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Hypertext History: Our Online American History Textbook

An interactive, multimedia history of the United States from the Revolution to the
present.

Interactive Timelines
The key events that made American History.

Guided Readings:

The First Americans

No aspect of our past is more enshrouded in myth and misconceptions than the
history of Native Americans. This chapter examines the rich and diverse cultures
of the first Americans and the far -reaching consequences of their encounter with
Europeans.
Exploration and Discovery
The fifteenth and sixteenth century voyages of discovery brought Europe, Africa,
and the Americas into direct contact, producing an exchange of foods, animals,
and diseases that scholars call the “Columbian Exchange. ”
Colonization
Here, you will learn about the economic, religious, and social developments that
led Europeans to colonize new lands; the differences between Spanish, French,
and English colonization; and the difficulties they encountered as a result of the
varied climates and topographies.
The Origins and Nature of New World Slavery
Slave labor played an indispensable role in the settlement and development of
the New World. This chapter examines slavery in the ancient, medieval, and
early modern world; the process of enslavement; the Middle Passage; and the
evolution of slavery in colonial, revolutionary, and antebellum America.
Patterns of Change 1700-1775
In this chapter you will learn about England ’s efforts to create an empire based
on mercantilist principles and the conflicts that these efforts to assert control
produce. You will also learn about the forces that transformed colonial life,
including an expanding population, economic stratification, the Enlightenment,
and the Great Awakening.
The American Revolution
This chapter examines the series of events that ruptured relations between
Britain and the American colonies, and the long and bitter war that the colonists
waged in order to gain independence.
The Founders
This chapter examines the key figures who led the struggle for independence and
drafted the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The Critical Period: America in the 1780s
In this chapter, you learn abut the internal difficulties besetting the new republic,
such as financing war debts, the threat of a military coup, and popular demand

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for tax relief, as well as efforts to expand freedom of religion, make land more
readily available, increase women ’s educational opportunities, and address the
problem of slavery.
The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights
This chapter examines the creation of a new government based on the principles
of popular sovereignty, rule of law, and legislation enacted by elected
representatives.
The First New Nation
During the first 12 years under the Constitution, the United States established
the machinery of government, defined the office and powers of the president,
enacted a financial program that secured the nation ’s credit and stimulated the
economy, and created the first political parties to involve the voting population in
national politics.
Antislavery
This chapter examines the growth of antislavery thought, the colonization
movement, the emergence of immediatist abolition, and political antislavery.
Jeffersonian Republicanism
Here you will learn about Thomas Jefferson ’s efforts to reestablish republican
government by reducing the federal budget and Federalist influence over the
judiciary, the emergence of the doctrine of judicial review, and the Louisiana
Purchase, as well as British and French threats to American shipping and the
causes and significance of the War of 1812.
The Era of Good Feelings
The War of 1812 stirred a new sense of nationalism, evident in a series of
landmark Supreme Court decisions and in foreign policy, especially the Monroe
Doctrine. Paradoxically, these years also exacerbated political and sectional
conflicts. The financial Panic of 1819 produced new political divisions and the
Missouri crisis contributed to a sectional split between North and South.
Jacksonian Democracy
Between 1820 and 1840 property qualifications for voting and officeholding were
repealed, voter participation increased, and a new two -party system emerged.
President Andrew Jackson opened Indian lands to white settlement, destroyed
the Second Bank of the United States, and denied a state the right to nullify the
federal tariff.
Pre-Civil War American Culture
Before the Civil War, American literature began to employ native scenes and
characters; the Transcendentalists popularized a philosophy that emphasized
each person ’s potentialities and glorified nature as a creative force; and a
popular commercial culture emerged, including the penny press, the minstrel
show, and the western adventure novel.
Pre-Civil War Reform
This chapter examines the social, intellectual, and religious roots of early 19th
century reform movements, and the efforts of reformers in the areas of
education, criminal justice, the treatment of the mentally ill; and the abolitionist
and women ’s rights movements.
Religion and the Early Republic
This chapter traces the growth of liberal and evangelical religion in early 19th
century America.
The Roots of American Economic Growth
After the War of 1812, the economy grew at rapid pace, as the nation overcame
obstacles that stood in the way of sustained economic growth. Improved
transportation and communication, technological innovation, the rise of the
factory system, and mass immigration transformed the United States into an
industrial leader.
The Struggle for Public Schools

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During the early 19th century, educational reformers established the nation ’s
first systems of public education.
Westward Expansion
During the 1830s and 1840s, the United States acquired vast new territories in
the West. This chapter describes the Native Americans and Mexicans who
inhabited the region; the forces that drove traders, missionaries, and pioneers
westward; and the acquisition of western lands by annexation, negotiation, and
war.
The Pre-Civil War South
This chapter critically evaluates stereotypes about the “Old” South, analyzes the
impact of slavery on the southern economy, traces the decline of antislavery
sentiment in the South, and examines the efforts of Southern nationalists to
promote industry and a distinctive southern identity.
The Impending Crisis
During the 1850s, the political system became incapable of resolving the
sectional disputes between the North and South. This chapter analyzes the
Compromise of 1850, including the Fugitive Slave Law; the demise of the Whig
Party and the emergence of the Republican party; the Kansas -Nebraska Act; the
Dred Scott decision; and John Brown ’s raid.
Tragedy of the Plains Indians

