During this course students read six important volumes on American social and economic history. These works cover very different themes and periods. Students are taught subjects as divers as American moral values, the impact of religion on public life, origins and consequences of slavery, the federal land policy, the railways, the big business and Franklin Roosevelt’s economic policies during the depression. The unifying theme of the course is the transformation of an agricultural economy into an economic and industrial superpower, a process which occurred despite of continuing racial, ethnic and social strife.
Time Table
Semester I, see timetables.
Method of Instruction
Literature seminar; attendance is compulsory (see the rules and regulations of the Department of History, art. 2).
Course objectives
General knowledge of crucial developments in American social and economic history
Insight into the driving forces and impact of these developments
The ability to acquire , analyse and summarise said knowledge in relative short period of time
Required reading
W.Fogel, Without Consent or Contract. The Rise and Fall of America (New York and London 1989) Part One (p.1-198)
Gary Gerstle, American Crucible. Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century (Princeton 2001)
James A. Morone, Hellfire Nation. The politics of Sin in American History (New York 2003)
R. Marchand, Creating the Corporate Soul. The Rise of Public Relations and Corporate Imagery in American Big Business (University of California Press 2001) new edition.
D. Halberstam, The Fifties (New York 1993)
D.B.Kunz, Butter and Guns. America’s Cold War Economic Diplomacy (New York 1997)
Examination
Presentations, participation in discussions and final paper.
Information
With Dr. G.C. Quispel
Enrolment
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