HST 219: Illinois and Local History

Focuses upon Illinois from its prehistory to the present with special attention to the local setting. Explores the impact of the state's geography upon its history and investigate the contributions of different groups—European, African American, Native American, male and female—in the economic, social, political, and literary development of Illinois. Considers the ways in which the history of this state illustrates, amplifies, and explains the larger history of the United States. (formerly HST 218)

1. Illinois Geography and Geology
2. Native American Cultures in Illinois
3. The French Incursion into Illinois
4. British Rule, the War of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance
5. The Territorial Period and Early Statehood
6. Early Development and Rise of Chicago
7. Early Foreign Immigration and Ethnic Contributions
8. Construction of the Illinois-Michigan Canal
9. The Ambivalent Status of African-Americans in Illinois
10. The Constitution of 1848 
11. Illinois during the 1850s: Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas 
12. Illinois in the Civil War and the Repeal of the “Black Code"
13. The Constitution of 1870
14. The Rise of the Industrial State
15. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871
16. The Rise of New Immigrant Groups
17. Labor Movements: The Haymarket Riot of 1886, the Pullman Strike of 1894
18. Rising Influence of Women as Reformers: Jane Addams, Frances Willard, Ida B. Wells
19. Chicago Politics at the Turn of the Century
20. The Columbian Exposition of 1893
21. Illinois Literary Figures and Landmarks in Relation to State Journalistic Heritage 
22. The Great Migration: The New Movement of African-Americans to Illinois 
23. Illinois during World War I 
24. Social Turmoil after the War: The "Red Scare, Race Riots of 1919
25. Prohibition and the Rise of Organized Crime 
26. "Bloody Williamson" and the Resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in Illinois 
27. Illinois during the Depression
28. Illinois during World War II
29. The Postwar Rise of the Suburbs
30. Richard J. Daley and the Democratic Machine 
31. Racial and Political Turmoil of the 1960s 
32. Constitution of 1970 and Aftermath

1. Lecture-based
2. One class session held in the library for purposes of bibliographic instruction, where students will be trained in the use of library collections and the World Wide Web
3. Class visit to the Schaumburg Library's Illinois Collection
4. Oral presentations on a topic in Illinois history

1. be able to understand and explain pivotal political and economic events in the state's history.
2. be able to understand and explain the factors that influenced the geography of Illinois.
3. be able to understand and explain the impact of early European exploration and settlement on Illinois.
4. be able to understand and explain the influence of the Northwest Ordinance upon Illinois's political development, especially where slavery was concerned, the process through which Illinois became a state (both in the local and in the national context), and the development of the first state constitution in 1818.
5. be able to understand and explain the impact of internal improvements on the development of Illinois, especially the Illinois-Michigan Canal.
6. be able to understand and explain the development of Chicago and the ways in which it influenced the growth of the young state.
7. be able to understand and explain the contributions to Illinois made by women and by various ethnic groups. 
8. be able to understand and explain the ways in which railroads, telegraphs, and similar technologies contributed to Illinois's early development as an industrial state.
9. be able to understand and explain the role of Illinois in the Civil War and the context of the repeal of the state's Black Code in 1865. 
10. be able to understand and explain the ways in which the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 influenced the subsequent development of Chicago.
11. be able to understand and explain the factors underlying the agricultural and industrial discontent that emerged in Illinois and the Midwest in the late 1800s.
12. be able to understand and explain the causes and effects of the Great Migration of African-Americans from the South to Chicago. 
13. be able to understand and explain Illinois's role in World War I and the effect of conflicting loyalties on her large immigrant populations.
14. be able to understand and explain the ways in which Prohibition and the rise of organized crime were affected by the political landscape of Chicago.
15. be able to understand and explain the impact of the Great Depression and the New Deal on Illinois.
16. be able to understand and explain Illinois's role in World War II.
17. be able to understand and explain the factors underlying the movement from the city to the suburbs during the 1950s and 1960s.
18. be able to understand and explain the ways in which Chicago was affected by the racial and political turmoil of the 1960s.
19. be able to understand and explain how the Constitution of 1970 was crafted as a response to the changing needs of the state, and how it affected its subsequent development.

1. Midterm Exam, 35%
2. Student paper and oral presentation*, 25%
3. Final Exam, 40%

* Research paper project on an aspect of Illinois history; oral presentation summarizing their research and conclusions.