This course addresses the characteristics of contemporary American society as a product of major developments, policies, conflicts, and legislation that occurred from 1865 to the present. Major topics include: reconstruction after the Civil War, industrialization and its consequences, themes and patterns of American foreign policy, the Progressive era and the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, America's role in the era of globalism, and domestic and foreign policy developments since World War II. Students will have the opportunity to use primary and secondary sources to explore multiple perspectives and interpretations of this period in history.