History 419/519: Twentieth-Century American West

Dr. Adam M. Sowards

Summer 2005

University of Idaho

Administration 227

Monday – Thursday, 7:30 – 10:20

Office: Administration 315

Phone: 885-7704

E-Mail: asowards@uidaho.edu (preferred contact)

Web: http://www.class.uidaho.edu/asowards/

Office Hours: Monday - Wednesday 10:30 – 11:15 a.m., and by appointment

Note to Students: It is my pleasure to do what I can to help you meet your goals in this class. If you find yourself having trouble, please send me e-mail, use my office hours, or set up an appointment to see me.

Course Description

            This course critically examines the American West over the course of the twentieth century. The geographic boundaries are fairly fluid but include roughly the area west of the 100^th Meridian in the central Great Plains, and occasionally including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the Mexican and Canadian Borderlands. This region has been one of the most important economically (think logging, aerospace, and Silicon Valley) and culturally (think Hollywood) in the nation and world over the past century. By examining this region in the twentieth century, we will be going against the grain, since most people think of cowboys, Indians, and the Oregon Trail when they think of the American West. Instead of dwelling on these mythic figures and processes, this course will concentrate on three themes: Ethnic and Race Relations; Environment—Natural and Built; and Core-Periphery Relationships.

Books

Four books are required for undergraduates and two more for graduate students(*).

·         Linda Gordon, The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction

·         Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, Farewell to Manzanar

·         John M. Findlay, Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture After 1940

·         Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness

·         Neil Foley, The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture*

·         Donald Worster, Under Western Skies: Nature and History in the American West*

Assignments

Article Reviews and Presentations (4 * 7.5% = 30%): Each week on either Wednesday or Thursday, students will bring to class a short article review that they prepared after finding, reading, and analyzing a scholarly article relevant to one of the topics we covered during that week. In addition to turning in the short review, each student will briefly present (approximately five minutes) the main points of the article, thus helping to educate the class on topics outside the class reading. Graduate students will be expected to do either two article reviews or one book review per week.

(NOTE: This assignment is meant as a substitution to the traditional research paper that is next-to-impossible to complete in a four-week summer course. Students should feel free to read related articles that interest them throughout the semester.)

The format of the article review is appended to the end of this syllabus.

Midterm and Final (2 * 20% = 40%): There will two exams in this class. The first will cover the first two weeks and the period from the 1890s to the conclusion of World War II. The second will cover the last two weeks and the period since 1945. You will be expected to incorporate material from assigned readings, lectures (by professor and guests), documentaries and films, and class discussions. The format, most likely, will primarily be essay question(s) and perhaps some short identification terms or short answers. More details will come forth as the first exam approaches.

Participation (17.5%): For this class to work well, students need to come to class prepared. To encourage this, you will be graded on your willing participation, your preparedness, and your presence. This grade will be calculated by contributions to discussions, by attendance, by in-class assignments, and by my general observations. Students in this class represent a variety of perspectives—personal and academic—, and all students will benefit by the participation of others with their expert knowledge and diverse experiences.

Quizzes. If it appears that a number of students are not coming to class prepared, I will begin conducting, on a regular basis, short unannounced quizzes. These likely will be short essays in class, but they may also include “objective” questions (i.e., multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, etc.). They will be designed to make sure you are keeping up with and comprehending the reading, discussion, and lecture materials. You may not make up a missed quiz unless you have made arrangements with me prior to missing class; no exceptions.

Reflection Essays (5 * 2.5% = 12.5%): In an effort to expose students to a variety of disciplinary perspectives on various themes in the West, as well as to ensure our three-hour meetings are lively and interesting, I have schedule both guest lecturers and films for inclusion in this course. Currently, I have scheduled six guest lecturers from various departments on campus who will come in and give approximately one-hour presentations. In addition, I am planning on showing three or four films. Besides incorporating the information gained from the presentations and films, students will need to write short reflection papers on half of the guest lectures (3) and half the films (2). I leave it up to you to decide which you want to reflect on. The reflections should be approximately two to three pages, typed and double spaced. They should demonstrate your understanding of the lecture or movie as it relates to the history of the American West in the twentieth century. The reflection essays will be due the following class meeting.

