indian nations
* Texas, California, the Mexican War
* Sectional disputes and failed compromises
* Moral & economic dimensions of slavery
* Political parties and the North-South crisis
* Constitutional & commercial dimensions of secession
* Lincoln and the Civil War, 1861-65
EXAM #2
Part Three: Reconstruction to World War I, 1865-1920
* The freed slaves' reality
* Industrialization
* Cuba and the Spanish-American War
* The Far East, the Philippines and Imperial America
* Europe and Russia, 1900-1914
* Nationalism and imperialism
* World War I, 1914-18
* Woodrow Wilson and US neutrality
* Reasons for US entry in the War
* Wilson's 14 Points and the Paris Peace Conference in 1919
* “Return to Normalcy” and the election of Harding in 1920
EXAM #3
Part Four: Roaring Twenties to the Post-Cold War World, 1920-2000s
* Isolationism
* Immigration
* The Great Migration
* The Red Scare
* Economic boom to bust, 1929
* Roosevelt, Great Depression , and New Deal--1930's
* Fascism, Hitler, & World War II--1939-45
* American neutrality and economic imperatives
* The scope and and limits of the Soviet-American alliance
* Pearl Harbor to Yalta to Hiroshima
* Eastern Europe and Cold War
* The UN and Korea
* Post-war prosperity and social movements--1950's-60's
* Vietnam and US foreign policy, 1953-75
* Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush
* President Clinton, the election of 1996, and the impeachment of 1999.
*President Bush II, the Iraq war, and other current-event issues in 21st Century.
EXAM #4 (FINAL EXAM)
Copyright 2005 Levon Marashlian