History 275: Conspiracy and Dissent in Twentieth-Century AmericaOn the verge!! Y2K!! Omigod!!! Fall term, 1999 -- THE END?!© Professor Geoffrey S. Smith Who shot down TWA Flight 800? Who killed Princess Diana? Who poisoned Elvis? Who convinced JFK, Jr., that he could make it? Is Linda Tripp in the service of a foreign power? Is Canada’s military jinxed? Did someone spike Ben Johnson’s wee-wee? Hey!!!!!!! Why???????? Who’s in Charge Here?? For much of its history the United States enjoyed by dint of geographical position and weak neighbors a near-unsullied position of free security. This circumstance of safety persisted well into the 20th century, ending only with the emergence of totalitarian dictatorships in Germany and the Soviet Union, the Second World War, and the cold war and threat of nuclear annhilation that followed. Yet from their colonial beginnings in the early 17th century, Americans evinced increasing concerns about enemies—both abroad and within national borders. History 275 will provide students opportunity to assess many ways in which Americans—on elite and popular levels—have defined, debated, and sought to maintain security against the most heinous adversaries. As playwright David Mamet observed in 1995, "it is in our nature to credit the ridiculous for the sake of the momentary enjoyment it affords," often "through the creation of a villain, whose presence stands between us and a Perfect World: this pornographer, this purveyor of filth, this destroyer of the family is he or she who used to be known by the name of communist, fellow traveler, labour agitator. Other historical names include nigger lover, papist, Yellow Peril, faggot, and Jew." In the culture wars of the very recent past, political discourse in the United States seems to find most effective expression in "us-against-them" terms. This should not be surprising. For political discourse—a discourse related to questions of power in society, intersecting all levels of culture—reflects American experience on all levels. A key hypothesis of History 426 holds that construction of internal and external enemies (and the connecting of the internal with the external—"The Other") have played important, sometime crucial roles in the history of the Republic. By suggesting ways in which dissent in American life has both manifested and generated fears of conspiracy and subversion, History 275 seeks to accomplish several things. First, students should be aware that the course approaches the American past in a manner somewhat different than usual. Where "consensus" and neoconservative historians emphasize the manner in which Americans have been knit together by shared values and aspirations, History 275 argues that although these things are important in evaluating the Republic’s history, one also confronts in that saga remarkable diversities, conflicts, polarities, and disagreements. Consequently, in describing and analyzing the exaggerated ways in which American fringe groups, cults, demagogues, reformers, kooks (be careful with this one!), and mainstream politicians (and two former presidents, in particular), have perceived reality, the instructor hopes to illuminate the phenomenon the late historian Richard Hofstadter termed "the paranoid style" in American political and social life. In addition, by considering the nature and limits of protest during war and periods of domestic crisis, we shall point up a central problem faced by dissenting Americans since the arrival of the Puritans early in the seventeenth century—that of being labeled threats to the country’s security and welfare. In order to appreciate the complex dimensions of conspiratorial world views and the various uses to which alleged conspiracies have been put both by dissenting Americans and by citizens (and government bodies) reacting against them, the student will also consider the ways in which race and ethnicity, economic and class conflict, gender and sexuality, and politics (key determinants of "power") have intersected in the twentieth century. The course is based on the assumption that the persistent tendency of Americans to blame assorted devils for real and imagined domestic and foreign policy problems suggests a great deal about the American national character, regional characteristics, the evolving values and goals of dominant and contending cultural groups, and—perhaps most important—the kinds of political, social, and cultural fissures that have characterized U.S. society. Thus an analysis of the interplay between dissent and the fear of subversion in American history helps illuminate the complicated relationship between individual and group behaviour, social and economic conditions, intellectual attitudes, and