This syllabus is from Fall
2002; course next offered spring 2004
History
401.001:
The
History of U.S. Foreign Relations
Dr.
Maarten L. Pereboom
Class
meets:
MWF 10 -
10:50 pm, Caruthers Hall 113
Office
hours:
MW
1 - 2:50, TR 11-12 or by appointment
Office:
338a Holloway Hall (department
chair’s office)
543-6454 (phone)/546-6068 (fax)
mlpereboom@salisbury.edu (e-mail)
Purpose:
Since fighting Britain to gain its
independence, the United States has become the world's most powerful nation,
transforming itself from a weak cluster of states, hesitant to provoke greater
overseas powers, into a global leader dwarfing all others economically and
militarily. In this course we will
examine the factors ─ political, economic, military, geographic, social and
cultural ─
that produced this superpower, and we will discuss the impact of its
development on the U.S. and the world.
Requirements:
1. Attendance, participation, assignments (20% of
final grade)
2. Three exams, including final (15%+15%+20% of final grade)
3. Research paper (30% of final grade)
Attendance:
I expect near-perfect attendance from all
students. You may miss up to three classes without penalty; that should take
care of any problems that arise (of course you are responsible for all material
covered). Absence from more than
three classes drops your maximum grade for participation to 70%;
absence from six or more classes drops your final grade for the course a
full grade. If reasons beyond your
control force you to run afoul of this policy, please speak to me.
Readings:
LaFeber, Walter. The American Age:
United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad Since 1750. Second Edition. New York: Norton, 1993.
Jones, Howard, ed. Safeguarding the Republic: Essays and Documents in American Foreign
Relations, 1890-1991. New
York: McGraw Hill, Inc., 1992.
Exams: We will have two fifty-minute exams (September 27 and October 25) and a two-hour final exam (Thursday, December 17, 10:15-12:15). For each exam you will need a bluebook, available in the Book Rack.
The first two exams will each be in
two parts, worth equal amounts:
1. Identify and state the significance of ten
terms;
2. Answer one of two questions in essay form.
The final exam will be the same,
except for an additional essay section.
The final will cover mostly material since the previous exam, but the
second essay will be comprehensive.
Paper:
A 10-12
page paper is due on Friday, December 6 (15-20 pages for graduate students). It
will examine an aspect of U.S. foreign relations (your choice) between the
First World War and the early 1970s, the period for which we have documentation
in the series Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS). A number of related assignments will be due
throughout the semester:
1. Paragraph (typed) stating topic to be explored,
including possible angle or thesis, due in class at noon on Friday, September
20. Please confer with me before you decide on your topic; I will be happy
to help with references and advice.
2. Brief summaries (one paragraph each) of five
major secondary works on topic, due in class at noon on Friday, October 11;
3. One-page summary description of documentation
available in FRUS, due in class at noon on Friday, October 18;
4. Complete rough draft of paper (typed,
properly documented, thesis highlighted) due in class at noon on Monday,
November 11;
5. In-class discussion of papers, November 18-22.
6. Final drafts due in class at noon on Friday,
December 6, typed and proofread. Late
papers lose one-third of a grade per day.
Besides gaining some in-depth
knowledge of a particular topic in the history of U.S. foreign relations, you
will work on some important skills with this exercise:
1. Skills in research, analysis, writing, presentation
and discussion;
2. The ability to manage tasks over time, rather
than scramble to complete them at the last minute; this results both in less
agony for you and a better finished product;
3. Build self-confidence and a sense of
professionalism.
Writing:
In full support of the university's emphasis on
writing across the curriculum, I have made writing a central focus of
the course:
1. To understand the course material properly, you
have to take good notes in class. These
should be well organized and complete.
2. Exams are all written. The "identify" items require
economy: the essential information in a short paragraph. The essays require that you organize your
thoughts and explain a thesis concisely.
3. The paper project is designed to take you through
all the steps of research, analysis and writing to create a polished final
product.
Honesty:
I like to operate on a basis of mutual
confidence in trust, but experience compels me to state that any form of
dishonesty - from plagiarism to fabricating excuses for missing class - is
completely unacceptable. The penalties are severe. The undergraduate catalogue and student
handbook provide details.
Graduate
credit: Graduate students may take this course for graduate
credit. The only additional requirement
is a longer paper, but I also expect an advanced level of professionalism in
all work for this class.
Week
1 (September 4-6): Introduction
Read LaFeber, ch. 1, U.S.
Constitution
(www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html)
Week
2 (September 9-13) Roots and Early Development
Read LaFeber, ch. 2-3 (Monday).
Week
3 (September 16-20) Manifest Destiny and the Civil
War
Read LaFeber, ch. 3-5 (Monday).
Paper topics due Friday, September
20
Week
4 (September 23-27) Expansion and Empire
Read LaFeber, ch. 6-8 (Mon.); Jones,
ch. 1-2 (Wed.)
First exam Friday, September 27 (remember bluebook)
Week
5 (Sept. 30 - Oct. 4) Wilson's World, 1913-1920
Read LaFeber, ch. 9-10 (Monday);
Jones, ch. 3 (Friday).
Week
6 (October 7-11) The Failure of the World Order,
1920-1933
Read LaFeber, ch. 11 (Monday);
Jones, ch. 4 (Friday).
Survey of secondary literature on
paper topic due Friday, October 11
Week
7 (October 14-18) The Coming of World War Two,
1933-1941
Read LaFeber, ch. 12 (Monday); Jones, ch. 5 (Friday).
Survey of FRUS or other primary
documentation on paper topic due Friday, October 18
Week
8 (October 21-25) World War Two and the Grand
Alliance, 1941-1945
Read LaFeber, ch. 13 (Monday);
Jones, ch. 6 (Wednesday).
Second exam Friday, October 25 (remember bluebook)
Week
9 (Oct. 28-Nov. 1) The Beginning of the Cold War,
1945-1949
Read LaFeber, ch. 14 (Monday);
Jones, ch. 7 (Friday).
Week
10 (November 4-8) NSC-68 and the Korean War,
1950-1953
Read LaFeber, ch. 15 (Monday);
Jones, ch. 8 (Friday).
Week
11 (November 11-15) Eisenhower and Dulles, 1953-1961
Read LaFeber, ch. 16 (Monday);
Jones, ch. 9 (Friday).
Complete drafts of papers due in
class at 10 am, Nov. 15
Week
12 (November 18-22) From Vienna to Vietnam: the 1960s
Read LaFeber, ch. 17 (Monday); Jones,
ch. 10 (Friday).
Week
13 (November 25-27) Détente: Nixon and Kissinger
Read LaFeber, ch. 18 (Mon.); Jones,
ch. 12,13,16 (Wed.).
Week
14 (Dec. 2-6) The Last Blasts of Cold War
Read LaFeber, ch. 19 (Mon.); Jones,
chs. 14-15 (Fri.)
Final draft of paper due in class at
noon December 6
Week
15 (December 9-13) U.S. Foreign Policy Past and
Present
Read LaFeber, ch. 20
Final Exam