American History, Volume 1 1492-1877

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.

Thomas S. Kidd is the associate director of the Institute for Studies of Religion, and distinguished professor of history at Baylor University. 

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