The American Promise: A Concise History, Combined Volume
Eighth Edition ©2020New Edition Available
The American Promise, Concise Edition is a brief, affordable text that makes history relatable. Now with new co-authors, the eighth edition continues to deliver a strong narrative with political backbone and offers a new pedagogical design that reinforces that history is a discipl...
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An affordable, full-color text that provides a clear chronology and the voices of ordinary and extraordinary Americans
The American Promise, Concise Edition is a brief, affordable text that makes history relatable. Now with new co-authors, the eighth edition continues to deliver a strong narrative with political backbone and offers a new pedagogical design that reinforces that history is a discipline rooted in debate and inquiry. The American Promise, Concise Edition, includes the unabridged narrative, primary sources in each chapter, a full-color map and art program, and comprehensive supplement options, including LaunchPad and a free companion sourcebook.
Available for free when packaged with the print book, the popular digital assignment and assessment options for this text bring skill building and assessment to a more highly effective level. The greatest active learning options come in LaunchPad, which combines an accessible e-book with LearningCurve, an adaptive and automatically graded learning tool that—when assigned—helps ensure students read the book; the complete companion reader with comparative questions that help students build arguments from those sources; and many other study and assessment tools. For instructors who want the easiest and most affordable way to ensure students come to class prepared Achieve Read & Practice pairs LearningCurve, adaptive quizzing and our mobile, accessible Value Edition e-book, in one easy-to-use product.
"The American Promise gives students so much more content for the cost of the book. The text follows a clear chronological order. The text provides primary sources and visual activities for each chapter. The special features are useful and skills oriented. The Analyzing Historical Evidence features encourages students to use their critical thinking skills for all ranges and diverse documents."
— Diane Gill, North Lake College"The strengths of The American Promise include its inclusion of the nation's history of inequality and its continual efforts to achieve the ideals and promise of a democratic republic… students find The American Promise easy to engage with because of its straightforward, readability."
— Leah Vallely, Calhoun Community College"Organizing text chapters and sections around questions turns passive reading of historical narrative into active problem-solving, into detective analytical thinking skills used by historians that make students more informed citizens.The American Promise promotes the many skills of historical thinking built on multiple approaches to cross-examining a wide variety of evidence."
— Edward Simmons, Georgia Gwinnett College"I love the organization... The writing occupies probably the best possible position between accessible and scholarly. I love being able to give students the LaunchPad option, because that allows them to get all of the content necessary for my course with one click and for less than $50."
— Joseph Bagley, Georgia State University"The textbook goes a long way in underscoring the role of women, Native Americans, and black Americans consistently throughout the entire narrative, which helps augment the importance in studying and understanding the humanities for students from all backgrounds. It embodies a balanced, complete, yet succinct iteration of the most important scholarly, conceptual, and factual elements while consistently introducing, defining, and explaining the key people, events, and concepts most important to understanding the history then and now."
— Stacy Reikowsky, North Dakota State University
Digital Options
Table of Contents
Please Note: The Combined Volume includes all chapters. Volume 1 includes Chapters 1-16 and Volume 2 includes Chapters 16-31.
Preface
Versions and Supplements
Maps, Figures, and Tables
Special Features
1. Ancient America, Before 1492
An American Story: An archaeological dig uncovers ancient North Americans traditions
Why do historians rely on the work of archaeologists?
When and how did humans migrate into North America?
African and Asian Origins
Paleo-Indian Hunters
When and why did Archaic hunter-gatherers inhabit ancient America?
Great Plains Bison Hunters
Great Basin Cultures
Pacific Coast Cultures
Eastern Woodland Cultures
How did agriculture influence ancient American cultures?
Southwestern Cultures
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Artifacts of Daily Life in Chaco Canyon"
Woodland Burial Mounds and Chiefdoms
What ancient American cultures inhabited North America in the 1490s?
Eastern and Great Plains Peoples
Southwestern and Western Peoples
Cultural Similarities
How did the Mexican empire amass power and riches?
Conclusion: How did ancient Americans shape their world and ours?
Chapter Review
2. Europeans Encounter the New World, 1492–1600
An American Story: Queen Isabella of Spain supports Columbus’s risky plan to sail west across the Atlantic
Why did Europeans launch explorations in the fifteenth century?
