Department of History

This course surveys American history from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 to the end of the Cold War in the early 1990’s. It explores the consequences of a federal victory in the Civil War and the incomplete reconstruction that followed in shaping the emergence of a distinctly American state and society that came to affect the world through application of American power and means less direct yet as comprehensive. Some themes stressed include the development of mass consumerism, the distinctiveness of the American South, and the politicization of social issues from Prohibition to desegregation to abortion. Readings will be drawn from a textbook and two supplements of historical documents and essays, amounting to about eighty pages of reading per week. Participation and writing in recitation section discussions, two in-class quizzes and a final examination serve as a basis for evaluation.