HIST 150 U.S. West

An exploration of the "real" U.S. West, in contrast to the Hollywood version. The course will focus on Native Americans from the days when precontact Native American societies flourished, to subsequent European and Russian domination, and finally their loss of sovereignty under the U.S. government. The course will also emphasize the nineteenth century when the West became a mecca for many people to whom the West represented different visions; to the Chinese, it was the "Golden Mountain;" to Spaniards and Mexicans, it was "El Norte;" to the newly-emancipated Africans, the West represented freedom; to many other newly arrived immigrants, it was a land of opportunity; to the Native Americans, it was their sacred home. Special emphasis will be placed on the above images which have often clashed and erupted into conflict beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing throughout the twentieth century.