Brief Table of Contents Chapter 1 Ancient America: Before 1492
Chapter 2 Europeans Encounter the New World, 1492-1600
Chapter 3 The Southern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, 1601-1700
Chapter 4 The Northern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, 1601-1700
Chapter 5 Colonial America in the Eighteenth Century, 1701-1770
Chapter 6 The British Empire and the Colonial Crisis, 1754-1775
Chapter 7 The War for America, 1775-1783
Chapter 8 Building a Republic, 1775-1789
Chapter 9 The New Nation Takes Form, 1789-1800
Chapter 10 Republicans in Power, 1800-1824
Chapter 11 The Expanding Republic, 1815-1840
Chapter 12 The New West and Free North, 1840-1860
Chapter 13 The Slave South, 1820-1860
Chapter 14 The House Divided, 1846-1861
Chapter 15 The Crucible of War, 1861-1865
Chapter 16 Reconstruction, 1863-1877
Chapter 17 The Contested West, 1870-1900
Chapter 18 Business and Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870-1895
Chapter 19 The City and Its Workers, 1870-1900
Chapter 20 Dissent, Depression, and War, 1890-1900
Chapter 21 Progressivism from the Grass Roots to the White House, 1890-1916
Chapter 22 World War I: The Progressive Crusade at Home and Abroad, 1914-1920
Chapter 23 From New Era to Great Depression, 1920-1932
Chapter 24 The New Deal Experiment, 1932-1939
Chapter 25 The United States and the Second World War, 1939-1945
Chapter 26 Cold War Politics in the Truman Years, 1945-1953
Chapter 27 The Politics and Culture of Abundance, 1952-1960
Chapter 28 Reform, Rebellion, and Reaction, 1960-1974
Chapter 29 Vietnam and the Limits of Power, 1961-1975
Chapter 30 America Moves to the Right, 1969-1989
Chapter 31 The End of the Cold War and the Challenges of Globalization, Since 1989 Complete Table of Contents N.B. — Each chapter ends with a selected Bibliography and Reviewing the Chapter sections.
1. Ancient America: Before 1492
OPENING VIGNETTE: Archaeological discovery proves that humans have inhabited America for more than 10,000 years
Archaeology and History
The First Americans
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Natures Immigrants
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Who Were the First Americans?
Archaic Hunters and Gatherers
Agricultural Settlements and Chiefdoms
Native Americans in the 1490s
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Ancient American Weaving
The Mexica: A Meso-American Culture
Conclusion: The World of Ancient Americans
2. Europeans Encounter the New World, 1492-1600
OPENING VIGNETTE: Queen Isabella of Spain supports Christopher Columbus risky plan to sail west across the Atlantic
Europe in the Age of Exploration
A Surprising New World in the Western Atlantic
Spanish Exploration and Conquest
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Why Did CortŽs Win?
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Justifying Conquest
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Spreading Christianity in New Spain
The New World and Sixteenth-Century Europe
Conclusion: The Promise of the New World for Europeans
3. The Southern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, 1601-1700
OPENING VIGNETTE: Pocahontas ÒrescuesÓ John Smith
An English Colony on the Chesapeake
A Tobacco Society
Tobacco Agriculture
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: American Tobacco and European Consumers
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Virginia Laws Governing Servants and Slaves
The Evolution of Chesapeake Society
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Why Did English Colonists Consider Themselves Superior to Indians and Africans?
Religion and Revolt in the Spanish Borderland
Toward a Slave Labor System
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Migration to the New World from Europe and Africa, 1492-1700
Conclusion: The Growth of English Colonies Based on Export Crops and Slave Labor
4. The Northern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, 1601-1700
OPENING VIGNETTE: Roger Williams is banished from Puritan Massachusetts
Puritan Origins: The English Reformation
Puritans and the Settlement of New England
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: King Philip Considers Christianity
The Evolution of New England Society
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Why Were Some New Englanders Accused of Being Witches?
The Founding of the Middle Colonies
The Colonies and the English Empire
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: New France and the Indians: The British Colonies Northern Borderlands
Conclusion: An English Model of Colonization in North America
5. Colonial America in the Eighteenth Century, 1701-1770
OPENING VIGNETTE: The Robin Johns experience horrific turns of fortune in the Atlantic slave trade
A Growing Population and Expanding Economy in British North America
New England: From Puritan Settlers to Yankee Traders
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: A Sailors Life in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World
The Middle Colonies: Immigrants, Wheat, and Work
The Southern Colonies: Land of Slavery
Unifying Experiences
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Newspapers: ÒThe Spring of KnowledgeÓ
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Large Warships in European Navies, 1660-1760
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Missionaries Report on California Missions
Conclusion: The Dual Identity of British North American Colonists
6. The British Empire and the Colonial Crisis, 1754-1775
OPENING VIGNETTE: Loyalist governor Thomas Hutchinson stands his ground in radical Massachusetts
The Seven Years War, 1754-1763
HISTORICAL QUESTION: How Long Did the Seven Years War Last in Indian Country?
