For introductory-level survey courses in American History.
Using a thematic approach, this concise survey explores the many and varied threads of American history-social, intellectual, cultural, political, diplomatic, economic, and military-from the arrival of the first native American inhabitants thousand of years ago throught the historic 2008 election and the new administration of Barack Obama.
A thematic approach, with chapters each organized around a significant question – designed to challenge students with the complexity, and often ambiguity, of the past and to compel them to evaluate critically different points of view – makes the learning of history a quest, and exploration, rather than a mere absorption of facts.
Multidisciplinary perspectives - reaches beyond discussions of political, diplomatic, and military events to include in-depth considerations of social, cultural, and economic matters – aims to broaden the horizon of students by showing them that history is so much more than they expected.
A focus on the enormous diversity of the American people- Expands the canon to include those who have traditionally been excluded from the Americn past and seeks to embrace the enormous diversity of the American people. The reader will find inThese United States the experiences of women as well as men; people of color, native Americans, as well as those of European extraction; youths as well as adults; the poor as well as the rich; artists, writers and musicians as well as politicians and diplomats.
“Everyday life” in America – describes how ordinary people got through the day, the week, the year in certain points in history – exposes students to the customs, behavior, ways of life, work, and play of the predecessors so that they can see their own daily life in broader perspective.
