The Seminar will explore a series of core issues over the course of five hundred years of American history.  These include the political philosophy of Puritanism, the debate over ratification of the federal constitution, the creation of a capitalist economy, development of an ideology of female domesticity and the feminist response, the Civil War and abolition of slavery, the rise of the corporation and the populist revolt, the birth of American imperialism, the New Deal and the American welfare state, and, last and certainly least, Reaganism and neo-liberal rule.  Lessons will be based on an intensive reading of the scholarly literature and students will be required to take active part in the ensuing discussions, both in class and in the course’s electronic forum