HIS431: History of U.S. Foreign Relations to 1945

Dr. Nick Maher

Fall 2007

Room: Hearst 1

Time: MW 1:30-2:45                                                                                                                                                        

Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders on San Juan Hill (1898)

Course Description

In this course we will examine the history of U.S. relations with other states from Independence to World War II.     The history of U.S. foreign relations includes a variety of stories.  Although at times these are the stories of how the rich and powerful sought to maintain or increase their influence, they are also the stories of developing national identity, evolving ideas of the efficient or virtuous society, and changing ideas of how a single nation can and should interact with a community of nations. 

We will consider the causes, course, and impact of the major “events” of U.S. diplomatic history.  In so doing, we will develop a number of overlapping frameworks within which we can explain the significance of these and other events that define the relations between the U.S. and the world.  As we examine documents and consider competing historical explanations we will wrestle with the subtle relationships between the political, economic, and socio-cultural motivations of interested parties. 

Between 1776 and 1945 the U.S. rose from a small post-colonial republic to a super power with unprecedented resources.  This changing status affected the goals and strategies of U.S. foreign policy.  Foreign relations, however, are more than the sum of a nation’s articulated policies.  We will also look at how non-government actors helped define the interactions (if not official policy) between the U.S. and the rest of the world. 

 

Required Texts

*      Felix Gilbert, To the Farewell Address (Princeton University Press, 1970).

*      Walter LaFeber, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad: 1750-Present (Norton, 1989).

*      Thomas Paterson & Dennis Merrill (eds.), Major Problems in American Foreign Relations: Documents & Essays to 1920, 5th Edition (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1995).

Course Requirements

Essay #1                      15%     

Midterm Exam             20%     

Essay #2                      15%

Research Paper              20%

Final Exam                   15%                 

Participation                  15%

 

The two Exams will be designed to give you an opportunity to demonstrate that you have been reading the assignments and thinking about the material presented in class. 

The first Essay will be short synthetic discussion of several of the larger questions of the course.  The second Essay will be an independent paper on a specific topic of your own choosing.  Late papers will be graded down.

The Research Paper is an in-depth investigation of an event or question that you find compelling.  Please use the link above for a full description.

Class Participation is based on a subjective estimate of your contribution to class discussions.  Come to each class prepared to discuss the readings and respond thoughtfully to the comments of your classmates.  Bring the relevant readings to class.

Attendance is, of course, mandatory.  The first absence (whether excused or not) is “free.”  Subsequent unexcused absences will be reflected in your final grade in two ways: it will affect your class participation and it will also directly hurt your final grade.  More than three excused absences will also hurt your grade.  Six absences, for any reason, will result in a failing grade. 

Honor Code:  “Because Oglethorpe students and faculty expect each other to be truthful in the intellectual endeavour they share, academic work at the University is done under the provisions of an Honour Code. Oglethorpe students affirm their commitment to the Honour Code with a written pledge on each piece of graded work, as requested by the instructor. Both students and faculty have the responsibility of reporting suspected violations” (The O Book).

Cheating includes (a) the unauthorized possession or use of notes, texts, or other such materials during an examination.  (b) Copying another person’s work or participation in such an effort.  (c) An attempt or participation in an attempt to fulfill the requirements of a course with work other than one’s original work for that course.

Plagiarism includes representing someone else’s words, ideas, data, or original research as one’s own, and in general failing to footnote or otherwise acknowledge the source of such work. One has the responsibility of avoiding plagiarism by taking adequate notes on reference materials, including material taken off the internet or other electronic sources, used in the preparation of reports, papers, and other coursework.

University Policy on Course Withdrawal:  Students withdrawing from a course may do so through the 9th week, or two weeks after the published mid-semester date with a “W”. For two weeks between the 9th and 11th weeks the grade “W” or WF” may be given at the discretion of the instructor. Students withdrawing after the Friday that falls on the 11th week will receive a grade of “WF”. Only in the event of medical emergency or hardship may students appeal a grade of “WF” to the Provost.

 

Course Schedule

Week 1: Introduction

Aug 29

*      Introduction     

Week 2: Approaches to Diplomatic History

Sept 3 

No Class / Labor Day

 

Sept 5

*      Felix Gilbert, To the Farewell Address, pp.3-43

*      MPAFR: Chapter 1

Week 3: Colonial Revolution & the Great Debate

Sept 10

*      Felix Gilbert, To the Farewell Address, pp. 44-114.

*      American Age, Ch. 1

*      MPAFR: Chapter 2

 

Sept 12

*      Felix Gilbert, To the Farewell Address, finish.

