TOPICS IN U.S. ECONOMIC HISTORY: BUSINESS AND LABOR HISTORY

History 4230-041 (#10940) Dr. Reagan

11:50 a.m.-1:50 p.m. MTWRF Summer 2004-2nd session

HH108 HH 109

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:

Office: Henderson Hall 109

Office Hours: 11-11:50 MWF and by appointment

Telephone: 372-3342 (office), 372-3332 (message), 528-3998 (home)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

• Class attendance and participation
• Examination-- July 14 (100 Points--25% of grade)
• Examination-- July 23 (100 points--25% of grade)
• Paper on topic and book approved by instructor—July 30 (100 points—25% of grade)
• Final examination—August 5 (100 points--25% of grade)
• Final grade: 360-400 = A

320-359 = B

280-319 = C

240-279 = D

Below 240= F

• To pass course, all requirements must be met fully, on time, and without plagiarism.

REQUIRED BOOKS:

• Mansel G. Blackford and K. Austin Kerr. Business Enterprise in American History, third edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. (Blackford & Kerr below)
• Philip Yale Nicholson. Labor’s Story in the United States. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004. (Nicholson below)
• David K. Shipler. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. (Shipler, The Working Poor below)

COURSE THEMES:

• CHANGES in the NATURE and IMPACT of BUSINESS FIRM
• CHANGING NATURE of BUSINESS-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
• CHANGES in SOCIAL COMPOSITION of WORK FORCE and WORK CULTURE
• EMERGENCE and CHANGES in the AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT

USEFUL WEB SITES FOR THE COURSE:

• Economic History: http://www.tntech.edu/history/economic.html
• Labor History: http://www.tntech.edu/history/labor.html
• United States History: http://www.tntech.edu/history/usa.html
• Factster: The Facts at Your Fingertips: http://www.facster.com

READING ASSIGNMENTS WITH LECTURE AND DISCUSSION SCHEDULE:

(Readings should be completed the day they are assigned for by class time.)

Assignment: Blackford and Kerr, pp. 1-19 and Nicholson, Preface and pp. 1-5

July 6-- Course syllabus and themes / The European Heritage

BREAKING AWAY FROM MERCANTILISM, 1607-1815

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 1-19 and Nicholson, pp. 1-26

July 7-- Colonial Economic Development / Labor in Early America

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 17-50 and Nicholson, pp. 29-40

July 8-- The Origins and the Economic Impact of Revolution

THE ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN ECONOMY, 1815-1865

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 50-122 and Nicholson, pp. 40-64, 67-88

July 9-- Economic Growth in the Early Republic / The Factory Controversy

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 75-79, 89-90 and Nicholson, pp.

July 12-- Farming on the Western Frontier / The Economy of the Old South

Assignment: Nicholson, pp. 59-67, 76-78, 89-92

July 13-- Slavery as a Labor System / Economic Costs of the Civil War

Assignment: STUDY FOR MIDTERM EXAMINATION

July 14-- ESSAY EXAMINATION

INDUSTRIALIZATION, 1865-1900

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 125-192

July 15-- Industrialism as a Sign of Modernity / The Corporate Revolution in American Business

Assignment: Blackfoprd & Kerr, pp. 179-183 and Nicholson, pp. 95-124

July 16-- The Factory Labor Force / Labor Violence and Radicalism

Assignment: Nicholson, pp. 113-140

July 19-- Knights of Labor and AFL / Farm Protest: The Populist Movement

REFORM, WAR, AND PROSPERITY, 1901-1929

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 195-221 and Nicholson, pp. 140-180

July 20-- The Meaning of Progressive Reform / Discussion on Nicholson, pp. 140-180

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 221-224, 261-266 and Nicholson, pp. 180-190

July 21-- Growth of the Corporate World / Mobilization for World War I

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 227-273 and Nicholson, pp.190-200

July 22-- The New Era of the 1920s / Hoover and Modern Business-Government Relations

Assignment: STUDY FOR MIDTERM EXAMINATION

July 23-- ESSAY EXAMINATION

DEPRESSION, NEW DEAL, AND WORLD WAR II, 1929-1945

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 270-285 and Nicholson, pp. 199-203

July 26-- The Great Depression: How Did It Happen? / The New Deal Response

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 277-279 and Nicholson, pp. 205-229

July 27-- New Deal Changes in Labor Law / The Industrial Union Movement

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 285-289 and Nicholson, pp. 229-250

July 28-- Mobilizing for World War II / Economic Legacies of World War II

POSTWAR ABUNDANCE, 1945-1970’s

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 291-336 and Nicholson, pp. 250-284

July 29—The Modern Economic Republic: 1945-1968 / A Golden Age of American Capitalism?

Assignment: Five-page paper due at start of class and

Blackford & Kerr, pp. 339-352; Nicholson, pp. 284-300

July 30-- Women and Work / Economic Growth in an Age of Doubt

A NEW AMERICAN ECONOMY? , 1970’s-PRESENT

Assignment: Blackford & Kerr, pp. 346-384; Nicholson, pp. 300-328; and begin reading Shipler

August 2-- From Reaganomics to the New Economy, 1981-2000

Assignment: Nicholson, pp. 328-335 and Shipler, The Working Poor

August 3—Modern Work: Discussion based on Shipler, The Working Poor

Assignment: STUDY THEMATICALLY FOR FINAL ESSAY EXAMINATION

Review Blackford *& Kerr, pp. 1-10 and Nicholson, Preface, pp. 331-335

August 5-- THURSDAY, FINAL EXAMINATION, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.