Mediterranean Trade and European Expansion
A Century of Portuguese Exploration
What did Spaniards discover in the western Atlantic?
The Explorations of Columbus
The Geographic Revolution and the Columbian Exchange
How did Spaniards conquer and colonize New Spain?
The Conquest of Mexico
The Search for Other Mexicos
Spanish Outposts in Florida and New Mexico
New Spain in the Sixteenth Century
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Justifying Conquest"
The Toll of Spanish Conquest and Colonization
How did New Spain influence Europe?
The Protestant Reformation and the Spanish Response
Europe and The Spanish Example
Conclusion: What did the New World Promise Europeans?
Chapter Review
3. The Southern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, 1601–1700
An American Story: A young woman from England travels to America as a servant
How did settlers encounters with Native Americans and the Chesapeake environment shape the colony of Virginia?
The Fragile Jamestown Settlement
Cooperation and Conflict between Natives and Newcomers
From Private Company to Royal Government
How did tobacco influence Chesapeake society?
Tobacco Agriculture
A Servant Labor System
The Rigors of Servitude
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "ENSLAVEMENT BY MARRIAGE"
Cultivating Land and Faith
Why did Chesapeake society change by the 1670s?
Social and Economic Polarization
Government Policies and Political Conflict
Bacon’s Rebellion
Why did a slave labor system develop in England’s southern colonies?
Indians Revolt in New Mexico and Florida
Religion and Revolt in the Spanish Borderland
The West Indies: Sugar and Slavery
Carolina: A West Indian Frontier
Slave Labor Emerges in the Chesapeake
Conclusion: How did export crops contribute to the growth of the southern colonies?
Chapter Review
4. The Northern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, 1601–1700
An American Story: Roger Williams is banished from Puritan Massachusetts
Why did Puritans emigrate to North America?
Puritan Origins: The English Reformation
The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony
The Founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony
How did New England society change during the seventeenth century?
Church, Covenant, and Conformity
Government by Puritans for Puritanism
The Splintering of Puritanism
Religious Controversies and Economic Changes
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Hunting Witches in Salem, Massachusetts"
How did the Middle Colonies differ from New England and the southern colonies?
From New Netherland to New York
New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Toleration and Diversity in Pennsylvania
How did the English empire influence the colonies?
Royal Regulation of Colonial Trade
King Philip’s War and the Consolidation of Royal Authority
Conclusion: Was there an English model of colonization in North America?
Chapter Review
5. Colonial America in the Eighteenth Century, 1701–1770
An American Story: The Robin Johns’horrific turns of fortune in the Atlantic slave trade
How did the British North American colonies change during the eighteenth century?
What changed in New England life and culture?
Natural Increase and Land Distribution
Farms, Fish, and Atlantic Trade
Why did the Middle Colonies grow rapidly?
German and Scots-Irish Immigrants
"God Gives All Things to Industry": Urban and Rural Labor
Why did slavery come to define the Southern Colonies?
The Atlantic Slave Trade and the Growth of Slavery
Slave Labor and African American Culture
Tobacco, Rice, and Prosperity
What unified colonists in British North America during the eighteenth century?
Commerce and Consumption
Religion, Enlightenment, and Revival
Trade and Conflict in the North American Borderlands
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Spanish Priests Report on California Missions"
Colonial Politics in the British Empire
Conclusion: Why did British North American colonists develop a dual identity?
Chapter Review
6. The British Empire and the Colonial Crisis, 1754-1775
An American Story: Loyalist governor Thomas Hutchinson stands his ground
How did the Seven Years’ War lay the groundwork for colonial crisis?
French-British Rivalry in the Ohio Country
The Albany Congress
The War and Its Consequences
Pontiac’s Rebellion War and the Proclamation of 1763
How did imperial authorities and British colonists differ in their views about the legitimacy of taxing the colonies?
Grenville’s Sugar Act
The Stamp Act
Resistance: From Colonial Assemblies to Crowd Politics
Liberty and Property
Why did the colonial crisis worsen after the repeal of the Stamp Act?
The Townshend Duties
Nonconsumption and the Daughters of Liberty
Military Occupation and "Massacre" in Boston
How did British policy and colonial response interact after the repeal of the Townshend Duties to lead to open rebellion?
