Junior standing or Permission from instructor.
In this course students will devote themselves to an intensive regimen of reading and writing that will focus on selected key aspects of American History. The course will cover two topics in each of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuires. For the 18th century, slavery, and the early American Republic will be the tpoics, for; for the 19th century, aspects of multi-cultural immigration and Lincoln's struggle with slavery will be our subjects; and for the 20th centruy, race relations in the 1920's and the Great Depression in the 1930's will be investigated. Besides these six topics in three countries, the course will also focus on the discipline of histroy istelf. We will take an inside look at how history is written, uncovering how historians actually do research and turn their findings into a finished product. The roles of evidence, documentation, hypothesis, historical debate, and interpretation will all be discussed.