politics and diplomacy. Course Mechanics: History 275 is designated a lecture course, but students may also attend optional tutorials. Tutorial meetings will consider questions raised in lectures and readings, the mechanics and substance of writing essays, and issues of general interest related to the study of history. These meetings will allow you to explore problems in smaller groups, discuss your ideas with your peers, and prepare more systematically than you might for your examinations. Tutorial leaders and venues will be assigned shortly. The paperback books and Xeroxed reprints listed below will serve as the core readings for the term. The books are available at the Campus Bookstore, and an effort has been made to place all required readings on reserve in Stauffer Library. Scheduled lectures and general readings for the term appear below. Specific assignments on which readings to emphasize for tutorial meetings will be made at the Monday lecture each week a tutorial is scheduled. I also call your attention to my web page, which contains course information, additional readings, links, and other interesting and intriguing material. The address for the "Real Geoff Smith" home page is http://post.queensu.ca/~smithgs/ I note also that although there is much garbage on the internet, there are also gems of information and myriad useful sites. If you know of sites and links that would be of interest to students in this course, please notify me. The internet is a huge potential resource, but it must be used with caution. Course marks: Marks in History 275 will be computed in the following way— Midterm essay: 50% Final exam: 50% Tutorial: "subjective plus" (up to 5 extra points) Office Hours: My office hours are Friday afternoons from 1:30 to 3:30, in Watson 226, but I will make appointments at any mutually convenient time. I am always pleased to see you, and you can make arrangements, if necessary, by calling the History Department (533-2150) or by e-mailing me at: I. Introduction Week One: September 13 – Introduction to course: terms, arguments, strategies September 16 – Film, "Conspiracies" (A&E—October 26, 1997) Readings: Tom Engelhardt, The End of Victory Culture (1998) David B. Davis, ed., "Introduction" and "Some Themes of Countersubversion" from The Fear of Conspiracy: Images of Un-American Subversion from the Revolution to the Present (1970) – reserve Richard Hofstadter, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" (1965) in Davis, ed., Fear of Conspiracy – reserve Leo Ribuffo, "The Complexity of American History" (1992) – reserve Michael Kelly, "The Road to Paranoia" (1995) – reserve Lewis Lapham, "Seen But Not Heard: The Message of the Oklahoma Bombing" (1995) – reserve Ron Rosenbaum, "Staring into the Heart of the Heart of Darkness: (1995) – reserve Week Two: September 20 – Of Cowpunchers…… September 23 – "…and Monomyths" Readings: Engelhardt, End of Victory Culture James William Gibson, Warrior Dreams: Violence and Manhood in Post-Vietnam America (1994) David H. Bennett, The Party of Fear: From Nativist Movements to the New Right in American History, prologue and part I. Allen M. Brandt, No Magic Bullet: A Social History of Venereal Disease in the United States since 1880 (rev. ed., 1987), pp. 3-51 Geoffrey S. Smith, "Nativism," in Alexander DeConde, ed., Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy (1978), Vol. II, 651-667 (reference and reserve) John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925 (1985), pp. 3-34 – reserve
II. Dissent, the Great War, and the 1920s Week Three: September 27 – Labour, Immigrants, the IWW, and Industrial America September 30 – World War I, Red Scare, and Civil Liberties (This class to be held in Dunning Auditorium—why? It’s a conspiracy, of course!) Readings: Davis, ed., Fear of Conspiracy, pp. 149-227 Higham, Strangers in the Land, pp. 68-263 Bennett, Party of Fear, pp. 183-187 Brandt, No Magic Bullet, pp. 52-101 Randolph S. Bourne, "The State" (1919) – reserve Stanley Coben, "The American Red Scare of 1919-1920" (1964) – reserve Paul L. Murphy, World War I and the Origin of Civil Liberties in the United States (1979) William Preston, Aliens and Dissenters: Federal Suppression of Radicals, 1903-1933 (1963) -- reserve H. C. Peterson and Gilbert C. Fite, Opponents of War, 1917-1918 (1957) – reserve Murray B. Levin, Political Hysteria in America (1971) -- reserve Week Four: October 4/7 – Interpreting the "Roaring Twenties" Readings: David J. Goldberg, Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s (1999) Bennett, Party of Fear, pp. 187-237 Paul L. Murphy, "Sources and Nature of Intolerance in the 1920s" (1964) – reserve Higham, Strangers in the Land, pp. 264-330 – reserve Davis, ed., Fear of Conspiracy, pp. 228-249 – reserve
