Students will examine the American nation from its founding to circa 1848. Topics include political change from Federalism to the Age of Jackson; the changes to finance, transportation and communications collectively known as the Market Revolution; the dominance and international significance of cotton agriculture and enslaved labor; the first Industrial Revolution and the fundamental social changes it engendered; the radical challenges to race and gender based systems of power. Students will complete a significant research paper based on one of the topics discussed in the course. 3 Cr.