The political history of the United States is intimately tied with its social, economic and cultural development. Co-authors Mark Carnes and John Garraty explore this relationship and show how it took the voices and actions of many peoples to produce this singular political structure - The United States of America. Long renowned for its elegant narrative style,The American Nationin this Thirteenth Edition retains its most significant strength-its rich and memorable prose.

Mapsand Graphs Features American Lives Re-Viewing the Past Mapping the Past Debating the Past Preface About the Authors PROLOGUE Beginnings First Peoples The Demise of the Big Mammals The Archaic Period: A World Without Big Mammals The First Sedentary Communities The Maize Revolution The Diffusion of Corn Population Growth After 800 Cahokia: The Hub of Mississippian Culture The Collapse of Urban Centers Eurasia and Africa Europe in Ferment DEBATING THE PAST Who-or What-Killed the Big Mammals? Mapping the Past Debate over the Earliest Route to the Americas Chapter 1 Alien Encounters: Europe in the Americas Sightings Columbusrs"s Great Triumph-and Error Spainrs"s American Empire Extending Spainrs"s Empire to the North Disease and Population Losses Ecological Imperialism Spainrs"s European Rivals The Protestant Reformation English Beginnings in America The Settlement of Virginia "Purifying" the Church of England Bradford and Plymouth Colony Winthrop and Massachusetts Bay Colony Tr