The Sugar and Stamp Acts, 1763-1765
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Pursuing Liberty, Protesting Tyranny
The Townshend Acts and Economic Retaliation, 1767-1770
The Tea Party and the Coercive Acts, 1770-1774
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: How News of the Powder Alarm Traveled
Domestic Insurrections, 1774-1775
Conclusion: How Far Does Liberty Go?
7. The War for America, 1775-1783
OPENING VIGNETTE: Deborah Sampson masquerades as a man to join the Continental army
The Second Continental Congress
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Arming the Soldiers: Muskets and Rifles
The First Year of War, 1775-1776
GLOBAL COMPARISON: How Tall Were Eighteenth-Century Men on Average?
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Prisoners of War in the Eighteenth Century
The Home Front
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Families Divide over the Revolution
The Campaigns of 1777-1779: The North and West
The Southern Strategy and the End of the War
Conclusion: Why the British Lost
8. Building a Republic, 1775-1789
OPENING VIGNETTE: James Madison comes of age in the midst of revolution
The Articles of Confederation
The Sovereign States
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: A Slave Sues for Her Freedom
The Confederations Problems
The United States Constitution
Ratification of the Constitution
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Was the New United States a Christian Country?
Conclusion: The ÒRepublican RemedyÓ
9. The New Nation Takes Form, 1789-1800
OPENING VIGNETTE: Brilliant and brash, Alexander Hamilton becomes a polarizing figure in the 1790s
The Search for Stability
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: France, Britain, and Womans Rights in the 1790s
Hamiltons Economic Policies
GLOBAL COMPARISON: National Census Taking Worldwide
HISTORICAL QUESTION: How Did Washington, D.C., Become the Federal Capital?
Conflicts West, East, and South
Federalists and Republicans
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: The Crisis of 1798: Sedition
Conclusion: Parties Nonetheless
10. Republicans in Power, 1800-1824
OPENING VIGNETTE: The Shawnee chief Tecumseh attempts to forge a pan-Indian confederacy
Jeffersons Presidency
HISTORICAL QUESTION: How Could a Vice President Get Away with Murder?
The Madisons in the White House
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Stoves Transform Cooking
Womens Status in the Early Republic
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: One Womans Quest to Provide Higher Education for Women
Monroe and Adams
Conclusion: Republican Simplicity Becomes Complex
11. The Expanding Republic, 1815-1840
OPENING VIGNETTE: The rise of Andrew Jackson, symbol of a self-confident and expanding nation
The Market Revolution
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Early Steamboats
The Spread of Democracy
Jackson Defines the Democratic Party
Cultural Shifts, Religion, and Reform
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Changing Trends in Age of First Marriage for Women
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS:Transatlantic Abolition
Van Burens One-Term Presidency
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Going Ahead or Gone to Smash: An Entrepreneur Struggles in the 1830s
Conclusion: The Age of Jackson or the Era of Reform?
12. The New West and Free North, 1840-1860
OPENING VIGNETTE: With the support of his wife, Abraham Lincoln struggles to survive in antebellum America
Economic and Industrial Evolution
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: The Telegraph: The ÒWonder Working WireÓ
Free Labor: Promise and Reality
The Westward Movement
Expansion and the Mexican-American War
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Who Rushed for California Gold?
Reforming Self and Society
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Back to Africa: The United States in Liberia
Conclusion: Free Labor, Free Men
13. The Slave South, 1820-1860
OPENING VIGNETTE: Slave Nat Turner leads a revolt to end slavery
The Growing Distinctiveness of the South
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Defending Slavery
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: White Gold: The International Empire of Cotton
Masters, Mistresses, and the Big House
HISTORICAL QUESTION: How Often Were Slaves Whipped?
Slaves and the Quarter
Black and Free: On the Middle Ground
The Plain Folk
The Politics of Slavery
Conclusion: A Slave Society
14. The House Divided, 1846-1861
OPENING VIGNETTE: Abolitionist John Brown takes his war against slavery to Harpers Ferry, Virginia
The Bitter Fruits of War
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Daguerrotypes: The ÒSunbeam ArtÓ
The Sectional Balance Undone
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Filibusters: The Underside of Manifest Destiny
Realignment of the Party System
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: ÒA Purse of Her OwnÓ: Petitioning for the Right to Own Property
Freedom Under Siege
The Union Collapses
Conclusion: Slavery, Free Labor, and the Failure of Political Compromise
15. The Crucible of War, 1861-1865
OPENING VIGNETTE: Runaway slave William Gould enlists in the U.S. navy
ÒAnd the War CameÓ
The Combatants
Battling It Out, 1861-1862
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: CSS H.L. Hunley: The Worlds First Successful Submarine
GLOBAL COMPARISON: European Cotton Imports, 1860-1870
Union and Freedom
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: The Right to Fight: Black Soldiers in the Civil War
The South at War
The North at War
Grinding out Victory, 1863-1865
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Why Did So Many Soldiers Die?
