* Chapter 1: "New World Beginnings"

Covers early history of the Americas, the Age of Exploration, famous Spanish explorers, and briefly runs through early settlements.

  * Chapter 2: "The Planting of English America"

Describes the English setters in America, the founding of the colonies, life in the colonial period, hardships, challenges, and culture.

  * Chapter 3: "Settling the Northern Colonies"

Discusses the settling of the Northern Colonies, the role of Protestantism, the pilgrims, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and the Middle Colonies.

  * Chapter 4: "American Life in the 17th Century"

Details the tobacco farming, early slavery, the Southern Colonies, the New England way of life as compared to the rest of the colonies, and various events.

  * Chapter 5: "Colonial Society on the Eve of the Revolution"

Talks about the technology, work, society, and life in America just before the Revolutionary War broke out, as well as the Great Awakening, schools, and colleges.

  * Chapter 6: "The Duel for North America"

Describes the various wars, including a few that are considered "world wars," such as the French and Indian War and the War for Jenkin's Ear.

  * Chapter 7: "The Road to Revolution"

Discusses mercantilism, the Intolerable Acts, events leading up to war, and the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.

  * Chapter 8: "America Secedes from the Empire"

Details battles fought during the Revolutionary War, Loyalists, the Declaration of Independence, war's end, and the beginning of the United States.

  * Chapter 9: "The Confederation and the Constitution"

Compares and contrasts the Articles of the Confederation and the U.S. Constitution, early American government, and the controversy over the drafting of the Constitution.

  * Chapter 10: "Launching of the New Ship of State"

Describes the new U.S. government, the Bill of Rights, Federalism, Hamilton vs. Jefferson, the effects of the French Revolution, John Adams, and Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.

  * Chapter 11: "The Triumphs and Travails of Jeffersonian Democracy"

Discussed are the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the rulings of John Marshall, the Louisiana Purchase, the rise of James Madison, and the War of 1812.

  * Chapter 12: "The 2nd War of Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism"

Outlines the War of 1812, the death of the Federalists, the "American System" and Henry Clay, James Monroe, the growing West and the Missouri Compromise, John Marshall, the Oregon acquisition, and the Monroe Doctrine.

  * Chapter 13: "The Rise of Jacksonian Democracy"

Among the subjects elaborated upon are Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and Daniel Webster.

  * Chapter 14: "Jacksonian Democracy at Flood Tide"

The roots of the Civil begin to take place, nullification is discussed, Jackson kills the Bank of the United States and moves Indian tribes, Martin Van Buren becomes president, and the Whigs emerge as a political party with the election of William H. Harrison.

  * Chapter 15: "Forging the National Economy"

Introduced is the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, with the new advances in technology, and the march to the West is also elaborated upon. 

  * Chapter 16: "The Ferment of Reform and Culture"

Various religious and social upheavals were occurring during this time, which saw the rise of the Mormon faith and transcendentalism the beginnings of the protest against alcoholism, and the start of the fight for women's rights.

  * Chapter 17: "The South and the Slavery Controversy"

Eli Whitney's cotton gin revolutionized the economy of the South, which encouraged the use of slaves, but as time passed, the North abolished its slaves while the South kept them, and this abolitionist trend caused friction which would eventually explode into the Civil War.

  * Chapter 18: "Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy"

A new spirit of expansion hit America in the form of the idea of Manifest Destiny, which was complimented by Oregon fever, and President Polk eventually led the United States into a very successful war with Mexico, gaining all the formerly-Mexican territory from California to parts of Texas.

  * Chapter 19: "Renewing the Sectional Struggle"

The newly gained land resulted in another argument over incoming slave-free and slave-holding states, but the Compromise of 1850 luckily abated the situation for a while, and during this time, the Whig Party effectively died out, merging into the surging Republican Party, which gained power over the disintegrated Democratic Party.

  * Chapter 20: "Drifting Toward Disunion"

Harriet Tubman's Uncle Tom's Cabin created an uproar over slavery that was worsened by the bloody situation in Kansas and the Dred Scott case, and after the Republican Abraham Lincoln won the presidency, several Southern states seceded from the Union, an act that would spark the Civil War.

  * Chapter 21: "Girding the War: The North and South"

This chapter outlines the social, political, and economical situations surrounding the Civil War, though the actual battles are not described here.

  * Chapter 22: "The Furnace of the Civil War"

The battles of the Civil War are elaborated upon, from the initial surprise of the South over the North to the resurgence of the North and its eventual victory and peace settlement, but after the war, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

  * Chapter 23: "The Ordeal of Reconstruction"

After the war, the process of Reconstruction was slow and arduous, with the North forcing the South to free its slaves, though the South circumvented many rules and held the African-Americans in slave-like status for many years via legal loopholes or plain terror, like from the Ku Klux Klan.

