Synopses & Reviews
A PEOPLE AND A NATION is a best-selling text offering a spirited narrative that tells the stories of all people in the United States. The authors' attention to race and racial identity and their inclusion of everyday people and popular culture brings history to life, engaging readers and encouraging them to imagine what life was really like in the past.
About the Author
Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell University, received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. from Harvard University. Her many books have won prizes from the Society of American Historians, Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, and English-Speaking Union. Her book, FOUNDING MOTHERS and FATHERS (1996), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2011 her book SEPARATED BY THEIR SEX: WOMEN IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IN THE COLONIAL ATLANTIC WORLD was published. She was Pitt Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge in 2005-2006. The Rockefeller Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and Huntington Library, among others, have awarded her fellowships. Professor Norton has served on the National Council for the Humanities and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She teaches courses in the history of exploration, early America, women's history, Atlantic world, and American Revolution. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, Carol Sheriff received her B.A. from Wesleyan University (1985) and her Ph.D. from Yale University (1993). Since 1993, she has taught history at the College of William and Mary, where she has won the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, the Alumni Teaching Fellowship Award, and the University Professorship for Teaching Excellence. Her publications include THE ARTIFICIAL RIVER: THE ERIE CANAL AND THE PARADOX OF PROGRESS (1996), which won the Dixon Ryan Fox Award from the New York State Historical Association and the Award for Excellence in Research from the New York State Archives, and A PEOPLE AT WAR: CIVILIANS AND SOLDIERS IN AMERICA'S CIVIL WAR, 1854-1877 (with Scott Reynolds Nelson, 2007). Carol has written sections of a teaching manual for the New York State history curriculum, given presentations at Teaching American History grant projects, consulted on an exhibit for the Rochester Museum and Science Center, appeared in the History Channel's Modern Marvels show on the Erie Canal, and is engaged in several public history projects marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. At William and Mary, she teaches the U.S. history survey as well as upper-level classes on the Early Republic, the Civil War Era, and the American West. Born in Flint, Michigan, David W. Blight received his B.A. from Michigan State University (1971) and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin (1985). He is now Class of 1954 Professor of American History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. For the first seven years of his career, David was a public high school teacher in Flint. He has written FREDERICK DOUGLASS'S CIVIL WAR (1989) and RACE AND REUNION: THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICAN MEMORY, 1863-1915 (2001), which received eight awards, including the Bancroft Prize, the Frederick Douglass Prize, and the Abraham Lincoln Prize, as well as four prizes awarded by the Organization of American Historians. His most recent book is A SLAVE NO MORE: THE EMANCIPATION OF JOHN WASHINGTON AND WALLACE TURNAGE (2007), which won three prizes. He has edited or co-edited six other books, including editions of W.E.B. DuBois's THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK, and NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. David's essays have appeared in the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN HISTORY, CIVIL WAR HISTORY, and WHY THE CIVIL WAR CAME (Gabor Boritt, ed., 1996), among others. In 1992-1993 he was senior Fulbright Professor in American Studies at the University of Munich, Germany, and in 2006-2007 he held a fellowship at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, New York Public Library. A consultant to several documentary films, David appeared in the 1998 PBS series, Africans in America. He has served on the Council of the American Historical Association. David also teaches summer seminars for secondary school teachers, as well as for park rangers and historians of the National Park Service. Howard P. Chudacoff, the George L. Littlefield Professor of American History and Professor of Urban Studies at Brown University, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He earned his A.B. (1965) and Ph.D. (1969) from the University of Chicago. He has written MOBILE AMERICANS (1972), HOW OLD ARE YOU (1989), THE AGE OF THE BACHELOR (1999), THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN URBAN SOCIETY (with Judith Smith, 2004), and CHILDREN AT PLAY: AN AMERICAN HISTORY (2007). He has also co-edited, with Peter Baldwin, MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN URBAN HISTORY (2004). His articles have appeared in such journals as the JOURNAL OF FAMILY HISTORY, REVIEWS IN AMERICAN HISTORY, and JOURNAL OF AMERICAN HISTORY. At Brown University, Howard has co-chaired the American Civilization Program, chaired the Department of History, and serves as Brown's faculty representative to the NCAA. He has also served on the board of directors of the Urban History Association. The National Endowment for the Humanities, Ford Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation have given him awards to advance his scholarship.
