2016-2017 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2016-2017 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HIST 011 - Survey of U.S. History to 1865


This introductory course offers a survey of what is conventionally referred to as early American or United States History.  More precisely, our attention will be focused on the history of the region of North America that embarked upon the national project of the “United States” during the American Revolution of the late eighteenth century.  In essence we will examine what might be considered the formative years of the modern United States, running from the earliest seventeenth-century settlements through the solidifying of the national project during the great Civil War of the mid-nineteenth century.  Recurrent thematic concerns will include the interlocking experiences of native Americans, African-Americans, and Euro-Americans; the complicated process by which all Americans together defined and shaped a distinctive national identity and republican culture; and the ongoing challenge for Americans of arriving at a meaningful definition of individual liberty while balancing this commitment to liberty with a parallel commitment to order, community, and the public or common good.  Fulfills the Historical Perspective.

Program of Liberal Studies (PLS) Designation: HP

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year