This yearlong course will explore the emerging political economic and social philosophies, which impelled the colonies toward revolution, expansion, its emergence as a world power, and the struggle through the Cold War, up to the present day. Included in this study will be an overview of the differing cultures, occupations and political and social structures of the colonies that eventually led to the Civil War. The impact of physical geography and economics are incorporated into appropriate units, stressing cause and effect relationships throughout the course. A unit will stress American governmental structures, including the Constitution, the Presidency, the Congress and the Judiciary of the United States leading to the understanding of the foundations of American law. The students will study the shift of the United States from an agricultural to an industrialized society and the subsequent effect of such industrialization on American economics, foreign policy and the American culture and political structure. They will be using their family as a primary resource to initiate an investigation into and analyze the nature of the immigrant experience. At this advanced level, the student will be expected to analyze selected works, and primary source materials, and interpret them within their historical context.

PREREQUISITE: 90% in HN Modern World Studies (317) or 96% in Modern World Studies (316); Teacher Recommendation