An introductory survey of US history until 1877. This course examines the emergence and trials of the new American state and people. It commences with an exploration of the collision of worlds and cultures which took place in the 1500s. Progresses through the formation of colonial societies and a new state/government, the emergence of the institution of slavery, a market economy, Jacksonian democracy, and Antebellum reform movements. The course explores issues of power, resistance, and group identity formation, and culminates with Civil War and Reconstruction.