A New System of Government: After the War of Independence, the struggle for a new system of government begins. Professor Maier looks at the creation of the Constitution of the United States. The Republic survives a series of threats to its union, and the program ends with the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the Fourth of July, 1826. Westward Expansion: At the dawn of the nineteenth century, the size of the United States doubles with the Louisiana Purchase. The Appalachians are no longer the barrier to American migration west; the Mississippi River becomes the country's central artery; and Jefferson's vision of an Empire of Liberty begins to take shape. American historian Stephen Ambrose joins Professors Maier and Miller in examining the consequences of the Louisiana Purchase-for the North, the South, and the history of the country. The Rise of Capitalism: Individual enterprise merges with technological innovation to launch the Commercial Revolution-the seedbed of American industry. The program features the ideas of Adam Smith, the efforts of entrepreneurs in New England and Chicago, the Lowell Mills Experiment, and the engineering feats involved in Chicago's early transformation from marsh to metropolis. The Reform Impulse: The Industrial Revolution has its dark side, and the tumultuous events of the period touch off intense, often thrilling reform movements. Professor Masur presents the ideas and characters behind the Second Great Awakening, the abolitionist movement, the women's movement, and a powerful wave of religious fervor