Table of Contents
Note: Each chapter includes a Summary and Suggestions for Further Reading. 1. Three Old Worlds Create a New, 1492-1600 American Societies North America in 1492 African Societies European Societies Early European Explorations Voyages of Columbus, Cabot, and Their Successors Spanish Exploration and Conquest The Columbian Exchange Links to the World: Maize Europeans in North America Legacy for a People and a Nation: Kennewick Man/Ancient One 2. Europeans Colonize North America, 1600-1650 Spanish, French, and Dutch North America The Caribbean Links to the World: Wampum English Interest in Colonization The Founding of Virginia Life in the Chesapeake The Founding of New England Life in New England Legacy for a People and a Nation: Blue Laws 3. North America in the Atlantic World, 1650-1720 The Growth of Anglo-American Settlements A Decade of Imperial Crises: The 1670s The Atlantic Trading System Slavery in North America and the Caribbean Imperial Reorganization and the Witchcraft Crisis Links to the World: Exotic Beverages Legacy for a People and a Nation: Americans of African Descent 4. American Society Transformed, 1720-1770 Population Growth and Ethnic Diversity Economic Growth and Development Colonial Cultures Links to the World: Smallpox Inoculation Colonial Families Politics: Stability and Crisis in British America A Crisis in Religion Legacy for a People and a Nation: "Self-Made Men" 5. Severing the Bonds of Empire, 1754-1774 Renewed Warfare Among Europeans and Indians Links to the World: The First Worldwide War 1763: A Turning Point The Stamp Act Crisis Resistance to the Townshend Acts Confrontations in Boston Tea and Turmoil Legacy for a People and a Nation: Women's Political Activism 6. A Revolution, Indeed, 1774-1783 Government by Congress and Committee Contest in the Backcountry Choosing Sides Links to the World: New Nations War and Independence The Struggle in the North Life in the Army and on the Home Front Victory in the South Legacy for a People and a Nation: Revolutionary Origins 7. Forging a National Republic, 1776-1789 Creating a Virtuous Republic Links to the World: Novels The First Emancipation and the Growth of Racism Designing Republican Governments Trials of the Confederation Order and Disorder in the West From Crisis to the Constitution Opposition and Ratification Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Township and Range System 8. The Early Republic: Conflicts at Home and Abroad, 1789-1800 Building a Workable Government Domestic Policy Under Washington and Hamilton The French Revolution and the Development of Partisan Politics Partisan Politics and Relations with Great Britain John Adams and Political Dissent The West in the New Nation "Revolutions" at the End of the Century Links to the World: Haitian Refugees Legacy for a People and a Nation: Dissent During Wartime 9. Defining the Nation, 1801-1823 Political Visions National Expansion Westward The Nation in the Orbit of Europe The War of 1812 The Nationalist Program Sectionalism Exposed Links to the World: Industrial Piracy Legacy for a People and a Nation: States' Rights and Nullification 10. The Rise of the South, 1815-1860 The "Distinctive South" Southern Expansion, Indian Resistance and Removal Links to the World: The Amistad Case Limits of Mobility in a Hierarchical Society The Planters' World Slave Life and Labor Slave Culture and Resistance Legacy for a People and a Nation: Reparations for Slavery 11. The Modernizing North, 1815-1860 Or Is It the North That Was Distinctive? The Transportation Revolution Links to the World: The United States as a Developing Nation Factories and Industrialization Consumption and Commercialization Families in Flux The Growth of Cities Legacy for a People and a Nation: A Mixed Economy 12. Reform and Politics in the Age of Jackson, 1824-1845 From Revival to Reform Communitarian Experiments Abolitionism Links to the World: The International Antislavery Movement Women's Rights Jacksonianism and Party Politics Federalism at Issue: The Nullification and Bank Controversies The Whig Challenge and the Second Party System Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Bible Belt 13. The Contested West, 1815-1860 The West in the American Imagination Expansion and Resistance in the Old Northwest The Federal Government and Westward Expansion Links to the World: Gold in California The Southwestern Borderlands Migration to the Far West The Politics of Territorial Expansion Legacy for a People and a Nation: Descendants of Early Latino Settlers 14. Slavery and America's Future: The Road to War, 1845-1861 The War with Mexico and Its Consequences 1850: Compromise or Armistice? Slavery Expansion and Collapse of the Party System Links to the World: Annexation of Cuba Slavery and the Nation's Future Disunion Legacy for a People and a Nation: Terrorist or Freedom Fighter? 15. Transforming Fire: The Civil War, 1861-1865 America Goes to War, 1861-1862 War Transforms the South Wartime Northern Economy and Society The Advent of Emancipation The Soldiers' War 1863: The Tide of Battle Turns Disunity: South, North, and West 1864-1865: The Final Test of Wills Links to the World: The Civil War in Britain Legacy for a People and a Nation: "Big Government" 16. Reconstruction: An Unfinished Revolution, 1865-1877 Wartime Reconstruction The Meanings of Freedom Johnson's Reconstruction Plan The Congressional Reconstruction Plan Politics and Reconstruction in the South Retreat from Reconstruction Links to the World: The Grants' Tour of the World Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Lost Cause 17. The Development of the West, 1865-1900 The Economic Activities of Native Peoples The Transformation of Native Cultures The Extraction of Natural Resources