Students follow events and trends in the history of the United States from the arrival of the indigenous peoples through the end of the Civil War. American history is presented from multiple perspectives as recorded by various groups. Students read and hear the words of Native Americans, Europeans, Euro-Americans, Africans, African Americans, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans as they describe events and conditions that reshaped life in the Western Hemisphere. Students completing this course will know who have lived in what is known today as the United States; compare the influences of the indigenous peoples of North America with those of the European explorers and settlers that led to the conflicts among the various nations; examine the establishment of the United States of America, first under the Articles of Confederation, then the United States Constitution; examine the events leading up to the Civil War that created the irreconcilable split between the North and South; and investigate the personal costs of the Civil War, including its casualties and long-term effects.