  * Chapter 24: "Politics in the Gilded Age"

The Gild Age was an era of corruption in politics, heavily influenced by big businesses and monopolies, and this resulted in an economically tumultuous period.

  * Chapter 25: "Industry Comes of Age"

Railroads revolutionized the United States with their improved methods of transportation, though they were also responsible for harming farmers and other wrongdoings, and during this time, big industry really took off, with steel, oil, and news giants like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller; in response, labor unions began to gain strength, though steps were taken to limit their influence.

  * Chapter 26: "America Moves to the City"

Documented are the new trends in immigration, the growth of cities and slums, the new desire for learning, especially among African Americans, the power of the press, and the accomplishments of numerous writers.

  * Chapter 27: "The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution"

Native Americans were pressured, their rights and lands increasingly reduced, which sparked revolt and violence, while farmers pushed west but encountered hardships on the land and economically.

  * Chapter 28: "The Revolt of the Debtor"

The Populist Party rose during this time, advocating new ideas like using silver as the national standard instead of gold, but the Republicans still triumphed, incorporating many Populist ideas.

  * Chapter 29: "The Path of Empire"

Detailed are the naval buildup, the events coming before the Spanish-American War, the explosion of war, the rise in power of America, and its intrusions into the idea of taking over lands to add to its "empire."

  * Chapter 30: "America on the World Stage"

America's attempt to keep the Philippines was a violent hassle, while Theodore Roosevelt initiated his "Big Stick Diplomacy," raising America onto the happenings of the world.

  * Chapter 31: "Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt"

The rise of Progressives to fight against monopolies, corruption, and inefficiency battled social ills and sparked an interest in environmental preservation, but later, it played a part in Theodore Roosevelt's split of the Republican Party when he turned against former friend William Taft.

  * Chapter 32: "Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad"

President Wilson combined Progressive ideas into his own agenda and helped America avoid war during the first few years of World War I, but eventually, the U.S. was plunged into war, though Wilson was incapacitated at the end of his term due to a stroke.

  * Chapter 33: "The War to End War"

This chapter covers World War I, or the First Great War, and its battles and social and economical situations that covered the various countries during this time.

  * Chapter 34: "American Life in the Roaring Twenties"

After the initial exposure of corruption under the Harding administration, America enjoyed relative prosperity and happiness during the 1920s, but during this time, illicit doings by companies in the stock market built up a "house of cards" that eventually collapsed at the start of the Great Depression.

  * Chapter 35: "The Politics of Boom and Bust"

Warren G. Harding's Teapot Dome scandal was a shocker, though Calvin Coolidge restored legitimacy to the presidency, but the Great Depression was quite ruinous, despite Herbert Hoover's efforts; also, on the world stage, Japan unleashed its power when it attacked and surprisingly conquered China.

  * Chapter 36: "The Great Depression and the New Deal"

Herbert Hoover's useless efforts led to Franklin D. Roosevelt steamrolling over him in the 1932 election, and F.D.R. initiated a plethora of programs under the New Deal (some struck down by the Supreme Court) in order to alleviate the depression.

  * Chapter 37: "Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War"

This details Hitler's belligerency before World War II, the outbreak of war, Roosevelt's breaking of the two-term tradition, and the attack on Pearl Harbor, which entered the U.S. into the war.

  * Chapter 38: "America in World War II"

America was initially unwilling to enter the war, but after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. plunged into war with gusto, and this action shook the nation out of the Great Depression, and ultimately, the United States and the Allied Nations defeated Japan, Italy, and Germany.

  * Chapter 39: "The Cold War Begins"

The end of the war brought new worries that the nation would fall into depression again, but that was not the case, as American remained a power and the Cold War against the Soviet Union began, a part of which was the Korean War.

  * Chapter 40: "The Eisenhower Era"

The 1950s featured the push for desegregation, the creation of the interstate highway system, and the beginning of the space race, while the 1960s featured more protest for African American rights and the continuation of the Cold War.

  * Chapter 41: "The Stormy Sixties"

Details the turbulent atmosphere of the 1960s, with its movements for women, civil rights, and peace instead of war, as well as the near explosion of the Cold War in Cuba and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Great Society program, and the tragedy and folly of the Vietnam War.

  * Chapter 42: "The Stalemated Seventies"

Discusses the ending years of the Vietnam War, the impact of Richard Nixon, the oil embargo and energy crisis, the actions of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, and the Iranian hostage humiliation.

  * Chapter 43: "The Resurgence of Conservatism"

Ronald Reagan brought the conservatives back, enjoying widespread popularity despite a few scandals like the Iran Contra Scandal and greatly increasing the budget to battle the U.S.S.R. in the Cold War, and eventually, the Soviet Union fell; also detailed are the terms of President Bush and President Clinton.

                            
                             powered by SignMyGuestbook.com