NC 214B: United States History B

Citrus College Course Outline of Record

Citrus College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Fall 2021
Credits: 0
Total Contact Hours: 60
Lecture Hours : 60
Lab Hours: 0
Hours Arranged: 0
Outside of Class Hours: 120
Prerequisite: Placement by a high school counselor.
Transferable to CSU: No
Transferable to UC: No
Grading Method: Non-Credit Course

Catalog Course Description

The content will focus on the development of the United States during the 20th century. This course will enable students to understand the chronological flow of events, the dynamics of change, and the critical links between the past and the present in the United States. This course format will include activity-based investigations with hands-on activities and concepts and applications compliant with the adopted California State History Standards to meet the minimum course requirements for high school graduation. 60 lecture hours.

Course Objectives

  • Examine the geopolitical changes in post-war Europe detailing the spread of communism in Eastern Europe.
  • Identify the problems faced by minorities post Civil War, define the laws upheld in the South which supported discrimination (Jim Crow Laws, Plessy vs. Ferguson), and the problems these laws created in a “democratic” society.
  • List and discuss the significant events of the civil rights movement and the legal battles to abolish segregation.
  • Analyze the role of the Federal Government as a protector of civil rights including the Civil Rights Acts passed.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO, Berlin Blockade, and airlift.
  • Describe the impact of McCarthyism on politics and society, and analyze the Supreme Court Decisions related to free speech.
  • Identify the consequences of the Cold War for the United States both domestically and in foreign affairs around the world, examining Eisenhower’s policies on nuclear deterrence and the power of the military-industrial complex.
  • Compare and contrast the administrations of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon in dealing with the threat of communism in Southeast Asia.
  • Discuss the economic policies of a nation in defining the balance of spending between military and civilian needs, as well as analyze the impact of military spending on the economic productivity of the nation.
  • Describe the U.S. relationship with Latin America, and discuss the problems of Latin America in the post-war era.
  • Analyze the Constitution and Bill of Rights in modern times as it relates to all minorities.
  • Discuss the role of Black Americans in history and read literature which reflects the Black experience in America.

Major Course Content

  1. Post World War II
    1. Economic development
    2. Government programs and spending in defense, welfare, and education
    3. Mexican immigration and Southwest agriculture
    4. New technologies
    5. Popular culture
  2. U.S. Foreign Policy since World War II
    1. Building a new world order through international agencies to foster capitalist values: The United Nations, GATT, International Monetary Fund, World Bank
    2. International military alliances: NATO, OAS, ANZUS, SEATO
    3. Cold War policies, agencies, and implications: Truman Doctrine-Containment, HUAC, NSC-68-Rollback, Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
    4. Cold War events: Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War
    5. Effects of foreign policy in U.S.: Anti-war protests, nuclear weaponry
    6. Winning the Cold War: Reagan Administration foreign policy
    7. Middle East policies
    8. Latin American policies
  3. Civil Rights
    1. Overturning Plessy vs. Ferguson, integration of the Armed Forces, integration in popular culture, the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement
    2. NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and other organizations: Montgomery, Little Rock, Lunch-Counter Sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer
    3. “The Great Society” and new civil rights legislation: Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Twenty-fourth Amendment
    4. Non-African American groups: American Indian Movement, MECHA, NOW, Stonewall
  4. Important social and political policy issues in the modern era
    1. Effects of the Immigration Act of 1965
    2. Important domestic programs from Truman to Clinton
    3. Change and limits for women
    4. Environmental problems, policies, and the Green Movement
    5. Watergate and its effects
    6. The persistence of poverty

Suggested Reading Other Than Required Textbook

Instructor supplied material

Examples of Required Writing Assignments

Essays and short response writings

Examples of Outside Assignments

Daily homework and answer review questions

Instruction Type(s)

Lecture, Online Education Lecture