This course of 24 lectures explores the United States' shift from 13 weak and sparsely settled colonies to its current position of unprecedented global power and influence.

Companion book available in the MAIN collection. "24 lectures, 30 minutes per lecture"--Container. "Course No. 8598." Compact disc.

PART 1 [discs 1-6] : disc 1 : Lecture 1. Achieving independence -- Lecture 2. Confederation and the constitution ; disc 2 : Lecture 3. The Great debate-Jefferson versus Hamilton -- Lecture 4. From the farewell address to the Quasi War ; disc 3 : Lecture 5. Jefferson and the "Empire of Liberty" -- Lecture 6. The second war of independence ; disc 4 : Lecture 7. John Quincy Adams & American continentalism -- Lecture 8. Manifest destiny and war with Mexico ; disc 5 : Lecture 9. Causes and diplomacy of the Civil War -- Lecture 10. The new empire of overseas imperialism ; disc 6 : Lecture 11. Informal empire-Roosevelt to Wilson -- Lecture 12.The war to end all wars. PART 2 [discs 7-12] : disc 7 : Lecture 13. The peace treaty and Wilson' s heritage -- Lecture 14. Interwar isolationism and internationalism ; disc 8 : Lecture 15. U.S. entry into World War II -- Lecture 16. World War II diplomacy and the FDR legacy ; disc 9 : Lecture 17. Origins of the Cold War -- Lecture 18. Cold War turns hot-Asia and the Korean War ; disc 10 : Lecture 19. Eisenhower and the global cold war -- Lecture 20. Kennedy and the ultimate Cold War crisis ; disc 11 : Lecture 21. Vietnam and the war at home -- Lecture 22. The Nixon-Kissinger "Grand design" ; disc 12 : Lecture 23. Ideology anew and the end of the cold war -- Lecture 24. The United States and the world since 1991.