In this course you should develop an understanding of main themes of historical development in the United States during the four decades when the nation evolved from a mostly rural, agrarian society to an urbanized and industrialized world power. You will explore those themes through extensive and intensive reading of works by historians and of the writings of American leaders from the times that grappled with the problems of “big business,” political corruption, immigration, ethnic diversity and racism, “the labor question,” and imperialism. You will also use the World Wide Web to access materials made available especially for this course.  You will display the results of you explorations through a carefully written and presented paper, in quizzes conducted in class, and through an essay course examination.  The quizzes and essay course examination will include questions based on the reading assignments and the web exercises.