Week Five: October 11 -- (No class—Thanksgiving) October 14 -- (No class – work on midterm assignment) (MY GOODNESS, A READING WEEK IN THE FALL TERM---- IT MUST BE ANOTHER CONSPIRACY!!) ******
III. Depression America and World War II Week Six: October 18 -- The Culture of the Great Depression October 21 -- Demagogues in the Depression Readings: Geoffrey S. Smith, To Save a Nation: American "Extremism," the New Deal, and the Coming of World War II (1992) Brandt, No Magic Bullet, pp. 122-160 Davis, ed., Fear of Conspiracy, pp. 249-251, 263-289 Bennett, Party of Fear, pp. 238-266 Richard Pells, Radical Visions, American Dreams. . . (1973) – reserve Week Seven: October 25 -- The Tragedy of Charles A. Lindbergh October 28 -- Pearl Harbor & the Japanese Americans Readings: Davis, ed., Fear of Conspiracy, pp. 251-261 -- reserve Smith, To Save a Nation, passim. Bennett, Party of Fear, pp. 266-272 Justus D. Doenecke, ed., In Danger Undaunted: The Anti-Interventionist Movement of 1940-1941 as Revealed in the Papers of the America First Committee (1990) -- reserve Wayne S. Cole, Roosevelt and the Isolationists (1983) – reserve --------------------, Charles A. Lindbergh and the Battle Against Isolation in World War II – reserve John W. Dower, War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War (1986) – reserve Roger Daniels, Sandra C. Taylor, and Harry H.L. Kitano, eds., Japanese Americans: From Relocation to Redress (1991) – reserve Roger Daniels, Concentration Camps North America (1981) – reserve Geoffrey S. Smith, "Doing Justice: Relocation and Equity in Public Policy" (1984) – reserve IV. The United States since 1945 / The Critical Issues Week Eight: November 1 -- Anti-communism and Joe McCarthy November 4 -- The Insecurity Culture of the 1950s Readings: John E. Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace: American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era (1996) Engelhardt, End of Victory Culture, passim. Geoffrey S. Smith, "National Security and Personal Isolation: Sex, Gender, and Disease in the Cold-War United States" (1992) -- reserve Bennett, Party of Fear, pp. 286-315 Brandt, No Magic Bullet, pp. 161-182 Davis, ed., Fear of Conspiracy, pp. 289-315 Week Nine: November 8 -- The Unraveling of American Liberalism November 11 -- From Civil Rights to Black Power ** **NB: Midterm essays due at beginning of class today Readings: Robert Buzzanco, Vietnam and the Transformation of American Life (1999) David J. Garrow, The FBI and Martin Luther King (1981) – reserve Melvin Small and William D. Hoover, eds., Give Peace a Chance: Exploring the Vietnam Antiwar Movement (1992) – reserve Davis, ed., Fear of Conspiracy, pp. 315-362 Sharon Rudy Plaxton, "Emasculating the Antiwar Warrior" (1995) – reserve Week Ten: November 15 – Feminism and Gay/Lesbian Liberation November 18 -- Film, "Berkeley in the 1960s" Readings: Sara Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women’s Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left (1980) Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967-1975 (1989) -- reserve Week Eleven: November 22 -- The Kennedy Assassination November 25 -- Nixon and Watergate Readings: Davis, ed., Fears of Conspiracy, pp. 315-362 – reserve Bennett, Party of Fear, pp. 315-344 Smith, To Save a Nation, epilogue Jonathan Schell, The Time of Illusion (1975) – reserve Gordon Liddy, "A Patriot Speaks" (1975) – reserve Stanley Kutler, The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon (1990) – reserve Week Twelve: November 29 -- Reagan’s America December 2 – Culture Wars: From Kent State (1970) to Oklahoma City (1995), and Y2K Readings: Mark Kingwell, Dreams of Millennium: Report from a Culture on the Brink (1996) James Coates, Armed and Dangerous: The Rise of the Survivalist Right (1995) -- reserve Engelhardt, End of Victory Culture, passim. Gibson, Warrior Dreams, passim. Bennett, Party of Fear, complete Brandt, No Magic Bullet, complete Smith, To Save a Nation, epilogue Geoffrey S. Smith, ed., et al., "The Greater Kent State Era" (1996) -- reserve Again, MIDTERM ESSAY DUE, BEGINNING OF CLASS, THURSDAY, NOV. 11** FINAL EXAMINATION *** TO BE ANNOUNCED ** Mid-term assignment , review essay using as basis June Joness’s Hep-Cats, Narcs, and Pipe Dreams: America’s Romance with Illegal Drugs (1999), appears on a separate sheet.
History 275 Book List: The following required course paperback books are available at the Campus Bookstore. An effort has also been made to place copies of these books and other course readings on reserve at Stauffer Library. It is not necessary to purchase all of these books.
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