Irrigation and Transportation Links to the World: The Australian Frontier Farming the Plains The Ranching Frontier Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Myth of the Cowboy 18. The Machine Age, 1877-1920 Technology and the Triumph of Industrialization Links to the World: The Atlantic Cable Mechanization and the Changing Status of Labor Labor Violence and the Union Movement Standards of Living The Corporate Consolidation Movement The Gospel of Wealth and Its Critics Legacy for a People and a Nation: Technology of Recorded Sound 19. The Vitality and Turmoil of Urban Life, 1877-1920 Growth of the Modern City Urban Neighborhoods Living Conditions in the Inner City Managing the City Family Life The New Leisure and Mass Culture Links to the World: Japanese Baseball Legacy for a People and a Nation: Ethnic Food 20. Gilded Age Politics, 1877-1900 The Nature of Party Politics Issues of Legislation Tentative Presidents Discrimination, Disfranchisement, and Responses Agrarian Unrest and Populism Links to the World: Russian Populism The Depression and Protests of the 1890s The Silver Crusade and the Election of 1896 Legacy for a People and a Nation: Interpreting a Fairy Tale 21. The Progressive Era, 1895-1920 The Varied Progressive Impulse Links to the World: Workers' Compensation Government and Legislative Reform New Ideas in Social Institutions Challenges to Racial and Sexual Discrimination Theodore Roosevelt and the Revival of the Presidency Woodrow Wilson and the Extension of Progressive Reform Legacy for a People and a Nation: Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, and the Birth-Control Controversy 22. The Quest for Empire, 1865-1914 Imperial Dreams Links to the World: National Geographic Ambitions and Strategies Crises in the 1890s: Hawai'i, Venezuela, and Cuba The Spanish-American War and the Debate over Empire Asian Encounters: War in the Philippines, Diplomacy in China TR's World Legacy for a People and a Nation: Guant?namo Bay 23. Americans in the Great War, 1914-1920 Precarious Neutrality The Decision for War Winning the War Links to the World: The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 Mobilizing the Home Front Civil Liberties Under Challenge Red Scare, Red Summer The Defeat of Peace Legacy for a People and a Nation: Freedom of Speech and the ACLU 24. The New Era, 1920-1929 Big Business Triumphant Politics and Government A Consumer Society Cities, Migrants, and Suburbs Links to the World: Pan American Airways New Rhythms of Everyday Life Lines of Defense The Age of Play Cultural Currents The Election of 1928 and the End of the New Era Legacy for a People and a Nation: Intercollegiate Athletics 25. The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1941 Hoover and Hard Times, 1929-1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Launching of the New Deal Political Pressure and the Second New Deal Labor Federal Power and the Nationalization of Culture Links to the World: The 1936 Olympic Games The Limits of the New Deal Legacy for a People and a Nation: Social Security 26. The United States in a Troubled World, 1920-1941 Searching for Peace and Order in the 1920s The World Economy, Cultural Expansion, and Great Depression U.S. Dominance in Latin America The Course to War in Europe Japan, China, and a New Order in Asia U.S. Entry into World War II Links to the World: Radio News Legacy for a People and a Nation: Presidential Deception of the Public 27. The Second World War at Home and Abroad, 1941-1945 The United States at War The Production Front and American Workers Life on the Home Front The Limits of American Ideals Links to the World: War Brides Life in the Military Winning the War Legacy for a People and a Nation: Nuclear Proliferation 28. The Cold War and American Globalism, 1945-1961 From Allies to Adversaries Containment in Action The Cold War in Asia The Korean War Unrelenting Cold War Links to the World: The People-to-People Campaign The Struggle for the Third World Legacy for a People and a Nation: The National Security State 29. America at Midcentury, 1945-1960 Shaping Postwar America Domestic Politics in the Cold War Era Cold War Fears and Anticommunism The Struggle for Civil Rights Creating a Middle-Class Nation Men, Women, and Youth at Midcentury Links to the World: Barbie The Limits of the Middle-Class Nation Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Pledge of Allegiance 30. The Tumultuous Sixties, 1960-1968 Kennedy and the Cold War Marching for Freedom Liberalism and the Great Society Johnson and Vietnam A Nation Divided Links to the World: The British Invasion 1968 Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Immigration Act of 1965 31. Continuing Divisions and New Limits, 1969-1980 The New Politics of Identity The Women's Movement and Gay Liberation The End in Vietnam Nixon, Kissinger, and the World Links to the World: OPEC and the 1973 Oil Embargo Presidential Politics and the Crisis of Leadership Economic Crisis An Era of Cultural Transformation Renewed Cold War and Middle East Crisis Legacy for a People and a Nation: The All-Volunteer Force 32. Conservatism Revived, 1980-1992 Reagan and the Conservative Resurgence Reaganomics Reagan and the World American Society in the 1980s The End of the Cold War and Global Disorder Links to the World: CNN Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Americans with Disabilities Act 33. Into the Global Millennium: America Since 1992 Social Strains and New Political Directions "The New Economy" and Globalization Paradoxes of Prosperity September 11 and the War on Terrorism War and Occupation in Iraq Americans in the First Decade of the New Millennium Links to the World: The Global AIDS Epidemic Legacy for a People and a Nation: The Internet