This course examines the early history of the United States, starting with the settlement of the North American continent by nomadic hunter-gatheres and concluding with the American Civil War and its aftermath. The first half of the course will focus on the European incursion into North America. We will explore cultural encounters and conflicts between Europeans and Native Americans, the competition between empires for dominion over the New World, the settlement and development of British colonies, and the struggle for American independence. In the second half of the course, we will examine the formation and consolidation of the American nation-state in the early republic and antebellum era, focusing specifically on capitalist development, political democratization, slavery and race, westward expansion, and reform movements. The course will conclude by examining the growing conflict over slavery that would eventually lead to a crisis of disunion and the American Civil War.