The Calm before the Storm
Tea in Boston Harbor
The Coercive Acts
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Reactions to the Boston Port Act outside of Massachusetts"
Beyond Boston: Rural New England
The First Continental Congress
How did enslaved people in the colonies react to the stirrings of revolution?
Lexington and Concord
Rebelling against Slavery
Conclusion: What changes did the American colonists want in 1775?
Chapter Review
7. The War for America, 1775-1783
An American Story: Deborah Sampson masquerades as a man to join the Continental army
What eventually persuaded British North American colonists to support independence?
Assuming Political and Military Authority
Pursuing Both War and Peace
Thomas Paine, Abigail Adams, and the Case for Independence
The Declaration of Independence
How did the military objectives of each side shape the course of the war’s early years?
The American Military Forces
The British Strategy
Quebec, New York, and New Jersey
How did the war transform the home front?
Patriotism at the Local Level
The Loyalists
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Families Divide over the Revolution"
Who Is a Traitor?
Financial Instability and Corruption
From Rebellion to Revolution
How did the American Revolution expand to become a war among continental and global powers?
Burgoyne’s Army and the Battle of Saratoga
The War in the West: Indian Country
The French Alliance
What were the principal causes of the British defeat?
Georgia and South Carolina
Treason and Guerrilla Warfare
Surrender at Yorktown
The Losers and the Winners
Conclusion: Why did the British lose the American Revolution?
Chapter Review
8. Building a Republic, 1775-1789
An American Story: James Madison comes of age in the midst of revolution
What kind of government did the Articles of Confederation create?
Confederation and Taxation
The Problem of Western Lands
Running the New Government
How was republican government implemented?
The State Constitutions
Who Are "the People"?
Equality and Slavery
Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?
The War Debt and the Newburgh Conspiracy
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix
The Northwest Territory
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "The Northwest Ordinance’s Slavery Clause"
The Requisition of 1785 and Shays’s Rebellion, 1786–1787
How did the Constitution change the nation’s form of government?
From Annapolis to Philadelphia
The Virginia and New Jersey Plans
Checks and Balances
Why did so many Americans object to the Constitution?
The Federalists
The Antifederalists
The Federalist Persuasion
Conclusion: What was the "republican remedy"?
Chapter Review
9. The New Nation Takes Form, 1789–1800
An American Story: Alexander Hamilton becomes a polarizing figure in the 1790s
What were the sources of political stability in the 1790s?
Washington Inaugurates the Government
The Bill of Rights
The Republican Wife and Mother
Why did Hamilton’s economic policies provoke such controversy?
Agriculture, Transportation, and Banking
The Public Debt and Taxes
The First Bank of the United States and the Report on Manufactures
What threats did the United States face in the West?
Western Discontent and the Whiskey Rebellion
Creeks in the Southwest
Ohio Indians in the Northwest
What threats did the United States face in the Atlantic World?
France and Britain: Toward Neutrality
The Jay Treaty
The Haitian Revolution
How did partisan rivalries shape the politics of the late 1790s?
Federalists and Republicans
The XYZ Affair
The Alien and Sedition Acts
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "The Crisis of 1798: Sedition"
Conclusion: Why did the United States form political parties in a decade when it achieved political stability?
Chapter Review
10. Republicans in Power, 1800-1828
An American Story: Tecumseh attempts to forge a pan-Indian confederacy
What was the Revolution of 1800?
Turbulent Times: Election and Rebellion
The Jeffersonian Vision of Republican Government
Dangers Overseas: The Barbary Wars
How did the Louisiana Purchase affect the United States?
The Louisiana Purchase
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Osage and Comanche Indians
What led to the War of 1812?
Impressment and Embargo
Tecumseh and Tippecanoe
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "The Nation’s First Formal Declaration of War"
Washington City Burns: The British Offensive
How did the civil status of free American women and men differ in the early Republic?
Dolley Madison and Social Politics
Women and the Law
Women and Church Governance
Female Education
Why did partisan conflict increase during the administrations of Monroe and Adams?
From Property to Democracy
The Missouri Compromise
The Monroe Doctrine
The Election of 1824
The Adams Administration
Conclusion: How did republican simplicity become complex?
