This course traces the history of the United States from the arrival of the first Americans through the end of Reconstruction. It examines the balance between unity and diversity, the shaping of democracy, the search for opportunity, and the influence of geographical factors. It also examines European, Native American, and African interaction in Colonial America, the Revolution, the New Nation, the Constitution, the War of 1812, the development of democracy, the West, slavery, the Civil War, and finally Reconstruction.