Course Description

Instructor: Wendy Venet

This course considers significant changes in America from 1800-1900 that transformed our country politically, economically, and socially.  Themes include the evolution of the political party system, the growth in power and prestige of the presidency, the development of the market economy, the impact of wars, and major social changes that led to a more pluralistic society.  Each class will be framed chronologically around four major turning points which show the development of the nation we know today.   

Bio: Wendy Venet: Professor of history at Georgia State University. A scholar of 19th century U.S. history, her work on Civil War Atlanta began in 2006 when she encountered the diary of Samuel P. Richards, a bookstore owner in Atlanta’s central business district during the Civil War. His diary is the best account of the wartime city that survives in a public archive. Professor Venet published an annotated version of the diary, Sam Richards Civil War Diary: A Chronicle of the Atlanta Home Front with the University of Georgia Press in 2009.