Conclusion: The Second American Revolution Selected Bibliography
16. Reconstruction, 1863-1877
OPENING VIGNETTE: James T. Rapier emerges in the early 1870s as Alabamas most prominent black leader
Wartime Reconstruction
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: The Meaning of Freedom
Presidential Reconstruction
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Filling the ÒEmpty SleeveÓ: Artificial Limbs
Congressional Reconstruction
The Struggle in the South
HISTORICAL QUESTION: What Did the Ku Klux Klan Really Want?
Reconstruction Collapses
Conclusion: ÒA Revolution But Half AccomplishedÓ
17. The Contested West, 1870-1900
OPENING VIGNETTE: Native American boarding school students celebrate Indian citizenship
Conquest and Empire in the West
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Imperialism, Colonialism, and the Treatment of the Sioux and the Zulu
Gold Fever and the Mining West
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Hydraulic Mining
Land Fever
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Young Women Homesteaders and the Promise of the West
Conclusion: The Mythic West
18. Business and Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870-1895
OPENING VIGNETTE: Mark Twain and the Gilded Age
Old Industries Transformed, New Industries Born
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Railroad Track Mileage, 1890
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Rockefeller and His Critics
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Electrifying America: The War of the Currents
From Competition to Consolidation
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Social Darwinism: Did Wealthy Industrialists Practice What They Preached?
Politics and Culture
Presidential Politics
Economic Issues and Party Realignment
Conclusion: Business Dominates an Era
19. The City and Its Workers, 1870-1900
OPENING VIGNETTE: Workers build the Brooklyn Bridge
The Rise of the City
GLOBAL COMPARISON: European Emigration, 1870-1890
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Seeking Refuge: A Russian Jew Flees the Pogroms
At Work in Industrial America
Workers Organize
At Home and at Play
City Growth and City Government
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: The Worlds Columbian Exposition and Nineteenth-Century Worlds Fairs
Conclusion: Who Built the Cities?
20. DISSENT, DEPRESSION, AND WAR, 1890-1900
OPENING VIGNETTE: Frances Willard participates in the creation of the Populist Party in 1892
The Farmers Revolt
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Share of the World Wheat Market, 1860-1890
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Populist Voices of Protest
The Labor Wars
Womens Activism
Depression Politics
The United States and the World
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Regime Change in Hawaii
War and Empire
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Did Terrorists Sink the Maine?
Conclusion: Rallying around the Flag
21. Progressivism from the Grass Roots to the White House, 1890-1916
OPENING VIGNETTE: Jane Addams founds Hull House
Grassroots Progressivism
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Protecting the Worlds Workers: The National Consumers League
Progressivism: Theory and Practice
Progressivism Finds a President: Theodore Roosevelt
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Flash Photography and the Birth of Photojournalism
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Progressives and Conservation: Should Hetch Hetchy Be Dammed or Saved?
Progressivism Stalled
Woodrow Wilson and Progressivism at High Tide
The Limits of Progressive Reform
Conclusion: The Transformation of the Liberal State
22. World War I: The Progressive Crusade at Home and Abroad, 1914-1920
OPENING VIGNETTE: General Pershing struggles to protect the autonomy of the American Expeditionary Force
Woodrow Wilson and the World
ÒOver ThereÓ
HISTORICAL QUESTION: What Did the Doughboys Find in France?
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Casualties of the First World War
The Crusade for Democracy at Home
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: The Final Push for Woman Suffrage
A Compromised Peace
Democracy at Risk
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Bolshevism
Conclusion: Troubled Crusade
23. From New Era to Great Depression, 1920-1932
OPENING VIGNETTE: Henry Ford puts America on wheels
The New Era
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Household Appliances: Laborsaving Devices for Women?
The Roaring Twenties
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Was There a Sexual Revolution in the 1920s?