Chapter Review
11. The Expanding Republic, 1815-1840
An American Story: The Grimké sisters speak out against slavery
What Economic Developments Reshaped the U.S. Economy after 1815?
Improvements in Transportation
Factories, Workingwomen, and Wage Labor
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Mill Girls Stand Up to Factory owners, 1834"
Bankers and Lawyers
Booms and Busts
How did new practices of party politics shape Andrew Jackson’s election and agenda?
Popular Politics and Partisan Identity
The Election of 1828 and the Character Issue
Jackson’s Democratic Agenda
What was Andrew Jackson’s impact on the presidency?
Indian Policy and the Trail of Tears
The Tariff of Abominations and Nullification
The Bank War and Economic Boom
How did social and cultural life change in the 1830s?
Separate Spheres
The Second Great Awakening and Moral Reform
Organizing against Slavery
What political and economic events dominated Martin Van Buren’s Presidency?
The Politics of Slavery
Elections and Panics
Conclusion: The Age of Jackson or the era of reform?
Chapter Review
12. The North and West, 1840-1860
An American Story: Abraham Lincoln struggles to survive in antebellum America
Why did "industrial evolution" occur?
Agriculture and Land Policy
Manufacturing and Mechanization
Railroads: Breaking the Bonds of Nature
How did the free-labor ideal explain economic inequality?
The Free-Labor Ideal
Economic Inequality
Immigrants and the Free-Labor Ladder
What spurred westward expansion?
Manifest Destiny
Oregon and the Overland Trail
The Mormon Exodus
The Mexican Borderlands
Why did the United States go to war with Mexico?
The Politics of Expansion
The Mexican-American War, 1846–1848
Victory in Mexico
Golden California
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "The Gold Rush"
What changes did social reformers seek in the 1840s and 1850s?
The Pursuit of Perfection: Transcendentalists and Utopians
Woman’s Rights Activists
Abolitionists and the American Ideal
Conclusion: How did the free labor ideal contribute to economic growth and territorial expansion of the North and West?
Chapter Review
13. The Slave South, 1820-1860
An American Story: Slave Nat Turner leads a revolt to end slavery
Why did the South become so different from the North?
Cotton Kingdom, Slave Empire
The South in Black and White
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Defending Slavery
The Plantation Economy
What was plantation life like for slave masters and mistresses?
Paternalism and Male Honor
The Southern Lady and Feminine Virtues
What was plantation life like for slaves?
Work
Family and Religion
Resistance and Rebellion
How did nonslaveholding southern whites work and live?
Plantation-Belt Yeomen
Upcountry Yeomen
Poor Whites
The Culture of the Plain Folk
What place did free blacks occupy in the South?
Precarious Freedom
Achievement despite Restrictions
How did slavery shape southern politics?
The Democratization of the Political Arena
Planter Power
Conclusion: How did slavery come to define the South?
Chapter Review
14. The House Divided, 1846-1861
An American Story: Abolitionist John Brown takes his war against slavery to Harpers Ferry
Why did the acquisition of land from Mexico contribute to sectional tensions?
The Wilmot Proviso and the Expansion of Slavery
The Election of 1848
Debate and Compromise
What upset the balance between slave and free states?
The Fugitive Slave Act
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
How did the party system change in the 1850s?
The Old Parties: Whigs and Democrats
The New Parties: Know-Nothings and Republicans
The Election of 1856
Why did northern fear of the "Slave Power" intensify in the 1850s?
"Bleeding Kansas"
The Dred Scott Decision
Prairie Republican: Abraham Lincoln
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Why did some southern states secede immediately after Lincoln’s election?
The Aftermath of John Brown’s Raid
Republican Victory in 1860
Secession Winter
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Southerners Debate Secession
Conclusion: Why did political compromise fail?
Chapter Review
15. The Crucible of War, 1861-1865
An American Story: Robert Smalls liberates slaves and fights for freedom
Why did both the Union and the Confederacy consider control of the border states crucial?
Attack on Fort Sumter
The Upper South Chooses Sides
Why did each side expect to win?
How They Expected to Win
Lincoln and Davis Mobilize
How did each side fare in the early years of the war?
Stalemate in the Eastern Theater
Union Victories in the Western Theater
The Atlantic Theater
International Diplomacy
How did the war for union become a fight for black freedom?