*      MPAFR: Chapter 3:

Week 4: Barbary Wars & Louisiana Purchase

Sept 17

*      American Age, Ch. 2

*      Treaties: Barbary Wars

*      MPAFR: Chapter 4

 

Sept 19             No Class

Week 5: War of 1812 & Monroe Doctrine

Sept 24

*      American Age, Ch. 3

*      MPAFR: Chapter 5

 

Sept 26

*      MPAFR: Chapter 6

Week 6: Manifest Destiny & the War with Mexico

Oct 1

*      American Age, Ch. 4

*      MPAFR: Chapter 7

*      David Edmunds, Native American Displacement Amid U.S. Expansion

*      Josefina Zoraida Vázquez, An Early Agenda of Expansion

 

 

 

 

Oct 3

*      MPAFR: Chapter 8

*      Miguel Soto, The Divisions in Mexico during the War with the United States

*      Jesús Velasco-Márquez, A Mexican Viewpoint on the War with the United States

ESSAY #1 DUE

Week 7: The Civil War

Oct 8              

No Class / Columbus Day

 

Oct 10

*      American Age, Ch. 5

*      MPAFR: Chapter 10

Week 8

Oct 15    Midterm Exam

 

Oct 17  TBA

Week 9: Rising to Power

Oct 22

*      American Age, Ch. 6

Mark Twain, Information Wanted (1875)

Oct 24

*      MPAFR: Chapter 9

Week 10: Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War

Oct  29

*      American Age, Ch. 7

*      MPAFR: Chapter 11

Research Topics Due

 

Oct 31

*      MPAFR: Chapter 11           

*      The New Republic, Americanizing the Moros (1931)

Week 11: Imperialism & Closed Frontiers

Nov 5

*      American Age, Ch. 8 (to p. 250)

*      Images of Imperialism: Handout in Class

 

Nov 7

*      Frederick Jackson Turner, The Frontier in American History (1893)

Week 12: The Open Door & the Big Stick

Nov 12

*      American Age, Ch. 8 (finish)

*      MPAFR: Chapter 13

 

Nov 14

*      MPAFR: Chapter 14           

(Secondary Source) Essay #2 Due

Week 13: Response to Revolution

Nov 19

*      American Age, Ch. 9 (to p. 284)

*      Venustiano Carranza, A Danger for All Latin American Countries (1915)

*      Article 27 Mexican Constitution (1917)

*      Scott Nearing, from American Empire, Pan-Americanism (1921)

 

Nov 21 THANKSGIVING BREAK

Week 14: “Safe for Democracy”

Nov 26

*      American Age, Ch. 9 (finish)

*      RESERVE: George Black, “Banana Republics, 1918-1933,” from The Good Neighbor: How the United States Wrote the History of Central America and the Caribbean.

*      Augusto César Sandino, To Abolish the Monroe Doctrine (1933)

*      Calvin Coolidge, Intervention in Nicaragua (1927)

*      Charlemagne Péralte, The Truth about Haiti: An NAACP Investigation (1920)

*      Charlemagne Péralte, Bandits or Patriots• (1915)

*      Herbert J. Seligmann, The Nation,  The Conquest of Haiti (1920)

*      The Nation, Our Imperialist Propaganda: National Geographic's Anti-Haitian Campaign (1921)

 

Nov 28

*      MPAFR: Chapter 15

*      Woodrow Wilson, President Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality (1914)

*      William Jennings Bryan, The Impossibility of Neutrality (1915)

*      Randolph Bourne, Seven Arts, The War and the Intellectuals (1917)

*      CPI, Cartooning for Victory (1918)

*      First World War Cartoons

Week 15: Interwar Expansion & Contraction

Dec 3

*      American Age, Ch. 10

*      RESERVE: Frederick Pike, “The Twenties: Normalcy, Counterculture, and Clashing Perceptions of Latin America”

*      RESERVE: “The International History of the 1920s.”

*      Mitchell Palmer, Fear of Dissent: A Case Against the Reds (1920)

Dec 5

*      American Age, Ch. 11

*      RESERVE: George Black, “Good Neighbors, 1933-47” from The Good Neighbor: How the United States Wrote the History of Central America and the Caribbean (1988).

*      Franklin D. Roosevelt, Good Neighbor Policy

*      “Not So Private Negotiations”: Mexico Expropriates the Oil Companies (1940)

*      Standard Oil, The Reply to Mexico: Standard Oil Puts Forth Its Position

Week 16: Becoming a Superpower

Dec 10

*      American Age, Ch. 12-13.

*      RESERVE: “Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Origins of the Second World War”

 

Dec 15 Research Projects Due

 

Dec 17 Final Exam (11:15)