Overview
HIST 235 focuses on the themes of freedom, domination, resistance and change, and fully engages in a range of subjects pertinent to modern US history. These include the political freedoms achieved under Reconstruction in the late 1860s and seventies; the resurgence of white political domination in the South; the conquest of independent Native American societies in the West; the emergence of agrarian protest movements; the growth of corporate capitalism; and early urban challenges to corporatism known as the Progressive Movement. HIST 235 also covers New Deal reformism in the 1930s, the influence of communism among African Americans during the Great Depression, state suppression of civil liberties after WWII; and the civil rights movements of African Americans, women and homosexuals. The core discussion of the closing unit takes on the cycles of crisis and growth within the US economy from the 1970s to present, and the effects of economic crisis on US foreign relations.
Objectives
When you have completed HIST 235: History of the United States, Civil War to Present, you should be able to:
- Grasp the broad-ranging, varied, but interrelated themes and subject matter in US history since the Civil War.
- Analyze the centrality and interrelatedness of race, class and gender in understanding US history.
- Assess the significance of social change in the US South to the broader shaping of modern US society.
- Assess the effects of industrial growth and the emergence of corporate capitalism on various subordinated groups in society, including African Americans, Native Americans, women, and immigrants.
- Analyze the relation between state control and people’s individual and organized resistance to that control, especially during the 1950s and sixties.
- Analyze the effect of economic growth and crisis on US government policy.
- Discuss the concept of imperialism as a defining aspect of US foreign policy.
Evaluation
To receive credit for HIST 235, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a D (50 percent). You must achieve a minimum grade of 50 percent on the examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1 | 25% |
| Assignment 2 | 25% |
| Final Exam | 50% |
| Total | 100% |
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Jones, Jacqueline, Peter H. Wood, Thomas Borstelmann, et al. Created Equal: A History of the United States, Volume 2: Since 1865, 5th ed. Toronto: Pearson, 2017.
Other Resources
All other learning resources will be available online.