American History Intensive - Section Three
The Civil War to the 21st Century
Agora Foundation Online Intensive - The Story of America
Section Three - The Civil War to the 21st Century
Section Two - The Declaration to the Civil War - Completed - Click here.
Section One - The Colonial Experience to the Declaration - Completed - Click here.
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America that “Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.” By most accounts, America is a profound experiment whose effect on the world cannot be overstated. Through a keen sense of destiny and a wealth of natural resources, the country has helped to transform political structures globally, as well as humankind’s vision of itself. The meaning of the “shot heard round the world" in 1775 is still unfolding, with no guarantee that a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” By varying degrees, the nation continues to strive to live up to its principles, and the struggle for equality for all its citizens continues to be a central difficulty.
Through the lenses of race, religion, politics, education, media, commerce, science, and culture, this series will explore the history of America through three four-month sections, and will attempt to find answers to our essential American questions: How can we describe the American Mind? What are the country’s core values and central tenets? Can those core values and central tenets endure? How has America’s role on the international stage changed over time?
All reading materials will be supplied and sessions will be facilitated by tutors experienced in shared inquiry and the Socratic method. Groups will be limited to 12 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 3 CEU credits for participation in each section.
Each Four-Six Month Weekly Series
(Each Section) is $600-$800.
Community of Lifelong Learners subscribers receive a discount of $100 through a refund.
-- COMPLETED --
Section Three - The Civil War to the 21st Century
Wednesday evenings, beginning April 20, 2022 and ending Wednesday, November 9, 2022 - 5:30-7:30PM Pacific
Section Three Texts:
1) The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel J. Boorstin
2) Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
3) These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
4) Selections from W.E.B. Du Bois - The Souls of Black Folk
5) Selected Supreme Court Cases including Plessy v. Ferguson,
Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade
6) Selections from Martin Luther King Jr., including the I Have a Dream speech and
Letter from Birmingham Jail
7) Additional texts will be added over the course
Make one $800 payment to join Section Three (subscribers receive a $100 refund)
Make three monthly payments of $266 to join Section Three (subscribers receive a $100 refund)
American History Intensive​ - Dates and Curriculum -
Section Three - The Civil War to the 21st Century
1) Session One
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book One - Everywhere Communities
Part One - The Go-Getters
1. “Gold from the Grass Roots Up”
2. Rituals of the Open Range
3. Private Wars for the Public Domain
4. Lawless Sheriffs and Honest Desperadoes
5. Rounding Up Rock Oil
6. Generalized Go-Getters: Lawyers
7. Exploiting the Federal Commodity: Divorce and Gambling
8. Crime As a Service Institution
- Pages 1-88
2) Session Two
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Part Three - William Lloyd Garrison
19. Reconstructing Slavery
20. Reconstructing Blame
- Pages 235-262
3) Session Three
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Three - The State
Nine - Of Citizens, Persons, and People
- Pages 311-360
4) Session Four
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
W.E.B. Du Bois - The Souls of Black Folk
Forethought, Chapters 1-4
5) Session Five
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book One - Everywhere Communities
Part Two - Consumption Communities
9. A Democracy of Clothing
10. Consumers’ Palaces
11. Nationwide Customers
12. Goods Sell Themselves
13. How Farmers Joined Consumption Communities
14. Citifying the Country
15. A New Freedom for Advertisers; Breaking the Agate Rule
16. Building Loyalty to Consumption Communities
17. “The Consumer is King”
18. Christmas and Other Festivals of Consumption
- Pages 89-164
6) Session Six
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Part Four - W.E.B. Du Bois
21. Renewing the South
22. Southern Horrors
23. Back Judases
24. Great White Hopes
25. The Birth of a Nation
- Pages 263-322
7) Session Seven
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Three - The State
Ten - Efficiency and the Masses
- Pages 361-420
8) Session Eight
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court Case, dissenting opinion, and background
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Session off Wednesday, June 15
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9) Session Nine
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book One - Everywhere Communities
