American History, Volume 1

American History, Volume 1 surveys the broad sweep of American history from the first Native American societies to the end of the Reconstruction period, following the Civil War. Drawing on a deep range of research and years of classroom teaching experience, Thomas S. Kidd offers students an engaging overview of the first half of American history. The volume features illuminating stories of people from well known presidents and generals, to lesser-known men and women who struggled under slavery and other forms of oppression to make their place in American life. The role of Christianity in America is central in this book. Americans’ faith sometimes inspired awakenings and the search for an equitable society, but at other times, it justified violence and inequality. Students will come away from American History, Volume 1 better prepared to grapple with the challenges presented by the history of America’s founding, the problem of slavery, and our nation’s political tradition.

1. Opening Credits
2. Introduction
3. Chapter 1: Early American Encounters
4. Chapter 2: England and Its Colonies
5. Chapter 3: A Maturing Colonial Society
6. Chapter 4: The Coming of Independence
7. Chapter 5: The American Revolution and the Constitution
8. Chapter 6: The Early National Period
9. Chapter 7: A Growing Republic
10. Chapter 8: The Age of Andrew Jackson
11. Chapter 9: The American West
12. Chapter 10: Learning and Belief in Antebellum America
13. Chapter 11: The Crisis of the 1850s
14. Chapter 12: Secession and the Coming of the Civil War
15. Chapter 13: The Civil War Begins
16. Chapter 14: To Appomattox Courthouse
17. Chapter 15: Reconstruction
18. Closing Credits