From Slaves to Contraband
From Contraband to Free People
The War of Black Liberation
What problems did the Confederacy face at home?
Revolution from Above
Hardship Below
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Home and Country
The Disintegration of Slavery
How did the war affect the economy and politics of the North?
The Government and the Economy
Women and Work at Home and at War
Politics and Dissent
How did the Union finally win the war?
Vicksburg and Gettysburg
Grant Takes Command
The Confederacy Collapses
The War’s Bloody Toll
Conclusion: In what ways was the Civil War a "Second American Revolution"?
Chapter Review
16. Reconstruction, 1863-1877
An American Story: James T. Rapier emerges as Alabama’s most prominent black leader
Why did Congress object to Lincoln’s wartime plan for reconstruction?
"To Bind Up the Nation’s Wounds"
Land and Labor
The African American Quest for Autonomy
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: The Meaning of Freedom
How did the North respond to the passage of black codes in the southern states?
Johnson’s Program of Reconciliation
White Southern Resistance and Black Codes
Expansion of Federal Authority and Black Rights
How radical was congressional reconstruction?
The Fourteenth Amendment and Escalating Violence
Radical Reconstruction and Military Rule
Impeaching a President
The Fifteenth Amendment and Women’s Demands
What brought the elements of the South’s Republican coalition together?
Freedmen, Yankees, and Yeomen
Republican Rule
White Landlords, Black Sharecroppers
Why did Reconstruction collapse?
Grant’s Troubled Presidency
Northern Resolve Withers
White Supremacy Triumphs
An Election and a Compromise
Conclusion: Was Reconstruction "a revolution but half accomplished"?
Chapter Review
17. The Contested West, 1865-1900
An American Story: Frederick Jackson Turner delivers his "frontier thesis"
What did U.S. expansion mean for Native Americans?
Indian Removal and the Reservation System
The Decimation of the Great Bison Herds
The Santee Uprising and the Collapse of Comanchería
Red Cloud’s War and the Fight for the Black Hills
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: "Custer’s Last Stand"
In what ways did different Indian groups defy and resist colonial rule?
Indian Schools and the War on Indian Culture
The Dawes Act and Indian Land Allotment
Indian Resistance and Survival
How did mining shape American expansion?
Life on the Comstock Lode
The Diverse Peoples of the West
How did the fight for land and resources in the West unfold?
Moving West: Homesteaders and Speculators
Tenants, Sharecroppers, and Migrants
Commercial Farming and Industrial Cowboys
Territorial Government
Conclusion: How did the West set the tone for the Gilded Age?
Chapter Review
18. The Gilded Age, 1865-1900
An American Story: The Big Four build the transcontinental railroad
How did the railroads stimulate big business?
Railroads: America’s First Big Business
Andrew Carnegie, Steel, and Vertical Integration
John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil, and the Trust
New Inventions: The Telephone and the Telegraph
Why did the ideas of social Darwinism appeal to many Americans in the late nineteenth century?
J. P. Morgan and Finance Capitalism
Social Darwinism, Laissez-Faire, and the Supreme Court
What factors influenced political life in the late nineteenth century?
Political Participation and Party Loyalty
Sectionalism and the New South
Gender, Race, and Politics
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Ida B. Wells and Her Campaign to Stop Lynching
Women’s Activism
What issues shaped party politics in the late nineteenth century?
Corruption and Party Strife
Garfield’s Assassination and Civil Service Reform
Reform and Scandal: The Campaign of 1884
Henry George and the Politics of Inequality
What role did economic issues play in party realignment?
The Tariff and the Politics of Protection
Railroads, Trusts, and the Federal Government
The Fight for Free Silver
Panic and Depression
Conclusion: Why did business dominate the Gilded Age?
Chapter Review
19. The City and Its Workers, 1870-1900
An American Story: Workers build the Brooklyn Bridge
Why did American cities experience explosive growth in the late nineteenth century?
The Urban Explosion: A Global Migration
Racism and the Cry for Immigration Restriction
The Social Geography of the City
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Seeing How the Other Half Lives: Jacob Riis, the Flash, and the Birth of Photojournalism
What kinds of work did people do in industrial America?
