Fall 2007: This course traces the development of a portion of North America that became the United States from the beginning of colonization to the conclusion of the Reconstruction era after the Civil War.  Unlike previous nations, the people who created and refined the United States were always a collision of diverse peoples and ideas – African, American, Asian, and European – in a dynamic and changing set of environmental, social, and cultural contexts. The course will offer a balance survey of the colonial, revolutionary, early national, antebellum, and Civil War periods.

Processes of dispossession, colonization, and incorporation

Reciprocal relationships between humans and nature

Local experiences and imperial ties

Development of racial, gendered, and class disparities

Political and economic evolution

Course Prerequisites

45 credit hours including 9 hours of lower division history credit and one of HIST 101, 212, or permission of the department

Required Text 

Devine et al., The American Story, Volume 1 to 1877, Third Edition

Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution

Paul Johnson & Sean Wilentz, The Kingdom of Matthias:  A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19^th-Century America

Other readings available through the W.A.C. Bennett Library reserve system.

Course Evaluation

1^st Midterm exam:               25%

2^nd Midterm exam:               25%

Final Exam:                             25%

Tutorial:                                   25%