2021-2022 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2021-2022 Academic Catalog [Archived Catalog]

HIST 121 - American History to 1877


Credits: 3
“Lincoln once said that America was founded on a proposition that was written by Jefferson in 1776. We are really founded on an argument about what that proposition means.” Joseph Ellis’ quotes encapsulates the driving questions of this course: what are the many meanings of America, and how can we understand the historical development of the United States? This course investigates the “creation” of America, and the development of American identities, from the pre-colonial period to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. Topics will include: the peoples and cultures of North America circa 1491; encounters between indigenous peoples and early European colonizers; the political and religious tenor of the early British colonies; American independence and westward expansion; slavery and the Atlantic world; and the legacies of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
General Education Area: Social Science