Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The History of the United States explores our young nation's precolonial history through present day.
The first chapter establishes the central theme of the book--the struggle to define the meaning of "We the People"--and describes the contemporary United States. Chapters 2 and 3 focus on America between 1400 and 1763, highlighting the diversity of early America and the interactions and conflicts between Native Americans, Africans, and various Europeans. Chapter 4 focuses on the Revolutionary Era (1763-1815), emphasizing the republican ideas that sparked the Revolution and debates over the shape of the new nation.
Chapters 5-7 take the story through the antebellum years, the political crisis of the 1850s, and the Civil War and Reconstruction, placing the debate over slavery at the center of the era. Chapters 8-9 discuss the social, political, and economic conflicts of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, concluding with America's participation in World War I and the 1920s. Chapters 10-12 cover the 1930s through the present, focusing on the expanding role of the United States in the world and the competing progressive and conservative impulses of the era.
Synopsis
This latest addition to the Histories of the Modern Nations series explores the complex and diverse history of the United States from the nation's precolonial origins to the present day. Supported by the most up-to-date historiography, this book highlights America's diverse populations and the myriad struggles over time that many, including millions of Indigenous peoples and African Americans, have historically faced in a country where freedom and opportunity have been promised, but not always delivered, to all Americans. From before the time of Christopher Columbus to the presidency of Donald J. Trump, the author introduces readers to the people, events, and ideas that have for more than two centuries shaped the story of America both at home and abroad.