Working Class: Labor in American History

3 units

This course explores how working men and women shaped the history of the United States. The course begins with the various forms of indentured and enslaved labor in the colonial era, continues through the rise of industrial capitalism in the Gilded Age, and concludes with the postindustrial days of the early 21st century. Students engage the social, political, economic, and environmental transformations of working life in America, including issues of race, class, gender, immigration, urbanization, industrialization, trade unions, technology, and globalization.