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1. Native American societies and cultures prior to European arrival.
2. European colonization and its impact on Native America.
3. Establishment and maturation of diverse colonial settlements and populations.
4. Colonial policies and imperial rivalries in North America and their implication for settlements.
5. The American Revolution
6. The formation of the United States government from the Articles of Confederation through the development of the Constitution.
7. The early republic including political parties, economic and geographical expansion.
8. Sectionalism, slavery and antebellum America
9. Western expansion, manifest destiny and Native American policy.
10. Antebellum reform.
11. Crisis of the 1850s and the coming of the Civil War.
12. The Civil War.
13. Reconstruction.

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate the ability to interpret primary and secondary sources and to compose an argument which uses them, as appropriate, for support.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of U.S. History through current analytical categories of race, class, gender and ethnicity.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of America’s growth in a global context.
4. Explain the major economic, technological and scientific developments and their historical significance.
5. Analyze major political trends, attitudes, conflicts and events—including both mainstream and reform efforts—and explain their historical significance.
6. Explain the major social and cultural developments, their causes and effects, and their historical significance.

Will include:

1. Written essays and/or research projects.
2. Essay exams.

Can also include:

1. Classroom discussions that include primary and secondary sources.
2. Objective exams.
3. Classroom projects and presentations.

Berkin, Making America
Boydston, Making a Nation
Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation
Carnes, The American Nation
Davidson, Nation Of Nation
Divine. America Past and Present
Faragher. Out of Many: A History of the American People
Foner. Give Me Liberty!
Gillon, The American Experiment
Goldfield. The American Journey
Jones. Created Equal
Kennedy, The American Pageant
Maier. Inventing America
Martin. America and Its Peoples
Murrin. Liberty, Equality, Power
Nash. The American People
Norton, A People and a Nation
Roark. The American Promise
Tindall. America: A Narrative History
Zinn. A People’s History of the United States