United States History since 1865

Dr. Keith S. Hébert

Spring Semester 2010–University of West Georgia

Professor Contact Information

email: khebert@westga.edu
office location(s): Pafford Hall # 207; TLC #3245
office hours: MWF 8:15-8:50; 10:00-10:50; Noon to 2:30 and by appointment

I strongly urge students to use my office hours as an opportunity to seek help with this
course. If you need clarification about an assignment or simply want to introduce
yourself you are welcome to stop by and see me during my office hours. Do not wait
until the end of the semester to seek help. Do not hire a tutor or seek out external help in
this class before you consult with me during my office hours. I will not edit your papers
during my office hours, but I will happily provide you with some additional instructions
that might help improve your course grade.

Course Description, Objectives, and Learning Outcomes

This course examines the history of the United States from the end of the Civil War
through the end of the 20th century. Students will be exposed to many of the critical
thinking, research, and analytical skills used by professionals historians. Students will
also complete several writing assignments that will improve their overall writing skills.
Class meetings will feature interactive lectures–I ask lots of questions and students
respond to those questions and present their own questions as necessary. Students will
read a wide array of primary source documents and will be asked to analyze those
documents and intepret the past through these vital historical sources. Therefore,
students need to be well-prepared for class and have completed all reading assignments.
Students also need to engage in class discussions and respond to questions posed by the
course professor. A student’s inability to respond to direct question evidences their lack
of preparation and will result in a significantly lower final course grade.

Students with Disabilities

If a student has a documented disability that might potentially impact their performance
in the course it is the student’s responsibility to discuss the situation with the course
professor as soon as possible in order to arrange any necessary accomodations.

Attendance and Classroom Behavior Policy

Students must adhere to the following expectations in order to receive a passing grade in
this course. By enrolling and remaining in this course it is assumed that a student has
agreed to follow these regulations. Students who violate these expectations will be
withdrawn from the course by the professor with a failing grade. It is a student’s
responsibilty to familiarize themselves with these expectations.

1) Attendance is required. I will take roll at the start of every class. Students who arrive
to class after attendance has been taken will be marked tardy. Three tardies equals one
unexcused absence. On exam days students are expected to arrive to class on time.
Students who are tardy will lose ten points on that exam grade. Students are expected to
remain in class until the professor has dismissed the entire group. Students who leave
class early without permission will be counted absent. Students are allowed four
unexcused absences for the semester. For every absence a student has beyond four they
will receive a ten point reduction in their final course grade. In order to receive an
excused absence students must provide written documentation of their absence.
2) Students must turn off their cell phones prior to the start of each class. Students who
fail to do so will be asked to leave class and will be counted absent.
3) Students must refrain from texting during class. Students who are seen texting will be
asked to leave class and will be counted absent.
4) Students must refrain from working on assignments for other classes while attending
my class. Students who are seen doing this will be asked to leave and will be counted
absent.
5) Laptops are permitted for note taking purposes. Students should refrain from surfing
the internet or checking e-mail during class.
6) Students are forbidden from recording lectures.

Required Textbooks

The American Journey, Volume 2, 5th Edition

MyHistoryLab, website with access code that should be included with the purchase of
your textbook from the University Bookstore

Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery

America.gov, Free at Last: The U.S. Civil Rights Movement (pdf. that can be downloaded
for free either from the course website or at http://www.america.gov/publications/books-
content/free-at-last.html

Required Materials

Three ring binder 1″ notebook

Graded Course Assignments

Exam One—————————-10 percent (February 5)
Exam Two—————————-15 percent
Final Exam—————————15 percent (Date TBA)
Research Paper———————-20 percent
Autobiography Paper————–10 percent (February 1)
Reading Journal———————30 percent (Weekly)

Assignment Descriptions

Examinations–40 percent of the final course grade

Students will complete three exams this semester. Each exam will follow the same
format. Exams will have fill-in-the-blank questions, short answer questions, and
identifications. A study guide will be posted on the course website approximately one
week prior to the exam. The final exam is not cumulative.

