U.S. History II covers the chronological history of the United States from Reconstruction through the beginning of the 21st Century and introduces key forces and major developments that together form the U.S. experience, providing a balanced approach that considers the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience), with particular attention paid to issues of race, class, and gender.