American Labor and Working-Class History, 1780 to the Present

Spring 2009

Dr. R. Storch                                                                  Phone: 753-2054

Office 210D                                                                    E-mail: randi.storch@cortland.edu

Office Hours:      Tuesdays 11:30-12:30, Wednesdays 2-4,

                        and by appt.

 

Requirements:

1. Purchase and read the assigned sections of the following texts:

 

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (Sinclair).

 

Eileen Boris and Nelson Lichtenstein, Major Problems in the History of American Workers, 2nd ed., (B&L).

 

Rick Halpern, Down on the Killing Floor (Halpern)

 

Deborah Fink, Cutting Into the Meatpacking Line: Workers and Change in the Rural Midwest (Fink).

 

*** Additional materials will be provided in class  (docs).

 

2. Exams:

There will be a midterm and a final. Each will test your knowledge of both the reading and lecture material. 

Midterm—essay and  identifications—30%.

Final—two essays and identifications—35%.

 

3. Reaction Papers (20%):

On six days throughout the semester, you will have the opportunity to write short papers (one-two page, typed) in reaction to a set of assigned primary documents and questions that I will pose, which will allow us to probe some of the larger issues that I will raise in my lectures. You must complete these papers BEFORE attending the class when the topics will be discussed. Your preparation should include active reading—underlining key passages, writing in the margins, taking notes—and critical thinking. Based on your interpretation of the readings, you will form your own opinions on historical questions. (Since the primary documents will comprise most of the identification terms on the midterm and the final exam, the response papers will also serve as valuable study guides.)

 

4. Comparison Paper (15%):

Students will write a 5-7 page critical analysis on one of the following:

Rick Halperin, Down on the Killing Floor and At the River I Stand

Deborah Fink, Cutting into the Meatpacking Line. and Rosie the Riveter

More instructions will follow.

 

 

Lecture and Discussion Topics and Weekly Reading Assignments:

Date                              Lecture/Discussion/Assignment                                       Reading

1/22                              Introduction, Organization, and Overview                            Begin Sinclair

 

1/27                              The World of the Artisan, 1780-1830                                  B&L, 58-60

 

1/29                              Origins of the Factory System, 1820-1870                           B&L, 78-88

 

2/3      The First American Labor Movement, 1830s-1850s  B&L, 61-78                                                                                                       

2/5                                Reconstruction, Race, and Labor                                        B&L, 96-103;

                                    **Analytical Paper #1**                                                  112-22; docs

 

2/10                              Labor Organizations and Labor Conflicts                             B&L, 138-48;

                                                                                                                        docs (Sumner)

                                                                                                                       

2/12                Urban Life and the Remaking of the Working Class               B&L, 164-198; Halpern ch. 1

 

2/17                              Film: Hester Street

 

2/19                              The Great Upheaval of the 1890s                                           B&L,126-137;                                        **Analytical Paper #2**                                                  149-161; 250-52

 

2/24                              Jim Crow, Work, and Labor                                              docs

                                    **Analytical Paper #3**                                                 

 

2/26                              Progressives, Workers, and the Labor Movement             B&L, 131-2;

                                                                                                                        252-3; 201-9;

                                                                                                                        224-34

 

3/3                                Discuss The Jungle                                                          Finish Sinclair

 

3/5                                Midterm Review                                                

 

3/17                              Midterm Exam

 

3/19                              Labor in World War I             B&L, 255-60; 272-81; Halpern, ch.2

 

3/24                             Red Scare: Racism and Political Reaction, 1919-1922    Review Halpern, ch.2

 

3/26                              The American Plan and Welfare Capitalism, 1920-1929     Halpern, ch.3    

 

3/31                              Film: Seeing Red                                                                        B&L, 304-25

 

4/2                                Labor and the New Deal State                                            B&L, 283-84

                                                                                                                       

4/7                               Join the CIO                                                              B&L, 283-298;

                                    **Analytical Paper #4**                                        Halpern, chpts. 4-5         

 

4/9                                Labor in the Peoples War, 1940-1945     Begin Fink

                                                                                        B&L, 298-303; 328-59; Halpern, ch.6

 

4/14                              Film: Rosie the Riveter                                                    B&L, 328-59

 

4/16                              Taming the Tiger: The Political, 1945-1960s              B&L, 368-70;384-395

 

4/21                              Taming the Tiger  II: The Industrial, 1945-1960s  

                                        **Analytical Paper #5**                              B&L 370-84; review                                                                                                                                                          384-95; B&L,362-8;  Halpern ch.7

 

4/23         Big Business and Weak Labor, 1960-1980        B&L, 407-31;436-447

                                                                                                                       

4/28                              Film: At the River I Stand

                                                                                            

4/30                              Discuss Film and  Cutting into the Meatpacking Line

 

5/5                                New Labor, New Century                                                  B&L, 475-94; 552-59                                         **Analytical Paper #6**                                                         docs

 

                                    Final Exam TBA

                                    **Comparative Papers Due At Exam**

 

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