“I shall not surrender this game leaving any available card unplayed.”
–Abraham Lincoln, July 26, 1862
Required Text
- George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations Since 1776 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) [LIBRARY ONLINE]
Additional Readings
- Walter LaFeber, “The Constitution and United States Foreign Policy: An Interpretation,” Journal of American History 74 (Dec. 1987): 695-717 [JSTOR]
- Margaret MacMillan, The Rhyme of History: Lessons of the Great War, Brookings (2013) [WEB]
- Stephanie McCurry, “Enemy Women and the Laws of War in the American Civil War,” Law and History Review35 (August 2017): 667-710 [JSTOR]
- Walter Russell Mead, “The American Foreign Policy Legacy,” Foreign Affairs 81 (Jan.-Feb. 2002): 163-176 [JSTOR]
- Matthew Pinsker, Lincoln and War Powers. House Divided Project (2013) [WEB]
First Essay –Early US Diplomacy
On Friday, March 4, students will submit a 3-5 page typed, double-spaced essay on a topic concerning early US diplomacy provided to them near the beginning of that week. All essays must include references to the Herring book as well as to additional primary sources featured at the course site, all properly cited using Chicago-style footnotes. Outside research is allowed but not required. Additional information will be available on the annotated assignment guidelines at the course site. Essays will be graded on depth of analysis, use of evidence, and quality of prose. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points each day.
Second Essay –Modern US Diplomacy
On Friday, April 8, students will submit a 3-5 page typed, double-spaced essay on a modern US diplomatic topic provided to them near the beginning of that week. All essays must include references to the Herring book as well to additional primary sources featured at the course site, all properly cited using Chicago-style footnotes. Outside research is allowed but not required. Additional information will be available on the annotated assignment guidelines at the course site. Essays will be graded on depth of analysis, use of evidence, and quality of prose. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points each day.
By MONDAY, April 25 (revised), students will submit an 8- to 10-page biographical paper that analyzes a significant diplomatic contribution from an American historical figure (not serving as president) during the period between 1776 and 2000. Each profile paper should provide background on the person as well as thoughtful context about that period. All papers should use George Herring’s From Colony to Superpower (2008) as a starting point, but they should also employ a wide-ranging combination of other scholarly sources and relevant primary sources. All essays should be typed and double-spaced as Word or PDF documents with title page and Chicago-style footnotes (no bibliography required). Papers will receive provisional grades (based on research effort, analysis and prose) that will be updated following submission of the final website project.
By Monday, May 9, students should transform their diplomatic profile papers into a Weebly site. Each website project should be designed as an online teaching exhibit, revised and improved from the originally submitted profile paper, but now focusing on using various multi-media tools to help bring the main historical insights to life for high school and college classrooms. Students should especially strive to find ways to provide full-text access to relevant primary sources. Each website should also include an array of properly credited and captioned images as well as at least one embedded short video (about 1 to 2 minutes) that provides of biographical overview of the subject. Additional information will be available on the annotated assignment guidelines at the course site. Projects will be graded on depth of analysis, research and design effort, and quality of prose. Late research submissions will be penalized 5 points per day.
Grade Distribution
Class Participation 30 percent
Essay 1 –Early US diplomacy 20 percent
Essay 2 –20th Century diplomacy 20 percent
Profiles in Diplomacy project 30 percent
| Day | Date | Discussion Topic | Reading Assignment |
| Tuesday | 1/25 | Methods & Expectations | — |
| Thursday | 1/27 | Mapping American Diplomacy | Herring, Intro (1-10), Mead article |
| Tuesday | 2/1 | Revolutionary Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 1 |
| Thursday | 2/3 | Partisan Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 2 |
| Tuesday | 2/8 | Jeffersonian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 3 |
| Thursday | 2/10 | Jacksonian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 4 |
| Tuesday | 2/15 | Expansionist Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 5 |
| Thursday | 2/17 | Lincolnian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 6 |
| Tuesday | 2/22 | Legal Diplomacy | McCurry article + Pinsker exhibit |
| Thursday | 2/24 | Global Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 7 |
| Tuesday | 3/1 | Imperial Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 8 |
| Thursday | 3/3 | Constitutional Diplomacy | LaFeber article |
| Friday | 3/4 | First essay due | By 5pm via email |
| Tuesday | 3/8 | Progressive Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 9 |
| Thursday | 3/10 | Wilsonian Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 10 |
| Tuesday | 3/15 | NO CLASS (Spring Break) | |
| Thursday | 3/17 | NO CLASS (Spring Break) | |
| Tuesday | 3/22 | Commercial Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 11 |
| Thursday | 3/24 | New Deal Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 12 |
| Tuesday | 3/29 | Alliance Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 13 |
| Thursday | 3/31 | Containment Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 14 (pp. 595-626) |
| Tuesday | 4/5 | Cold War Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 14 (pp. 626-650) |
| Thursday | 4/7 | Brinksmanship Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 15 |
| Friday | 4/8 | Second essay due | By 5pm via email |
| Tuesday | 4/12 | Crisis Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 16 (pp.702-729) |
| Thursday | 4/14 | Vietnam Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 16 (pp. 729-759) |
| Tuesday | 4/19 | Detente Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 17 |
| Thursday | 4/21 | Human Rights Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 18 |
| Monday | 4/25 | Profile paper due | By 5pm via email |
| Tuesday | 4/26 | High Tech Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 19 |
| Thursday | 4/28 | Interventionist Diplomacy | Herring, chapter 20 |
| Tuesday | 5/3 | Historically Correct Diplomacy | Macmillan essay |
| Thursday | 5/5 | Lessons & Legacies | |
| Monday | 5/9 | Profile websites due | By 5pm, send URL via email |