History 2001H - Launching America (3 credit hours)
The early development of the political entity in which we live and work is largely the story of conflict, of the experiences and decisions of peoples whose interactions forged institutions and shaped culture(s). In order to understand better how the United States came to be and how it survived its first century, class members will grapple with the various artifacts, especially textual, that underscore tension and conciliation among groups and reveal the motivations of common persons and elites alike. We will also analyze some of the significant and evolving historical interpretations of the major events and trends that marked roughly four centuries, from pre-contact through the rebuilding and reformulation of the United States in the 1870s.
Prerequisite or concurrent: English 1110; not open to students with credit for History 1151