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: A Place of Ones Own: The Quest for Home Ownership
Resistance to Change
The Great Crash
Life in the Depression
Conclusion: Dazzle and Despair
24. The New Deal Experiment, 1932-1939
OPENING VIGNETTE: The Bonus Army marches into Washington, D.C.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Patrician in Government
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Fascism: Adolf Hitler and National Socialism
Launching the New Deal
Challenges to the New Deal
Toward a Welfare State
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Textile Workers Strike for Better Wages and Working Conditions
The New Deal from Victory to Deadlock
GLOBAL COMPARISON: National Populations and Economies, circa 1938
Conclusion: Achievements and Limitations of the New Deal
25. The United States and the Second World War, 1939-1945
OPENING VIGNETTE: Colonel Paul Tibbets drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
Peacetime Dilemmas
The Onset of War
Mobilizing for War
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Japanese Internment
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Weapons Produced by the Axis and Allied Powers during World War II
Fighting Back
The Wartime Home Front
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Nazi Anti-Semitism and the Atomic Bomb
Toward Unconditional Surrender
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Why Did the Allies Win World War II?
Conclusion: Allied Victory and Americas Emergence as a Superpower
26. Cold War Politics in the Truman Years, 1945-1953
OPENING VIGNETTE: Helen Gahagan Douglas, congresswoman and loyal Truman ally, supports the Marshall Plan, the creation of NATO, and the war in Korea
From the Grand Alliance to Containment
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: The Emerging Cold War
Truman and the Fair Deal at Home
HISTORICAL QUESTION: What Happened to Rosie the Riveter?
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: The GI Bill Transforms Higher Education
The Cold War Becomes Hot: Korea
Conclusion: The Cold Wars Costs and Consequences
27. The Politics and Culture of Abundance, 1952-1960
OPENING VIGNETTE: Vice President Nixon and Russian premier Khrushchev debate the merits of U.S. and Soviet societies
Eisenhower and the Politics of the ÒMiddle WayÓ
Liberation Rhetoric and the Practice of Containment
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Operation Pedro Pan: Young Political Refugees Take Flight
New Work and Living Patterns in an Economy of Abundance
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: Air-Conditioning
The Culture of Abundance
GLOBAL COMPARISON: The Baby Boom in International Perspective
Emergence of a Civil Rights Movement
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: The Brown Decision
Conclusion: Peace and Prosperity Mask Unmet Challenges
28. Reform, Rebellion, and Reaction, 1960-1974
OPENING VIGNETTE: Fannie Lou Hamer leads grassroots struggles of African Americans for voting rights and political empowerment
Liberalism at High Tide
The Second Reconstruction
A Multitude of Movements
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Student Protest
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: The Pill
The New Wave of Feminism
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Transnational Feminisms
Liberal Reform in the Nixon Administration
Conclusion: Achievements and Limitations of Liberalism
29. Vietnam and the Limits of Power, 1961-1975
OPENING VIGNETTE: American GIs arrive in Vietnam
New Frontiers in Foreign Policy
Lyndon Johnsons War against Communism
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Why Couldnt the United States Bomb Its Way to Victory in Vietnam?
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: The Military Helicopter
A Nation Polarized
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: 1968: A Year of Protest
Nixon, DŽtente, and the Search for Peace in Vietnam
Conclusion: An Unwinnable War
30. America Moves to the Right, 1969-1989
OPENING VIGNETTE: Phyllis Schlafly promotes conservatism
Nixon and the Rise of Postwar Conservatism
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: A Mother Campaigns for a Say in Her Childrens Education
Constitutional Crisis and Restoration
The ÒOutsiderÓ Presidency of Jimmy Carter
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Energy Consumption per Capita, 1980
Ronald Reagan and the Conservative Ascendancy
HISTORICAL QUESTION: Why Did the ERA Fail?
Continuing Struggles over Rights
DOCUMENTING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Protecting Gay and Lesbian Rights
Ronald Reagan Confronts an ÒEvil EmpireÓ
Conclusion: Reversing the Course of Government
31. The End of the Cold War and the Challenges of Globalization, Since 1989
OPENING VIGNETTE: Colin Powell adjusts to a post-Cold War world
Domestic Stalemate and Global Upheaval: The Presidency of George H. W. Bush
SEEKING THE AMERICAN PROMISE: Suing for Access: Disability Rights and the Courts
The Clinton Administrations Search for the Middle Ground
The United States in a Globalizing World
GLOBAL COMPARISON: Countries with the Highest Military Expenditures, 2005
THE PROMISE OF TECHNOLOGY: The Internet
BEYOND AMERICAS BORDERS: Jobs in a Globalizing Era
President George W. Bush: Conservatism at Home and Radical Initiatives Abroad
Conclusion: Defining the Governments Role at Home and Abroad
Appendices
I. Documents
II.
Facts and Figures: Government, Economy, and Demographics
III.
Research Resources in U.S. History
Index
Atlas of the Territorial Growth of the United States