Area Politics C (Liberalism in Modern American Politics: A Historical Survey)

Instructors

BRINKLEY, Alan

Credits / Language / Semester

2Credits / English / Summer

Objectives/Overview

The goal of this course is to explain the two great crises of the mid-twentieth century: The Great Depression and World War II.

The course will begin with the emergence of the Great Depression, the deepening of the crisis, the emergence of Franklin Roosevelt, the challenges and the triumphs of the New Deal, and the American experience in World War II.

(This lecture is made possible by the generous support from the Shibusawa Ei’ichi Memorial Foundation commemorating the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the A. Barton Hepburn Professorship in American Constitution, History, and Diplomacy, currently called American Political and Diplomatic History at the Faculty of Law, the University of Tokyo.)

Keywords

the United States of America, liberalism, social movements, the Great Depression, New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt

Schedule

1. The Causes of the Great Depression, 2. The Emergence of Roosevelt,
3. The First Hundred Days, 4. The Challengers: The Popular Front
5. The Challebgers: The Unemployed and the Dissidents
6. The Rise of Organized Labor, 7. The Second New Deal, 8. The Great Recession 9. The American Road to War, 10. World War II and Society
11. World War II and Citizenship, 12. World War II and Mission and Morality

Teaching Methods

lecture and discussion

Grading

class participation and paper

Required Text

The Unfinished Nation, vol. 2 (McGraw-Hill), Chapters 23-26, by Alan Brinkley. Franklin D. Roosevelt (Oxford University Press), by Alan Brinkley. The New Deal: The Depression Years (Ivan R. Dee), by Anthony Badger. Major Problems in American History, 1920-1945 (Wadsworth Publishing), by Colin Gordon and Thomas Patterson

Class will probably start on July 25 and end on August 3.
Basically, there will be two classes a day, 10:30-12:10, and 13:00-14:40.
There will be no class on the weekend.

Related Resources

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