America’s Diverse Workers
The Family Economy: Women and Children
White-Collar Workers: Managers, "Typewriters," and Salesclerks
Why did the fortunes of the Knights of Labor rise in the late 1870s and decline in the 1890s?
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor
Haymarket and the Specter of Labor Radicalism
How did urban industrialism shape home life and the world of leisure?
Domesticity and "Domestics"
Cheap Amusements
How did municipal governments respond to the challenges of urban expansion?
Building Cities of Stone and Steel
City Government and the "Bosses"
New York and the Consolidation of the Capitalist Class
White City or City of Sin?
Conclusion: Who built the cities?
Chapter Review
20. Dissent, Depression, and War, 1890-1900
An American Story: Frances Willard helps create the Populist Party
Why did American farmers organize alliances in the late nineteenth century?
The Farmers’ Alliance
The Populist Movement
What led to the labor wars of the 1890s?
The Homestead Lockout
The Cripple Creek Miners’ Strike of 1894
Eugene V. Debs and the Pullman Strike
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: The Press and the Pullman Strike: Framing Class Conflict
How were women involved in late-nineteenth-century politics?
Frances Willard and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and the Movement for Woman Suffrage
How did economic problems affect American politics in the 1890s?
Coxey’s Army
The People’s Party and the Election of 1896
Why did the United States largely abandon its isolationist foreign policy in the 1890s?
Markets and Missionaries
The Monroe Doctrine and the Open Door Policy
"A Splendid Little War"
The Debate over American Imperialism
Conclusion: What was the connection between domestic strife and foreign policy?
Chapter Review
21. Progressive Reform, 1890-1916
An American Story: Jane Addams founds Hull House
How did grassroots progressives attack the problems of industrial America?
Civilizing the City
Progressives and the Working Class
What were the key tenets of progressive theory?
Reform Darwinism and Social Engineering
Progressive Government: City and State
How did Theodore Roosevelt advance the progressive agenda?
The Square Deal
Roosevelt the Reformer
Roosevelt and Conservation
The Big Stick
The Troubled Presidency of William Howard Taft
How did progressivism evolve during Woodrow Wilson’s first term?
Progressive Insurgency and the Election of 1912
Wilson’s Reforms: Tariff, Banking, and the Trusts
Wilson, Reluctant Progressive
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Child Labor
What were the limits of progressive reform?
Radical Alternatives
Progressivism for White Men Only
Conclusion: How did the Progressive Era give rise to the liberal state?
Chapter Review
22. World War I: The Progressive Crusade at Home and Abroad, 1914-1920
An American Story: George Browne sees combat on the front lines in France
What was Woodrow Wilson’s foreign policy agenda?
Taming the Americas
The European Crisis
The Ordeal of American Neutrality
The United States Enters the War
What role did the United States play in World War I?
The Call to Arms
The War in France
What impact did the war have on the home front?
The Progressive Stake in the War
Women, War, and the Battle for Suffrage
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: The Final Push for Woman Suffrage
Rally around the Flag—or Else
What part did Woodrow Wilson play at the Paris peace conference?
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
The Paris Peace Conference
The Fight for the Treaty
Why was America’s transition from war to peace so turbulent?
Economic Hardship and Labor Upheaval
The Red Scare
The Great Migrations of African Americans and Mexicans
Postwar Politics and the Election of 1920
Conclusion: Victory, but at what cost?
Chapter Review
23. From New Era to Great Depression, 1920-1932
An American Story: Henry Ford puts America on wheels
How did big business shape the "New Era" of the 1920s?
A Business Government
Promoting Prosperity and Peace Abroad
Automobiles, Mass Production, and Assembly-Line Progress
Consumer Culture
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Advertising in a Consumer Age
In what ways did the Roaring Twenties challenge traditional values?
Prohibition
The New Woman
The New Negro
Entertaining the Masses
The Lost Generation
Why did the relationship between urban and rural America deteriorate in the 1920s?
Rejecting the Undesirables
The Rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan
The Scopes Trial
Al Smith and the Election of 1928
How did President Hoover respond to the economic crash of 1929?
Herbert Hoover: The Great Engineer
The Distorted Economy
The Crash of 1929
Hoover and the Limits of Individualism
What impact did the economic depression have on everyday life?
The Human Toll
Denial and Escape
Working-Class Militancy
Conclusion: Why did the hope of the 1920s turn to despair?
Chapter Review
24. The New Deal Experiment, 1932-1939
An American Story: Florence Owens struggles to survive in the Great Depression
Why was Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president in 1932?
The Making of a Politician
The Election of 1932
What were the goals and achievements of the first New Deal?
The New Dealers
Banking and Finance Reform
Relief and Conservation Programs
Agricultural Initiatives
Industrial Recovery
Who opposed the New Deal?
Resistance to Business Reform
Casualties in the Countryside
Politics on the Fringes
Why did the New Deal begin to create a welfare state?
Relief for the Unemployed
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Americans Encounter the New Deal
Empowering Labor
Social Security and Tax Reform
Neglected Americans and the New Deal
What did the New Deal lose support during Roosevelt’s second term as president?
The Election of 1936
Court Packing
Reaction and Recession
The Last of the New Deal Reforms
Conclusion: What were the achievements and limitations of the New Deal?
Chapter Review
25. The United States and the Second World War, 1939-1945
An American Story: Colonel Paul Tibbets drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
How did isolationism shape American foreign policy in the 1930s?
Roosevelt and Reluctant Isolation
The Good Neighbor Policy
The Price of Isolation
How did war in Europe and Asia influence U.S. foreign policy?
Nazi Aggression and War in Europe
From Neutrality to the Arsenal of Democracy
Japan Attacks America
How did the United States mobilize for war?
Home-Front Security
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Japanese Internment
Building a Citizen Army
Conversion to a War Economy
How did the Allies reverse Axis advances in Europe and the Pacific?
Turning the Tide in the Pacific
The Campaign in Europe
How did war change the American home front?
Women and Families, Guns and Butter
The Double V Campaign
Wartime Politics and the 1944 Election
Reaction to the Holocaust
How did the Allies win the war?
From Bombing Raids to Berlin
The Defeat of Japan
Atomic Warfare
Conclusion: Why did the United States emerge as a superpower at the end of the war?
Chapter Review
26. The New World of the Cold War, 1945–1960
An American Story: Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas becomes loyal Truman ally
How did the Cold War begin?
U.S.-Soviet Tensions Emerge
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: The Emerging Cold War
The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
Building a National Security State
In what ways did anti-Communism drive policy at home and abroad?
Superpower Rivalry around the Globe
The Domestic Chill: McCarthyism
Why did the U.S. go to war in Korea?
Military Implementation of Containment
From Containment to Rollback to Containment
Korea’s Political Fallout
An Armistice and the War’s Costs
How did Truman’s and Eisenhower’s approaches to the superpower struggle differ?
The "New Look" in Foreign Policy
Applying Containment to Vietnam
Interventions in Latin America and the Middle East
The Nuclear Arms Race
Conclusion: What were the costs and consequences of the Cold War?
Chapter Review
27. Postwar Culture and Politics, 1945-1960
An American Story: Vice President Richard Nixon debates Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev
What were the prospects for domestic reform in the Truman years?
Reconverting to a Peacetime Economy
The Fair Deal Falters
Race and Rights in the 1940s
To what extent did Eisenhower dismantle the New Deal?
A Republican "Middle Way"
A Shifting Indian Policy
What fueled the prosperity of the 1950s?
Technology Transforms Agriculture and Industry
Suburban Migrations
The Rise of the Sun Belt
The Democratization of Higher Education
How did economic growth affect American society, politics, and culture?
A Consumer Culture
The Revival of Domesticity and Religion
Television Transforms Culture and Politics
Countercurrents
What mobilized African Americans to fight for civil rights in the 1950s?
African Americans Challenge the Supreme Court and the President
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: The Brown Decision
Montgomery and Mass Protest
Conclusion: What unmet challenges did peace and prosperity mask?
Chapter Review
28. Rights, Rebellion, and Reaction, 1960-1974
An American Story: Pauli Murray breaks barriers to fight for civil rights
What were the achievements of JFK’s New Frontier and LBJ’s Great Society?
Kennedy and a New Frontier in the 1960s
Johnson and the War on Poverty
Liberalism at High Tide
Legacies of the Great Society
The Judicial Revolution
How did the black freedom movement evolve?
The Flowering of Civil Rights
The Response in Washington
Black Power and Urban Rebellions
What other social movements emerged in the 1960s?
Native American Protest
Latino Struggles for Justice
Youth Rebellions, the New Left, and the Counterculture
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Student Protest
Gay Men and Lesbians Organize
Environmental Activists Mobilize
What were the goals of the new wave of feminism?
A Multifaceted Movement Emerges
Feminist Gains Spark a Countermovement
Why and where did the conservative movement gain ground?
A Grassroots Right
Nixon and the Election of 1968
Conclusion: What were the lasting effects of sixties-era reform?
Chapter Review
29. Confronting Limits, 1961-1979
An American Story: Lieutenant Frederick Downs Jr. returns home wounded to a divided country
What led to the United States’ deepening involvement in Vietnam?
Anti-Communism in the Kennedy Years
A Growing War in Southeast Asia
An All-Out Commitment in Vietnam
Those Who Served
How did a war abroad provoke a war at home?
The Antiwar Movement
The Tet Offensive and Steps Toward Peace
The Tumultuous Election of 1968
How did U.S. foreign policy change under Nixon?
Détente with the Soviet Union and China
U.S. Interventions around the World
Nixon’s War in Vietnam
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Ending the War in Vietnam
Peace Accords
The Legacy of Defeat
What accounted for the growth of conservatism in the 1970s?
The End of the Boom
Nixon Courts the Right
The Election of 1972
The Watergate Scandal
The Ford Presidency and the 1976 Election
What challenges did the Carter Administration face?
A Retreat from Liberalism
Energy and Environmental Reform
Promoting Human Rights Abroad
New Foreign Crises
Conclusion: How did the constraints of the 1970s reshape U.S. policy and politics?
Chapter Review
30. Divisions At Home and Abroad in a Conservative Era, 1980-2000
An American Story: Phyllis Schlafly promotes conservatism
What conservative goals were realized during Reagan’s presidency?
Appealing to the New Right and Beyond
Unleashing Free Enterprise
Winners and Losers in a Flourishing Economy
What strategies did liberals use to fight the rightward turn?
Battles in the Courts and Congress
Feminism on the Defensive
The Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: Protecting Gay and Lesbian Rights
Why did the Cold War intensify and how did it end?
Militarization and Interventions Abroad
The Iran-Contra Scandal
Soviet-American Relations Transformed
A "New World Order"
War in Central America and the Persian Gulf
What led to increased political polarization in the 1990s?
Gridlock in Government
The 1992 Election
Clinton’s Reforms
Accommodating the Right
Impeaching the President
How did Clinton respond to the challenges of globalization?
The Booming Economy of the 1990s
Debates over Free Trade
Defining America’s Place in a New World Order
Conclusion: What were the legacies of the "Reagan Revolution"?
Chapter Review
31. America in a New Century, Since 2000
An American Story: Jose Antonio Vargas faces anti-immigrant sentiments in the U.S.
How did George W. Bush alter the focus of U.S. foreign and domestic policy?
The Disputed Election of 2000
The 9/11 Attacks
Security and Civil Liberties
Unilateralism and the "War on Terror"
Domestic Achievements—and Disasters
What were the strengths and weaknesses of the American economy?
Globalized Labor and Production
Immigration and its Discontents
The New Economy and the Old
What obstacles stood in the way of Obama’s reform agenda?
A Post-Racial America?
Governing with Resistance
Multilateralism in Foreign Policy
How did new social movements change politics?
Progressives Mobilize
Civil Rights and Black Lives
Social Media and Activism
What was the significance of the 2016 election?
Platforms, Polls, and Protests
ANALYZING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE: New Media: Bad for Democracy?
Right-wing Populism on the Rise
A Retreat from U.S. Global Leadership
Conclusion: In a deeply polarized America, was there any common ground?
Chapter Review
APPENDICES
I. Documents
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the United States
Amendments to the Constitution with Annotations (including the six unratified amendments)
II. Government and Demographics
Presidential Elections
Supreme Court Justices
Population Growth, 1630–2010
Major Trends in Immigration, 1820-2010
Glossary
Index
About the Authors
Authors
James L. Roark
Francois Furstenberg
Sarah Stage
Sarah Igo
Michael P. Johnson
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