This course will introduce students to some of the main processes that shaped the history of the United States, from the colonial period to the American Civil War. In particular we will examine the process of separation from Britain and the formation of the democratic regime; the establishment of an enslaving society and the deepening abyss between north and south over the question of slavery and human bondage; and the process of industrialization and its impact on the American society

4-Dr yael sternhel

The course will offer a critical reading of American history, from the onset of the European conquest to the outbreak of the Civil War. Central topics will include the formation of the slave system, the outbreak of revolution, the framing of the Constitution, the birth of capitalism, and Western expansion. We will examine the United States not as a land of unlimited opportunity, but as a contested terrain of ethnic, political, and social struggle.