The Civil War

This chapter examines the election of 1860, the secession crisis, the relative
strengths and weaknesses of the Union and the Confederacy, the military history
of the war, as well as the economic and social changes the war produced.
Reconstruction
Here you will learn about President Lincoln ’s and President Johnson ’s plans to
readmit the Confederate states to the Union; the more stringent Congressional
plan; the struggle between President Johnson and Congress, including the
impeachment vote; the Reconstruction era ’s contributions to civil rights; the
reasons for Reconstruction ’s demise; and the emergence of sharecropping.
Along the Color Line
This chapter examines African American life in the South after Reconstruction. It
analyzes lynching, the convict lease system, segregation and disfranchisement,
the judicial response to Jim Crow, and responses to Booker T. Washington ’s
policy of racial accommodation.
Closing the Western Frontier
This chapter chronicles the construction of the transcontinental railroad; the
settlement of the Great Plains; the mining, cattle, and farming frontiers; the oil
industry ’s birth; and popular culture ’s treatment of the Western frontier.
Industrialization and the Working Class
This chapter examines the impact of and responses to industrialization among
American workers, including the attempt to form labor unions despite strong
opposition from many industrialists and the courts.
The Huddled Masses
In this chapter you learn about the new immigrants from eastern and southern
Europe and the anti -immigrant reaction.
The Making of Modern America
The late 19th century saw the advent of new communication technologies,
including the phonograph, the telephone, and radio; the rise of mass -circulation
newspapers and magazines; the growth of commercialized entertainment, as
well as new sports, including basketball, bicycling, and football, and appearance
of new transportation technologies, such as the automobile, electric trains and
trolleys.

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The Rise of Big Business

This chapter traces the rise of the corporation as the dominant form of business
organization in the United States. It describes the economic, legal, and
technological factors that encouraged rapid industrialization, the history of
business consolidation, and the growth of new management techniques.
The Rise of the City
This chapter traces the changing nature of the American city in the late 19th
century, the expansion of cities horizontally and vertically, the problems caused
by urban growth, the depiction of cities in art and literature, and the emergence
of new forms of urban entertainment.
The Struggle for Women's Suffrage
This chapter traces the 72 -year-long struggle for women ’s suffrage and the
suffrage movement ’s impact, as well as the campaign for birth control.
The Gilded Age
The 1880s and 1890s were years of unprecedented technological innovation,
mass immigration, and intense political partisanship, including disputes over
currency, tariffs, political corruption and patronage, and railroads and business
trusts.
United States Becomes a World Power
This chapter examines the reasons why the United States adopted a more
aggressive foreign policy at the end of the 19th century; the causes, military
history, and consequences of the Spanish American War; and early 20th century
U.S. involvement in China, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
The Political Crisis of the 1890s
The 1890s were turbulent years that saw labor violence, racial tensions, unrest
among farmers, and discontent among the unemployed. Particular attention is
paid to the problems facing the nation ’s farmers, farmers ’ efforts to organize,
and the critical election of 1896.
The Progressive Era
This chapter examines the sources of the progressive movement; progressivism
at the municipal, state, and national levels, and the influence of progressive
ideas on foreign policy.
The Twentieth Century
An overview of the far -reaching economic and social changes that transformed
American society in the 20th century, including innovations in science and
technology, economic productivity, mass communication and mass
entertainment, health and living standards, the role of government, gender
roles, and conceptions of freedom.
America at War: World War I
This chapter examines the war ’s causes, the reasons why the United States
intervened in the conflict, how American industry was mobilized for war, wartime
propaganda and political repression, and the social changes and unrest produced
by the war.
The Jazz Age: The American 1920s
The 1920s was a decade of major cultural conflicts as well as a period when
many features of a modern consumer culture took root. In this chapter, you will
learn about the clashes over alcohol, evolution, foreign immigration, and race,
and also about the growth of cities, the rise of a consumer culture, and the
revolution in morals and manners.
1930s
This section examines why the seemingly boundless prosperity of the 1920s
ended so suddenly and why the Depression lasted as long as it did. It assesses
the Depression's human toll and the policies adopted to combat the crisis. It
devotes particular attention to the Depression's impact on African Americans, the
elderly, Mexican Americans, labor, and women. In addition to assessing the ideas

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that informed the New Deal policies, this chapter examines the New Deal's
critics, and evaluate the New Deal's impact.
America at War: World War II
In this chapter, you will learn about the war ’s causes, the Holocaust, the military
history of the war, the impact of the war on women and racial and ethnic
minorities, the internment of Japanese Americans, and the dawn of the atomic
age.
Postwar America: 1945 - 1960
The chapter examines the origins of the Cold War; the implementation of the
Containment policy; the Korean War; and fear of Communist subversion at
home. It also traces the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement; the
emergence of youth culture; and postwar cultural critics, including the Beats.
America in Ferment: The Tumultuous 1960s
This chapter examines the Civil Rights struggle against segregation and racial
equality; the feminist fight for equal educational and employment opportunity;
the Mexican American battle against discrimination in voting, education, and
employment; the Native American campaign for tribal sovereignty and land
rights; the gay and lesbian drive to end discrimination based on sexual
preference; and the environmentalist campaign to reduce pollution and promote
conservation.
Vietnam War
This chapter discusses how American became involved in southeast Asia; the
escalation of American involvement in the Vietnam war; reactions to the war on
the homefront; President Nixon ’s strategies for ending the war; and cultural
reactions to the war.
The Past Three Decades: Years of Crisis - Years of Triumph
This chapter examines the impact of the collapse of Communism on international
stability; the resurgence of the American economy during the 1990s; the
presidencies of George Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush; and American
responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

This site was updated on 07-Dec-10.

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