Part Three - Statistical Communities
19. A Numerical Science of Community: The Rise of the Average Man
20. Communities of Risk
21. Statistical Expectations: What’s Your Size?
22. Making Things No Better Than They Need to Be
23. “The Incorruptible Cashier”
24. Income Consciousness
25. The Rediscovery of Poverty
26. Measuring the Mind
27. From “Naughtiness” to “Behavior Deviation”
28. Statistical Morality
- Pages 165-244
10) Session Ten
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Part Four - W.E.B. Du Bois
26. Media Suasion
27. Old Deal
28. Freedom Brand
29. Massive Resistance
- Pages 323-380
11) Session Eleven
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Three - The State
Eleven - A Constitution of the Air
- Pages 421-471
12) Session Twelve
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book One - Everywhere Communities
Part Four - The Urban Quest for Place
29. An American Diaspora
30. Politics for City Immigrants
31. Stretching the City: The Decline of Main Street
32. Booming the Real Estate Frontier
33. Antidotes for the City: Utopia, Renewal, Suburbia
34. Cities within Cities: The Urban Blues
- Pages 245-306
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13) Session Thirteen
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Three - The State
Twelve - The Brutality of Modernity
- Pages 472-520
14) Session Fourteen
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book Two - The Decline of the Miraculous
Part Five - Leveling Times and Places
35. Condense! Making Food Portable through Time
36. Meat for the Cities
37. Varying the Everyday Menu
38. People’s Palaces on Wheels
39. Walls Become Windows
40. Homogenizing Space
- Pages 307-358
15) Session Fifteen
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Four - The Machine
Thirteen - A World of Knowledge
- Pages 521-588
16) Session Sixteen
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Case, and background
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17) Session Seventeen
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book Two - The Decline of the Miraculous
Part Six - Mass-Producing the Moment
41. Time Becomes Fungible: Packing the Unit of Work
42. Making Experiences Repeatable
43. Extending Experiences: The New Segregation
44. The Decline of the Unique and the Secret
45. In Search of the Spontaneous
- Pages 359-410
18) Session Eighteen
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Four - The Machine
Fourteen - Rights and Wrongs
- Pages 589-645
19) Session Nineteen
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Letter from Birmingham Jail and I Have a Dream speech
by Martin Luther King Jr.
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Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Night off
20) Session Twenty
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book Three - A Popular Culture
Part Seven - The Thinner Life of Things
46. Endless Streams of Ownership
47. New Penumbras of Property
48. The Semi-Independent Businessman
49. From Packing to Packaging: the New Strategy of Desire
- Pages 411-448
21) Session Twenty-One
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Four - The Machine
Fifteen - Battle Lines
- Pages 646-718
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Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Night off
22) Session Twenty-Two
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Part Five - Angela Davis
30. The Act of Civil Rights
31. Black Power
32. Law and Order
33. Reagan’s Drugs
- Pages 381-439
23) Session Twenty-Three
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book Three - A Popular Culture
Part Eight - Language, Knowledge, and the Arts
50. The Decline of Grammar: The Colloquial Conquers the Classroom
51. From Oratory to Public Speaking: Fireside Politics
52. A Higher Learning for All
53. Educating “the Great Army of Incapables”
54. Art Becomes Enigma
55. The Exotic Becomes Commonplace
- Pages 449-524
24) Session Twenty-Four
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Supreme Court Cases: Roe vs. Wade - summary, majority opinion and dissenting views.
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25) Session Twenty-Five
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Dobbs vs. Jackson - summary, majority opinion and dissenting views.
26) Session Twenty-Six
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
The Americans: The Democratic Experience by Daniel Boorstin
Book Four - The Future on Schedule
Part Ten - Mission and Momentum
59. Prologue to Foreign Aid
60. Samaritan Diplomacy
61. Not Whether but When: The New Momentum
Epilogue: Unknown Coasts
- Pages 557-600
27) Session Twenty-Seven
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Part Five - Angela Davis
34. New Democrats
35. New Republicans
36. 99.9 Percent the Same
37. The Extraordinary Negro
Epilogue
- Pages 440-511
28) Session Twenty-Eight
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
These Truths - A History of the United States by Jill Lepore
Part Four - The Machine
Sixteen - American, Disrupted, and Epilogue
- Pages 719-789