Hey there, sounds like a fun class. Here's some stuff to get you started:

• Hackemer, Kurt H. "The US Navy, 1860–1920." in A Companion to American Military History, ed. James Bradford (Wiley & Sons, 2009)

• Winkler, David F. "The US Navy since 1920." ed. James Bradford (Wiley & Sons, 2009)

• Canney, Donald L. Sailing warships of the US Navy, (Naval Institute Press, 2001)

• Chapelle, Howard I., The History of the American Sailing Navy: The Ships and Their Development, (Konecky & Konecky 1998)

• Dull, Jonathan R. American Naval History, 1607-1865: Overcoming the Colonial Legacy (University of Nebraska Press; 2012)

• Hagan, Kenneth J., In Peace and War: Interpretations of American Naval History, 1775-1984 (Greenwood Press, 1984)

• Hagan, Kenneth J., This People's Navy: The Making of American Sea Power (The Free Press, 1992)

• Howarth, Stephen To Shining Sea: a History of the United States Navy, 1775–1998 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1999)

• In Peace and War: Interpretations of American Naval History ed. Kenneth J. Hagan and Michael T. McMaster (Praeger, 2008)

• Lavery, Brian The Ship of the Line: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850, (Conway Maritime Press, 1984)

• Malcomson, Robert, Warships of the Great Lakes, 1754-1834, (Naval Institute Press, 2001)

• McKee, Christopher. A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession: The Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794–1815 (Naval Institute Press, 1991)

• Miller, Nathan The U.S. Navy: A History (3rd ed.) (Naval Institute Press, 1997)

• Miller, Nathan Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815, (Wiley, 2005)

• Silverstone, Paul The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854, (Rutledge, 2012)

• Toll, Ian W. Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy, (W. W. Norton, 2006)