The course objective is to provide an overview of the history of the United States and its effects on American society from Reconstruction to the post-9/11 era. Students examine major themes in American history and evaluate the successes and failures of Reconstruction policy. In addition, students analyze important periods during the turn of the nineteenth century ranging from the rise of Populism, American expansionist policy, and the development of the Progressive movement during the early twentieth century. Students investigate the causes of World War I and analyze the social and economic changes between World War I and the Great Depression. In this vein, students analyze the major themes of the twentieth century including the Great Depression, World War II, Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. In turn, the course follows the development and evolution of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The major domestic and international developments of the Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and the first Bush administrations are analyzed and assessed, as is the significance of major domestic and international developments since 1990.