This course provides students with in-depth knowledge of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. From the smoky factories of the Northeast to the blood-bought forests of the west and cotton kingdoms of the South, this course traces the growth of the young nation. Topics will include the Second War of Independence, the rise of Jacksonian democracy, conflict with Native Americans, slavery and slave resistance, reform, abolition, and the sectional crisis. Students will develop their critical reading and writing skills while engaging questions about politics, prejudice, race, class, ethnicity, and gender in antebellum America.