The Gilded Age

HST 368-  The Gilded Age                                            Professor Kuhl   

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh                                   Office:  Clow Faculty 307                     

Spring 2005                                                                   Office Hours:  T/Th  9:45-11:00                  

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The transformation of life between in the United States between the Civil War and the 20th century. The rise of industry in the United States, working class response, creation of the urban society, settlement of the New West, transformation of agriculture, reassessment of sex roles, creation of a new political structure, and rise of United States as an international power. 

REQUIRED READING  available at the Campus Bookstore

Leon Fink, ed.  Major Problems in the Guilded Age and Progressive Era

William Cronon  Nature’s Metropolis

Kathy Peiss  Cheap Amusements:  Working Women and Leisure in Turn of the Century New York

C. Vann Woodward  The Strange Career of Jim Crow

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

-  Students are expected to attend class.  See attendance policy for more details. 

-  Students should complete the day’s reading before class, and come prepared to discuss it.

-  There will be one short (4-5 page) paper based on the reading.

-  There will be one 10-12 page research paper on a topic of your choice. 

-  There will be one midterm and one final exam, with short identifications and essays. 

-  Late work will be docked one letter grade per day, with missing work factored as a zero.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Attendance records will be kept in this class.  I understand that occasionally uncontrollable events happen, and am willing to excuse them.  To facilitate that process, you must write down your name, the date of class you missed, and attach appropriate documentation.  Bring those items to the next class period, and turn them in to me after class.  Only the following reasons and documents will be accepted:

1.  Medical illness.  A Doctor’s note testifying to the date and seriousness of incident.

2.  Family death.  I must receive:  the name of the deceased, the name of the funeral parlor, and your parent’s address so that I may send condolences.

3.  Religious holiday.  You must have a note by Feb. 10 from your faith leader verifying your good standing in a faith community and all the dates of conflict in the semester.

4.  University related event such as soccer game, debate tournament, etc.  Bring in the schedule at the beginning of the semester. 

            If one of these categories applies to you, bring your documentation to your next class.  No conversation is necessary.  I will return the pages to you with your next assignment marked “approved” or “disapproved.” 

            I also understand that occasionally people miss class for serious reasons that do not quite make the above requirements.  To allow some flexibility, I will permit 2 unexcused absences

OFFICE VISITS

Professor Kuhl holds office hours every week.  Please feel free to drop by to ask questions about the readings, clarify points from lecture, challenge my interpretation of history, or hold other sorts of intellectual conversations. 

POLICY ON SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY

Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from The University. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the integrity of The University; policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.   For more information on The University policy see http://www.tts.uwosh.edu/dean/studentdisciplinecode.html 

GRADING  Course grades will be determined as follows

Class Participation         20%

Short Paper                   10%

Research Paper                        25%

Midterm Exam              20%

Final Exam                    25%

**ALL SYLLABUS ITEMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

AT THE DISCRETION OF THE INSTRUCTOR**

Week 1           Beginnings

            tues. 2/1           Introduction

            thurs. 2/3          Major Problems ch.1 Cashman essay; Cronon Intro. and ch.1

Week 2           Rise of the Big City

            tues 2/8            Cronon ch.2-3

            thurs 2/10         Cronon ch.4-5

Week 3           Southern Troubles

            tues 2/15          Major Problems  ch.4  “Trials of the New South”

            thurs. 2/17        Woodward preface, intro, ch.1-3;  short paper due

Week 4           Crisis of Capitalism

            tues 2/22          MP  ch.2  “Capitalism and its Discontents”

            thrus 2/24         Cronon ch.6-7 

Week 5           World’s Fair    

            tues. 3/1           Cronon ch.8-epilogue; research paper proposals due

            thurs. 3/3          Online reading “How did African-American Women Define their                                               Citizenship at the World’s Fair in 1893?”                                                          http://www.alexanderstreet6.com/wasm/wasmrestricted/ibw/intro.htm

Week 6           Culture

            tues. 3/8           Midterm

            thurs. 3/10        MP ch.11 “Consumer Culture and Commercialized Leisure”

Week 7           Happy Holiday!  Spring Break  3/13-3/18

Week 8           The Wild West

            tues. 3/22         MP ch.3  “Behind the Bravura of the Wild West”; outline due 

            thurs. 3/24        Movie:  Stagecoach

Week 9           Working Class Culture

            tues. 3/29         Peiss intro-ch.4

            thurs. 3/31        Peiss ch.5-concl.

Week 10         Immigrants

            tues. 4/5           MP ch.5 all docs., essays by Klein and Bodnar; rough drafts due       

            thurs. 4/7          MP ch.5 Sanchez essay; online reading Jacob Riis                                                                      http://www.cis.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/contents.html   

                                    ch.5 “The Italian in New York,” ch.9 “Chinatown,”

                                    and ch.10 “Jewtown.”

Week 11         Reform

            tues. 4/12         MP ch.8 “Professionalism and the Uses of New Knowledge”  

            thurs. 4/14        Online reading:  Minnesota WCTU

                        http://www.alexanderstreet6.com/wasm/wasmopen/wctu/intro.htm

Week 12         Politics

            tues. 4/19         MP ch.6 docs 1-3 and Calhoun essay

            thurs. 4/21        MP ch.6 docs 4-5 and DuBois essay;  online reading

                        http://www.alexanderstreet6.com/wasm/wasmopen/colosuff/intro.htm

                                    “Why did Colorado Women Win Suffrage in 1893?”

Week 13         Armageddon

            tues. 4/26         Final Drafts Due

            thurs. 4/28        MP ch.7  “The 1890s:  Economic Depression and Political Crisis”

Week 14         Jim Crow

            tues. 5/3           MP ch.10  “Race and Power under Jim Crow”

            thurs. 5/5          Woodward ch.4-afterword

Week 15         Empire

            tues. 5/10         MP ch.9  “The Language of Empire”      

            thurs. 5/12        Final Exam