Policies

Late Work Policy: Your grade drops one full grade for each day your work is late. You must be in class the day it is due to turn in work. If you do not come to class, your work will be counted as one day late unless you have made prior arrangements. With legitimate, documented excuses or for absences arranged ahead of time, exceptions can be made.

Grade Challenges: I am willing to entertain grade challenges provided they are submitted in writing and that you wait 48 hours after the assignment is returned before you hand in your objection. You will then need to set up an appointment with me to discuss the assignment and grade. Also, you must initiate this process within one week of the time the assignment was returned to the class. After re-evaluating a grade and meeting with you to discuss the assignment and evaluation, I may change it.

Plagiarism: To plagiarize is to present someone else’s work as your own. To present someone else’s work as your own means to use someone else’s information, ideas or writing without explicitly acknowledging with quotation marks and/or citations that the ideas and/or writing are not your own. You may be plagiarizing even if you are not directly quoting. Plagiarism is a serious offense and I will give a 0 to the first assignment in which a student plagiarizes. If a student plagiarizes again, I will fail that student in the course. If you have ANY questions or confusions about plagiarism, please let me know before you turn in your work. It is essential to be using others’ ideas and information; however, you just must provide credit where credit is due. You may find additional information about Academic Honesty (and dishonesty) as part of the Student Code of Conduct.

Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify me during the first week of class of an accommodation(s) needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho Commons Building, Rm. 333, 885-7200, or dss@uidaho.edu.

Expectations

Students will:

The instructor will:

Schedule of Readings, Assignments, and Lectures

The following list is my best guess at how the course will unfold. Slight changes are likely to occur, but I will announce them in class or by class e-mail.

The West Comes of Age, the 1890s to circa 1930

The West in Depression and War, circa 1930 to 1945

Optimism and Pessimism: the West in the 1950s and 1960s

The Recent West, circa 1970 to the near-present

SAMPLE ARTICLE REVIEW

Andrew H. Fisher, “They Mean To Be Indian Always: The Origins of Columbia River Indian Identity, 1860-1885,” Western Historical Quarterly 32 (Winter 2001): 468-492.

Topic and Scope: This essay explores the formation of Columbia River Indian identity between 1860 and 1885. It focuses on off-reservation Natives in the Columbia Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest.

Thesis and Main Points: Fisher argues that a distinct community of American Indians developed in the mid-Columbia River region through isolation that made the so-called River People perceive themselves as “more ‘Indian’ than their reservation kin” (492). Moreover, their actions and very identity formed around resistance to federal authority.  His argument is perhaps best stated as, “Seeing themselves as more authentically Indian than reservation dwellers, ‘River People’ purposefully stayed outside the lines that demarcated tribal territory and defined tribal identity under the emerging colonial order” (470).

Although the federal government believed that the treaty-making process solidified tribal definitions, Indians themselves resisted bureaucratic tribal, or ethnic, categorizations and defied orders to remove to reservations. Government Indian agents reported high percentages of Native Americans residing on reservations only seasonally or not at all. Those who made the mid-Columbia River region their home did so to maintain their freedom and to continue practicing traditional economies, religion, and culture. Occasionally, reservation Indians urged their off-reservation kin to move or return to the three area reservations (i.e., Yakama, Warm Springs, and Umatilla), because they desired the highest possible population and wished to avoid punishment for the renegades’ apparent lawlessness. Although reservation Indians often found the reservations the best place for them to remain Indian by segregating themselves from Euro-American society, off-reservation Natives stayed off the reservations for the same reason: they believed that remaining independent would allow them to remain Indian. 

Fisher provides numerous examples showing the perspectives of all parties involved (i.e., Euro-American settlers, government agents, on- and off-reservation Natives).

Critique: This essay helps illuminate the history of a group that is typically excluded: non-reservation Indians. In doing so, Fisher helps us comprehend a more complete history of American Indians in the Northwest, especially its Indian-Indian relationships. Fisher also reinforces the idea that reservation boundaries were highly permeable, something not always recognized in other accounts. By emphasizing Indian resistance, Fisher demonstrates that Native peoples in the Pacific Northwest did not passively accept the federal government’s wishes. Overall, the essay was clearly written and well argued, and Fisher adds an important chapter to Northwest history.