HST 272-A

Democracy in Action: The Nonviolent Civil Rights Movement

Winter, 2007

Dr. Bissett

Office: Powell 217-A, ext. 6421

E-mail: bissett@elon.edu

Web page: www.elon.edu/bissett

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Required Texts

Chuck Fager, Eating Dr. King’s Dinner: A Memo= ir of the Movement, 1963-1966

Frye Gaillard, Cradle of Freedom: Alabama and the Movement That Changed America

<= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Gary May, The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo

Course Goals and Objectives

If the Bi= blical concept of “original sin” can be applied to nations, for the United States that transgression would almost certainly be racism. From the beginning, the American experience was inextricably bound with slavery. While that system was outlawed fol= lowing the Civil War, institutional racism continued in the form of segregation, a= set of laws and practices that enforced strict racial separation and guaranteed that African Americans would, in economic and social terms, remain at the bottom of society.

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Following= World War II, attempts to rid the nation of this onerous system gained momentum, giving birth to the modern Civil Rights Movement. In this important social movement,= black and white activists used the tactic of direct, nonviolent action to challen= ge and ultimately bring an end to segregation in the United States. Our study of the Civil Rights Move= ment will focus on events in three Alabama cities—Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma—that were at the very center of the movement during the 1950s and 1960s. After spending time in class study= ing these events, we will have the opportunity to actually visit these cities to see firsthand where they took place.

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In the co= urse of our study, we hope to achieve the following goals:

· to gain an appreciation for the destructive nature of segregation and the violence and terror that lay beneath it;

· to learn about the tactic of nonviolent, dir= ect action and to appreciate its strategic advantages as well as its shortcomin= gs;

· to think in theoretical terms about the ways institutions work to prevent significant social change from occurring, ther= eby gaining a greater appreciation for the accomplishments of civil rights activists;

· to use the history of the Civil Rights Movem= ent as a way of thinking about how leaders can use their skills in the service = of both positive and negative social causes.

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Your prog= ress in the course will be measured by your performance on a variety of course requirements, described in more detail below. The final grade will be determined according to the following formula:

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In-Clas= s Writing	30%
Paper o= n Eating Dr. King’s Dinner	20%
Reflective Journal	30%
Final Examination	20%

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Once the = final grade has been calculated, a letter grade will be assigned according to the= se guidelines:

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A	94-99
A-	90-93
B+	87-89
B	84-86
B-	80-83
C+	77-79
C	74-76
C-	70-73
D+	67-69
D	64-66
D-	60-63
F	0-59

Honor Code

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This course recognizes and adheres to the Elon Academic Honor Code, which applies to all activities and assignments in the course.&= nbsp; Students will refrain from cheating, lying, plagiarizing, facilitati= ng the dishonesty of others, and stealing or vandalism. Violations of the honor code will = be reported to the appropriate administrative office for action. I have provided a link to the Elon Academic Honor Code on my web page. Please review it carefully. If you are uncertain about how your behavior might relate to the academic honor code, please consult me at once.

In-Class Writing

Because o= f the intensive nature of Winter Term, it is imperative that you keep up with the reading, and that you come to class prepared to engage in informed, product= ive class discussion. Please reme= mber that each day of class during Winter Term is the equivalent of a week during the regular semester. As a re= sult, missing only one day of class—or coming to one class unprepared—= ;can have significant consequences for the success of the course.

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For this = reason, a significant portion of your final grade in the course is determined by yo= ur attendance and preparation for class. We will have regular, unannounced, in-class writing exercises design= ed to help you refine and articulate your thoughts about the reading. These exercises will also make it possible for me to reward you for doing the assigned reading. It is important to note that, beca= use of the intensive nature of Winter Term, there may more than one of these in-cl= ass writing exercise per day. Your performance on these occasions will be used to determine a grade on this requirement, which in turn represents thirty percent of the final course grade. This opportunity will = be afforded only during class time; those absent will receive a zero on the in-class writing exercise(s) given on that day. There will be no opportunity to ma= ke up these assignments.

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Paper on Eating Dr. King= 217;s Dinner

This is a= n interesting, thoughtful book, written by someone who participated in the Selma campaign in 1965. The author describes how he became involved in the movement, how he contributed to the civil rights movement (including his personal contact with Martin Luther King), and how the movem= ent changed during the years of his participation in it.

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Write a p= aper in which you explore how this book helped you to make sense of the civil rights movement. To ensure that your= paper is appropriately reflective, address the following questions in the course = of your argument.

