This first year seminar course examines the long history of movements for social change in the United States from the 1830s to the 1970s. Movements we will explore will include abolitionism, women's rights, the black freedom struggle, modern feminism, and gay liberation. We will focus on the tactics used by social movements to achieve their goals, how social movements related to each other, how social movements changed over time, and how social movements interacted with the broader forces of American society, including politics, race, law, and religion. A major focus of this course will be how historians conduct research, use evidence, and write history. Students will be exposed to primary sources as well as selected secondary sources in the field. |