This unit of study provides an introduction to the key events, issues and debates in the social, cultural and political history of the United States from the European discovery of the New World to the end of the Civil War in 1865. We will explore topics such as: the encounters between Europeans and Native Americans the diverse regional patterns of European settlement and cultural development the origins and impacts of slavery the American Revolution and the new nation and political system established in its aftermath the social, political, and cultural changes brought by the rise of a market economy the unraveling of the fabric of the American nation that resulted in Civil War. When we explore the past we will be concerned not only with the ideas and policies which came to dominance at different times in the past, but also with alternatives -- ideas which attracted support, but did not succeed in defining the shape of the United States. Wherever possible, the course will also look at history 'from the bottom up', studying the ideas and behavior of ordinary people as well as those of politicians, business leaders and members of the dominant groups in American society.