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Explore the introductory lecture of Yale University's comprehensive examination of American history from 1776 to the present, delivered in preparation for the nation's 250th anniversary in 2026. Join three distinguished professors—Joanne Freeman, David Blight, and Beverly Gage—as they set the stage for this unique collaborative course that emphasizes the contested nature of American national identity and the evolution of the nation-state. Discover how this course approaches U.S. political history not merely as a chronicle of presidents, elections, and wars, but as an ongoing conversation between citizens about what America is, was, and was meant to be. Learn about the course structure where Freeman will cover the revolutionary and early national periods through the 1830s, including party politics and Jacksonian democracy; Blight will examine the Civil War era through Reconstruction and Jim Crow; and Gage will address the period from the 1890s through the 20th century, focusing on immigration, wealth inequality, and the social welfare state. Understand the foundational premise that the American Revolution was merely the first of many radical acts of national reimagining in U.S. history, establishing the framework for examining how American identity has been continuously debated and redefined across nearly two and a half centuries.
