17439		4:00-5:15	TR		ANDREWS	
Above section open to all students

This course is a study in the major topics of United States history
from the colonial period to the end of the Civil War. It will cover
the political, social, economic, religious and cultural developments
that marked the early years of the American experiment. From its
earliest years the American nation has been shaped by competing
secular and religious desires to create a perfected society; this
class will examine the utopian hopes behind the establishment of
colonies on what Europeans considered the "New World," the transition
of those colonies into an independent republic, and the challenge of
creating and defining a new nation. We will also explore how the
tensions that were inherent in this experiment – differences in race,
class, gender, and nationality – became issues of contention during
the United States’ first century. This course will examine how
slavery fit within a political culture which pledged its dedication
to liberty and freedom. In all of this, we will pay attention to how
the struggles and developments during this crucial period transformed
the real lives of all Americans – slave and free, male and female,
northern and southern, and black and white.

Lecture attendance is mandatory and this course will require about 75-
100 pages of reading per week. The readings will be drawn from both
primary sources (written in the past) and secondary sources (written
by modern historians.) Students will be evaluated through class
discussions, short writing assignments, a mid-term examination, and a
final.