HIST 2117

This course explores the history of the United States through the theme of freedom. Examining how the definition, scope, and practice of freedom changed over time, the course examines how groups - divided by gender, class, and ethnicity - thought about, contested, and shaped popular understandings of freedom. Students will become familiar with debates about the nature of freedom - its dynamic relationship to citizenship and nationality, equality and democracy, territorial expansion and imperialism, slavery and free labour - and develop a broad understanding of key events and trajectories of American history.