Synopses & Reviews
Developed to meet the demand for a low-cost, high-quality history book, this economically priced version of A People and a Nation, 8/e, offers readers the complete text while limiting the number of photos and maps. All volumes feature a paperback, two-color format that appeals to those seeking a comprehensive, trade-sized history text. With stories of everyday people and coverage of cultural diversity, work, and popular culture, this spirited narrative brings history to life by offering the latest scholarship and captivating stories throughout the text.
About the Author
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mary Beth Norton received her B.A. from the University of Michigan (1964) and her Ph.D. from Harvard University (1969). She is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell University. Her dissertation won the Allan Nevins Prize. She has written THE BRITISH-AMERICANS (1972), LIBERTY?S DAUGHTERS (1980, 1996), Founding MOTHERS and FATHERS (1996), which was one of three finalists for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in History, and IN THE DEVIL?S SNARE (2002), which was one of five finalists for the 2003 L.A. Times Book Prize in History and which won the English-Speaking Union?s Ambassador Book Award in American Studies for 2003. She has co-edited three volumes on American women?s history. She was also general editor of the AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION?S GUIDE TO HISTORICAL LITERATURE (1995). Her articles have appeared in such journals as the AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, WILLIAM AND MARY QUARTERLY, and JOURNAL OF WOMEN?S HISTORY. Mary Beth has served as president of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, as vice president for research of the American Historical Association, and as a presidential appointee to the National Council on the Humanities. She has appeared on Book TV, the History and Discovery Channels, PBS, and NBC as a commentator on Early American history, and she lectures frequently to high school teachers through the Teaching American History program. She has received four honorary degrees and in 1999 was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and Starr Foundations, and the Henry E. Huntington Library. In 2005?2006, she was the Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at the University of Cambridge and Newnham College.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 concludes with a Summary. 1. Three Old Worlds Create a New, 1492-1600 American Societies America in 1492 African Societies European Societies Early European Explorations The Voyages of Columbus, Cabot, and Their Successors Spanish Exploration and Conquest The Columbian Exchange Links to the World: Maize Europeans in North America 2. Europeans Colonize North America, 1600-1640 New Spain, New France, and New Netherland 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 3. North America in the Atlantic World, 1640-1720 The Growth of Anglo-American Settlements A Decade of Imperial Crises: The 1670s African Slavery on the Mainland The Web of Empire and the Atlantic Slave Trade Links to the World: International Piracy Enslavement of Africans and Indians Imperial Reorganization and the Witchcraft Crisis 4. American Society Transformed, 1720-1770 Population Growth and Ethnic Diversity Economic Growth and Development Colonial Cultures Links to the World: Exotic Beverages Colonial Families Politics: Stability and Crisis in British America A Crisis in Religion 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 6. A Revolution, Indeed, 1774-1783 Government by Congress and Committee Contest in the Backcountry Choosing Sides War and Independence Links to the World: New Nations The Struggle in the North Life in the Army and on the Home Front Victory in the South 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 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 Indians and African Americans at the End of the Century Links to the World: Haitian Refugees 9. Partisan Politics and War: The Democratic-Republicans in Power, 1801-1815 The Jefferson Presidency and Marshall Court Louisiana and Lewis and Clark A New Political Culture Indian Resistance American Shipping Imperiled Links to the World: Industrial Piracy "Mr. Madison's War" Peace and Consequences 10. Nationalism, Expansion, and the Market Economy, 1816-1845 Postwar Nationalism The Market Economy and Government's Role Transportation Links Links to the World: The United States as a Developing Nation Commercial Farming The Rise of Manufacturing and Commerce Workers and the Workplace Americans on the Move American Indian Resistance and Removal 11. Reform and Politics in the Age of Jackson, 1824-1845 From Revival to Reform Abolitionism and the Women's Movement Links to the World: The International Antislavery Movement Jacksonianism and Party Politics Federalism at Issue: The Nullification and Bank Controversies The Whig Challenge and the Second Party System Manifest Destiny and Expansionism 12. People and Communities in the North and West, 1830-1860 Country Life The West Links to the World: Gold in California City Life Extremes of Wealth Family Life Immigrant Lives in America Free People of Color 13. People and Communities in a Slave Society: The South, 1830-1860 The "Distinctive" South? Free Southerners: Farmers, Free Blacks, and Planters Links to the World: "King Cotton" in the World Economy Slave Life and Labor Slave Culture Slave Resistance and Rebellion Harmony and Tension in a Slave Society 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 15. Transforming Fire: The Civil War, 1961-1865 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 16. Reconstruction: An Unfinished Revolution, 1865-1877 Wartime Reconstruction The Meanings of Freedom Johnson's Reconstruction Plan The Congressional Reconstruction Plan Reconstruction Politics in the South Reconstruction Reversed Links to the World: The Grants' Tour of the World 17. The Development of the West, 1877-1900 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 18. The Machine Age, 1877-1920 Technology and the Triumph of Industrialism 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 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 20. Gilded Age Politics, 1877-1900 The Nature of Party Politics Links to the World: Missionaries Issues of Legislation The Presidency Restrengthened Discrimination, Disfranchisement, Response Agrarian Unrest and Populism The Depression and Protests of the 1890s The Silver Crusade and the Election of 1896 21. The Progressive Era, 1895-1920 The Varied Progressive Impulse Governmental and Legislative Reform Links to the World: Russian Temperance 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 Reform 22. The Quest for Empire, 1865-1914 Imperial Dreams Ambitions and Strategies Crises in the 1890s: Hawaii, Venezuela, and Cuba The Spanish-American War and the Debate over Empire Asian Encounters: War in the Philippines, Diplomacy in China TR's World Links to the World: The U.S. System of Education in the Philippines 23. Americans in the Great War, 1914-1920 Precarious Neutrality The Decision for War Winning the War Mobilizing the Home Front Links to the World: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 Civil Liberties Under Challenge Red Scare, Red Summer The Defeat of Peace 24. The New Era of the 1920s Big Business Triumphant Politics and Government Materialism Unbound 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 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 26. Peaceseekers and Warmakers: Americans in the 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 Links to the World: Radio News U.S. Entry into World War II 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 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 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 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 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 Presidential Politics and the Crisis of Leadership Links to the World: OPEC and the 1973 Oil Embargo Economic Crisis An Era of Cultural Transformation Renewed Cold War and Middle East Crisis 32. Conservatism Revived, 1980-1992 Reagan and the Conservative Resurgence "Reagonomics" Reagan and the World Links to the World: CNN A Polarized People: American Society in the 1980s The End of the Cold War and Global Disorder 33. Global Bridges in the New 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 Americans in the New Millennium Links to the World: The Global AIDS Epidemic