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· What specific insights does Fager offer that helped to clear up confusion over some aspect of the civil rights movement = for you?

· Did the discussion in Eating Dr. King’s Dinner help you come closer to resoluti= on on an issue on which there is disagreement or controversy among historians = or movement veterans?

· Did Fager comment on a larger issue relevant= to our class discussions in a way that you feel provided important insight?

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As you wr= ite this paper, please feel free to be creative, honest, and critical. In order to make your argument as convincing as possible, please try to organize your ideas around a central theme or issue. Be sure to pr= ovide specific evidence from Eating Dr. King’s Dinner and other relevant works to support your conclusions. It goes without saying, of course, that your paper should be well written and free of grammatical and spelling errors. In order to successfully address the questions posed in the previous paragraph= , I expect you to write a paper that is around five typed pages in length.

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Finally, = attach a list to the end of your paper of at least three questions that you would li= ke to ask the author. Papers tha= t do not include this list will be penalized one-half of a letter grade.

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Your pape= rs are due at the beginning of class on Friday, January 12. Late papers will be penalized one = letter grade for each day they are late.

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Reflective Journal

As we will discuss at length in this class, the study of history is more than a collec= tion of facts about past events. I= t is by nature an interpretive process. All historical knowledge—whether presented in books or at muse= ums and historic sites—is, at some level, an interpretation of the events= of the past.

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To ensure that you think in these terms about the place= s we visit during the travel portion of the course, you will be expected to keep= a journal in which to record your experiences and impressions. Prior to our departure, I will pro= vide you with a series of questions for each of the places we will visit. Your journal entries should include responses to those questions, ensuring that your journal will be reflective= in nature. It is important that = these entries are thoughtful and seek to integrate your experiences with the assi= gned reading and with our class discussions.&nb= sp; The quality of your reflective entries constitutes your grade on this assignment. Of course, it goes without saying that the key to producing a journal of high quality is to participate actively in each activity, to respond explicitly to the questio= ns I provide, and to write your entries on a daily basis. Your journals will be due at the beginning of class on January 23.

Final Examination

The final examination will consist of one essay, designed to help you synthesize and comment upon your experiences in the course. It will be given during the schedu= led final examination period on January 24. This is your opportunity to bring together the reading, our class discussions, a= nd our travel experiences, and I believe you will find it to be a useful experience.

Course Outline

Date	Topic
Jan. 3 (Wed.)	Course Introduction Segregation as a Historical Phenomenon
Jan. 4 (Thurs.)	T= he Montgomery Bus B= oycott (Cradle of Freedom, Chapters 1-4)= T= he Freedom Rides (Cradle of Freedom<= /i>, Chapters 5-8; The Informant, Chapters 1-2)
Jan. 5 (Fri.)	T= he Birmingham Campa= ign (Cradle of Freedom, Chapters 9-11= ; The Informant, Chapter 3)
Jan. 8 (Mon.)	T= he Tumultuous Events of 1963 and 1964 (Cradle of Freedom, 12-13, 15) T= he Birmingham Church Bombing (Cradle of Freedom, Chapter 14; The Informant, Chapters 4-5)
Jan. 9 (Tues.)	<= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Selma (Cradle of Freedom, Chapters 16-1= 8)
Jan. 10 (Wed.)	T= he Murder of Viola Liuzzo (Cradle of Freedom, Chapter 19; The Info= rmant, Chapters 6-15)
Jan. 11 (Thurs.)	<= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Lowndes County and the Emergence of Black Power (Cradle of Freedom, Cha= pters 20-21) P= ost-Movement Developments (Cradle of Freedom, Chapters 22-23)
Jan. 12 (Fri.)	D= iscussion with Mr. Chuck Fager (Eating Dr. King’s Dinner) *Paper on Eating Dr. King’s Dinner* due**
Jan. 15 (Mon.)	N= o Class (Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday)
Jan. 16 (Tues.)-21 (Sun.)	T= ravel Portion of the Course The bus will depart from the Moseley Center parking lot at 7:30 a.m. = on January 16. =
Jan. 22 (Mon.)	N= o Class (spend this time working on your Reflective Journal)
Jan. 23 (Tues.)	D= iscussion: Reflecting on Our Experiences in Alabama (Cradle of Freedom, Epilogue)= Reflective Journals due<= /b>
Jan. 24 (Wed.)	F= inal Examination