The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People Volume 1

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Known for its clear narrative voice and impeccable scholarship, Alan Brinkley's best-selling program for the U.S. survey course invites students to think critically about the many forces that continually create the Unfinished Nation that is the United States. In a concise but wide-ranging narrative, Brinkley shows the diversity and complexity of the nation and our understanding of its history--one that continues to evolve both in the events of the present and in our reexamination of new evidence and perspectives on the past. This edition features a series of Patterns of Popular Culture essays, as well as expanded coverage of pre-Columbian America, new America in the World essays, and updated coverage of recent events and developments that demonstrates how a new generation continues to shape the American story.

Chapter 1: The Meeting of Cultures

America Before Columbus

Europe Looks Westward

The Arrival of the English

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: The American Population Before Columbus

America in the World: The Atlantic Context of Early American History

America in the World: Mercantilism and Colonial Commerce

Chapter 2: Transplantations and Borderlands

The Early Chesapeake

The Growth of New England

The Restoration Colonies

Borderlands and Middle Grounds

The Development of Empire

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: Native Americans and "The Middle Ground"

Chapter 3: Society and Culture in Provincial America

The Colonial Population

The Colonial Economies

Patterns of Society

Awakenings and Enlightenments

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: The Origins of Slavery

Debating the Past: The Witchcraft Trials

Chapter 4: The Empire in Transition

Loosening Ties

The Struggle for the Continent

The New Imperialism

Stirrings of Revolt

Cooperation and War

Conclusion

For Further Reference

America in the World: The First Global War

Patterns of Popular Culture: Taverns in Revolutionary Massachusetts

Chapter 5: The American Revolution

The States United

The War for Independence

War and Society

The Creation of State Governments

The Search for a National Government

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: The American Revolution

America in the World: The Age of Revolutions

Chapter 6: The Constitution and the New Republic

Framing a New Government

Adoption and Adaptation

Federalists and Republicans

Establishing National Sovereignty

The Downfall of the Federalists

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: The Background of the Constitution

Chapter 7: The Jeffersonian Era

The Rise of Cultural Nationalism

Stirrings of Industrialism

Jefferson the President

Doubling the National Domain

Expansion and War

The War of 1812

Conclusion

For Further Reference

America in the World: The Global Industrial Revolution

Patterns of Popular Culture: Horse Racing

Chapter 8: Varieties of American Nationalism

Stabilizing Economic Growth

Expanding Westward

The "Era of Good Feelings"

Sectionalism and Nationalism

The Revival of Opposition

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Chapter 9: Jacksonian America

The Rise of Mass Politics

"Our Federal Union"

The Removal of the Indians

Jackson and the Bank War

The Emergence of the Second Party System

Politics After Jackson

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: Jacksonian Democracy

Patterns of Popular Culture: The Penny Press

Chapter 10: America's Economic Revolution

The Changing American Population

Transportation and Communications Revolutions

Commerce and Industry

Men and Women at Work

Patterns of Society

The Agricultural North

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Patterns of Popular Culture: Shakespeare in America

Chapter 11: Cotton, Slavery, and the Old South

The Cotton Economy

Southern White Society

The "Peculiar Institution"

The Culture of Slavery

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: The Character of Slavery

Chapter 12: Antebellum Culture and Reform

The Romantic Impulse

Remaking Society

The Crusade Against Slavery

Conclusion

For Further Reference

America in the World: The Abolition of Slavery

Chapter 13: The Impending Crisis

Looking Westward

Expansion and War

The Sectional Debate

The Crisis of the 1850s

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Chapter 14: The Civil War

The Secession Crisis

The Mobilization of the North

The Mobilization of the South

Strategy and Diplomacy

Campaigns and Battles

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: The Causes of the Civil War

Patterns of Popular Culture: Baseball and the Civil War

Chapter 15: Reconstruction and the New South

The Problems of Peacemaking

Radical Reconstruction

The South in Reconstruction

The Grant Administration

The Abandonment of Reconstruction

The New South

Conclusion

For Further Reference

Debating the Past: Reconstruction