The Formation of the North American State

REVISED

Spring 2012 quarter

Faculty

Jeanne Hahn political economy, political science

Fields of Study

history, international studies, political economy and political science

Preparatory for studies or careers in

history, political economy, political science, secondary education, graduate school, and informed citizenship.

Description

This program will examine the movement of the North American colonies in their separation from Britain to the emergence of the United States through the election of 1800.  It will investigate the conflict, social, race, and class divisions as well as the distinctly different visions of the proper social, economic, and political system that should predominate in the new nation.  As settler colonies, situated in a transatlantic revolutionary moment, the development of slave-based plantations, and the birth of capitalism, much conflict surrounded the separation from Britain and the formation of the United States. Capitalism was not a foregone conclusion. We will study this process as well as pay close attention  to the Articles of Confederation and the framing of the Constitution, as well as the federalist anti-federalist debate surrounding the new framework, its ratification, and the political-economic relations accompanying the move from one governing structure to the other.  The program will require close and careful reading and well as considered and well-grounded writing. 

Location

Olympia

Online Learning

No Required Online Learning

Books

Greener Store

Offered During

Day

Program Revisions