History of American Empire

When did the United States become an empire?  Did the country inherit an imperial mindset from the British mother country?  Would it be a different kind of empire? We will explore the history of American political discourse about empire, the country’s movement out of the shadow of the mighty British empire to become the world’s lone “superpower,” and the responses of countries and peoples on the receiving end of American empire.  Throughout the course we will examine interactive foreign relations between the United States and the wider world.

At the end of the course I hope you will have a solid grounding in American history, and a keen appreciation of the complexity of the past as well as the contingencies of historical change.  I also hope you will have sharper analytical skills with which to assess evidence and formulate your own arguments, as well as sharper writing and verbal skills with which to organize and articulate your own ideas — beyond the confines of history, and useful in any field of endeavor.