This course is an introduction to the history of the United States from the beginning of the European colonization of North America to the end of the Civil War. It is also an introduction to the ways historians look at the past and think about evidence. There are two main themes: one is to understand the origin of the "groups" we call European-Americans, Native-Americans, and African-Americans; the second, is to understand how democratic political institutions emerged in the United States in this period in the context of an economy that depended on slave labor and violent land acquisition.

This course surveys the central ideas and events that shaped American history from the colonial period to the end of the Civil War era. Major issues to be covered in this course include the European colonization of the Americas; encounters and interactions among Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans; the formation of English colonies in North America; the development of American slavery; the origins and consequences of the American Revolution; the geographic, demographic, and economic expansion of antebellum America; Indian removal; the debate over slavery; and the Civil War and Reconstruction. Particular attention will be paid to the international dimensions of early American history, including comparisons between America and other regions, and the roles of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and religion in shaping the course of this history. In addition to expanding your knowledge of America’s past, this course will introduce you to the practice of history. Through reading and writing assignments, you will not only learn how historians analyze and interpret the past but also exercise it yourself.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills