CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD

New Peoples -- New England -- The Middle Colonies
The Southern Colonies -- Society, Schools and Culture -- Emergence of Colonial Government
The French and Indian War -- The Witches of Salem

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

A New Colonial System -- Stamp Act -- Taxation Without Representation
Townshend Acts-- Samuel Adams -- Boston "Tea Party" -- The Coercive Acts
The Revolution Begins -- Common Sense and Independence -- Defeats and Victories
Franco-American Alliance -- The British Move South -- Victory and Independence
Loyalists During the American Revolution

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

State Constitutions -- Articles of Confederation -- The Problem of Expansion
Constitutional Convention -- Debate and Compromise -- Ratification and the Bill of Rights
President Washington -- Hamilton vs. Jefferson -- Citizen Genet and Foreign Policy
Adams and Jefferson -- Louisiana and Britain -- War of 1812
The Second Great Awakening

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES

Building Unity -- Extension of Slavery -- Latin America and the Monroe Doctrine
Factionalism and Political Parties -- Nullification Crisis -- Battle of the Bank
Whigs, Democrats and "Know-Nothings" -- Stirrings of Reform -- Women's Rights
Westward -- Seneca Falls

CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICT

Two Americas -- Lands of Promise -- Slavery and Sectionalism -- The Abolitionists
Texas and War with Mexico -- The Compromise of 1850 -- A Divided Nation
Lincoln, Douglas and Brown -- Secession and Civil War
Western Advance, Eastern Stalemate -- Gettysburg to Appomattox
With Malice Toward None -- Radical Reconstruction
The End of Reconstruction -- Peace Democrats, Copperheads and Draft Riots

CHAPTER 7: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION

Technology and Change -- Carnegie and the Era of Steel -- Corporations and Cities
Railroads, Regulations and the Tariff -- Revolution in Agriculture -- The Divided South
The Last Frontier -- The Plight of the Indians -- Ambivalent Empire
The Canal and the Americas -- United States and Asia

CHAPTER 8: DISCONTENT AND REFORM

Agrarian Distress and the Rise of Populism -- The Struggles of Labor -- The Reform Impulse
Roosevelt's Reforms -- Taft and Wilson -- A Nation of Nations

CHAPTER 9: WAR, PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION

War and Neutral Rights -- United States Enters World War I -- The League of Nations
Postwar Unrest -- The Booming 1920s -- Tensions Over Immigration -- Clash of Cultures
The Great Depression

CHAPTER 10: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR

Roosevelt and the New Deal -- Unemployment -- Agriculture -- Industry and Labor
The Second New Deal -- A New Coalition -- Eve of World War II
Japan, Pearl Harbor and War -- The War in North Africa and Europe -- The War in the Pacific
The Politics of War -- War, Victory and the Bomb -- The Rise of Industrial Unions

CHAPTER 11: POSTWAR AMERICA

Consensus and Change -- Cold War Aims -- Harry Truman's Leadership
Origins of the Cold War -- Containment -- The Cold War in Asia and the Middle East
Eisenhower and the Cold War -- The Cold War at Home -- The Postwar Economy: 1945-1960
The Fair Deal -- Eisenhower's Approach -- The Culture of the 1950s
Origins of the Civil Rights Movement -- Desegregation

CHAPTER 12: DECADES OF CHANGE

Kennedy and the New Frontier -- Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society
Confrontation Over Cuba -- The Space Program -- The War in Vietnam -- Detente
Nixon's Accomplishments and Defeats -- The Ford Interlude -- The Carter Years
Post-Vietnam Foreign Policy -- The Civil Rights Movement 1960-1980
The Women's Movement -- The Latino Movement
The Native American Movement -- The Counter-Culture and Environmentalism

CHAPTER 13: TOWARD THE 21ST CENTURY

A Society in Transition -- Conservatism and the Rise of Ronald Reagan
The Economy in the 1980s -- Foreign Affairs -- U.S.-Soviet Relations -- Space Shuttle
Iran-Contra and Black Monday -- The Presidency of George Bush -- Budgets and Deficits
End to the Cold War -- The Gulf War -- Panama and Nafta -- 1992 Presidential Election
Afterword -- A Nation of Immigrants -- Third-Party and Independent Candidates

CHAPTER 14: BRIEF READING LIST IN AMERICAN HISTORY