Known for its clear narrative voice and impeccable scholarship, Alan Brinkley's best-selling survey text 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 sixth edition features a new 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.

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
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"
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Impending Crisis
Looking Westward
Expansion and War
The Sectional Debate
The Crisis of the 1850s
Conclusion
For Further Reference
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
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
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