The Early Republic

Catalog description

This course examines the period in which the United States became a continental nation and experienced the escalating tensions that would precipitate the Civil War. As a broad overview of this era, the class emphasizes the creation of the constitution and federal institutions, the impact of European war and politics on the new nation, the rise of political parties, the consequences of the War of 1812, the extension of the vote to all white males, the rise of industrial manufacturing and the creation of transportation infrastructure, the dispossession and marginalization of Native Americans, the growth of slavery and the lives of slaves, changes in the lives of women, and the ways that religion and reform reshaped American society during these years.