Course Details

200 years ago, the American "frontier" expanded into the "Great American Desert." Explorers and settlers found vast tillable prairies, mountains full of minerals, a network of rivers, and often confrontational indigenous populations.  Settlers built new towns, farmers settled into sod houses, and railroads served cattle and mining interests.  "Manifest Destiny" was how we justified this continental infill.  The era helped define the American character for good and bad.  We will study the myth and the reality and see great cities rise.