How did the United States become the world's reigning superpower? This course attempts to answer this question by tracing the development of modern America from the Gilded Age to the present. The course examines the rise of big business, the growth of the U.S. welfare state, American imperialism, the clash between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., and the movements for equality launched by African-Americans, women, workers and immigrants, and the growing threat of terrorism.