This opening lecture of Yale's DeVane course America at 250: A History introduces a one-time-only course examining United States history across roughly two and a half centuries, delivered by three Yale historians together in Yale's Battell Chapel. In this session, all three professors set the stage for the semester, outlining the scope of the course and how their individual sections will divide the material chronologically. Rather than beginning with substantive historical content, the lecture functions as a shared introduction, previewing the arc from the American founding through the present that the rest of the course will trace across its DeVane lecture format.