Research Paper–20 percent of final course grade

Every student will write a 4-6 page primary source research paper this semester.
Students will be required to select from a list of predetermined topics for their essays (no
exceptions allowed). All essays must contain footnotes that are formated according to the
guidelines I will post on the course website. Students will be asked to consult a number
of digitized historic newspapers to examine how the media reported certain people/
events significant in the course of American history. Students must also consult at least
three scholarly secondary sources (books, scholarly articles) that relate to their topic and
can help provide some context for your analysis of what you discover in your digital
newspapers. A list of potential topics will be posted on the course website as well as the
digital newspapers available for your research. Note: some of the newspapers are
available through paid subscriptions funded by the UWG library so if you use these paid
site at home you will need a library password in order to access these sites. A guide to
writing an effective essay will be posted on the course website.

The paper must follow these formatting requirements:

All essays must be typed

All essays must be at least four full length pages and should not exceed six full length
pages of text
All essays must be double spaced
All essays must have one inch side margins
All essays must be written using New Times Roman 12 pt. font
All essays must have page numbers located on the bottom right hand corner of every
page
All essays must have a title page that includes the following information: title of your
paper (be creative), your name, class meeting time 9-9:50, 11-11:50
All essays must use footnotes (no endnotes please)
All essays must have a bibliography
All essays must have an introductory paragraph that contains an identifiable thesis
statement (if you do not know how to write a thesis statement please consult the course
professor during his office hours for additional instruction.)
Students will have two options for turning in their papers.
Option A: Students may turn in their papers on Friday, March 19, if they want me to
review their essay, provide detailed comments, suggest some revisions that would
improve your work, and assign a tentative assignment grade. Students who select this
option may either take the tentative grade I assign or revise their paper in an effort to
improve their assignment grade. I would recommend that any student who wishes to
revise their paper first consult with me during my office hours in order to receive
additional guidance. Students who chose to revise their essays will need to turn in a
revised copy of their work (along with the original submission that I marked up) by
Monday April 19.

Option B: Students may chose to turn in their papers by Friday, April 23 if they do not
want me to review their essay prior to submission. Students who chose this option
will receive only a letter grade on their graded essays and will not have an opportunity to
revise their initial submission.

Autobiography Paper–10 percent of final course grade

Students will read Booker T. Washington’s autobiography Up From Slavery and prepare
a 3 page essay. The essay should address the following questions: 1) to what degree does
Washington’s story reflect the lives of late 19th century African Americans in general; 2)
what lessons can modern readers learn from Washington’s story; 3) how does
Washington’s story reflect materials covered in class and in your assigned readings. The
paper should be typed, double-spaced, one-inch side margins, 12-pt. New Times Roman
font, and must be a full 3 pages in length. The paper will be due on Monday, February
1. Late papers will receive an automatic ten point reduction and then an additional ten
points for every day the paper is not turned in.

Assigned Reading Journal—30 percent of final course average

Students will maintain an assigned reading journal throughout the semester. The journal
will consist of two sections. The first section will analyze primary source documents.
Historians use primary sources to interpret the past. Each week students will be
assigned several primary source documents included in the MyHistoryLab chapter. A list
of assigned document can be found on the course webpage. Students will prepare a
journal entry for each primary source document. The entry should analyze the primary
source by considering the following questions:

1) Who was the primary source’s author?

2) When was the document written?
3) Who was the author’s intended audience?
4) What was the author’s purpose for creating this document?
5) What does this document tell you about American history at the time this document
was written?
6) If you were to interview the document’s author, what question(s) would you ask in
order to further clarify the primary source’s purpose and/ or content?
7) What potential biases exist that might have influenced the information contained in
this document?
The second section of the assigned reading journal will involve answering questions
related to your secondary source (textbook) reading assignments. A list of questions will
be included for every week of the semester. Students must type out their answers and
include those answers in their journal. Essays should thoroughly answer the question.
Most essays require at least a full page response. Incomplete answers will not receive
full credit on this assignment.

Students must bring their journal to every class period. I will periodically collect your
journals, review them, and assign you a grade–usually on Fridays. Students are
responsible for bringing their journals to class. Late journals will receive a ten point
reduction for every day the journal is late. Students who are absent from class when the
journal is collected may turn in their journal the following class period and will receive a
ten point reduction in their journal grade. Students who fail to turn in journals will
receive a failing grade for the semester. The journal will help students prepare for class
discussions and review for the class examinations. All journal entries should be typed.
All journal entries need to include a date. All journal entries must be turned in using the
required 3 ring binder notebook.