How was the modern United States formed?  This is the question that will guide us as we look at American history from Reconstruction through the present. The course will consider major events such as the economic and societal changes the country underwent during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, American involvement in two world wars, and the Cold War. It also explores the intellectual, religious, and political threads that helped guide Americans during these important years, which, in many ways, made the world we live in today. In addition to reading a textbook and the professor’s lectures, students will also consider primary source documents. A key feature of the course is frequent exchanges between the professor and students as well as student-to-student discussion. Students will take several exams and will write one major paper.