Class Introduction

What are the 3 themes of this class?

• This class will discuss how to use the term America—what does America and the World mean?

Should we call it America in the world?

• 3 THEMES:

o 1] AMERICAN IDENTITY AND NATIONALISM- how has it changed w/ relations w/

other countries? How has it behaved?

o 2] US IN/TO/AND THE WORLD- the many ways US has influenced/impacted the world

▪ Missionaries and their ideas

▪ Military (prolonged presence in other countries?)

▪ Merchants and their products, aka capitalists

o 3] THE WORLD IN/TO/AND THE US- how the world has influenced us. How the

ripples come back to the US

▪ Ex: Immigrants changing the US

• MAIN FOCUS: social, cultural, economic, and political history

Lecture 1: The Young Republic in the World (1.25.16)

• Q: Who and what is America?

• The 3 themes—talking ab American identity & nationalism

• Answer is partly material (boundaries and borders) and partly ideological

• REPUBLICANISM

• 13 colonies DOI, July 4, 1776

• Independence by 1783

What was the state of America after the Rev?

• Overwhelmingly AGRARIAN—3% pop lives in town w/ pops > 8,000

• 10% of non-NA pop live west of Appalachians

• NYC/Phili becoming centers of commerce

• Looks a lot like the way THOMAS JEFFERSON wanted it to look

o Had a specific vision of REPUBLICANISM- not related to TD’s GOP

▪ Model of politics existing since Ancient Greece