Authors: John Thompson, James Miller, Hugh Ambrose
ISBN-13: 9781426200991, ISBN-10: 1426200994
Format: Paperback
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Date Published: August 2007
Edition: Reprint
James Miller earned his Ph.D. in history from Indiana University. After teaching at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, he was an editor in economics and history. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, and is currently writing a full-scale biography of a major figure in American history.
John Thompson is the author of six National Geographic books, including America's Historic Trails and Wildlands of the Upper South, and is currently researching a book on Benedict Arnold's march to Quebec. He lives with his family in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Featuring National Geographic's hallmark combination of stunning images, superb maps, authoritative narrative, and concise, penetrating analysis, the Almanac of American History has been carefully designed to offer its readers not just a wider and deeper understanding of our country's development, but also an inviting mix of fascinating facts and colorful graphics that make it a browser's delight.
After the Introduction by respected historian Hugh Ambrose and a special feature on how to use the Almanac's features most efficiently, the book is divided into four major parts, each exploring a different aspect of America's history. The first explores the continent's geology and geography to answer the fundamental question of how the vast, rich landscape shaped both our expanding society and our sense of ourselves. In Section 2, Milestones, twelve essays discuss how America evolved from a sparsely settled wilderness into the global leader it is today. Section 3 covers the major eras in America's history, beginning with the earliest Native Americans and closing with the first decade of a new millennium. Finally, a thematically organized section discusses such important topics as Leaders, Wars, Religion and Beliefs, and Presidents. An appendix features Milestone Documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and more. A bibliography and a comprehensive index complete this indispensable reference.
Foreword | 9 | |
About This Book | 10 | |
The Land | ||
In the Beginning | 14 | |
Milestones | ||
Immigration | 20 | |
Religion in America | 22 | |
The Rise of Democracy | 24 | |
Language | 26 | |
Legal System | 28 | |
Slavery | 30 | |
Industry | 32 | |
Social Reform | 34 | |
Conservation & Environment | 36 | |
Civil Rights | 38 | |
Space Race | 40 | |
Global Mission | 42 | |
Major Eras | ||
Early Americans: Prehistory-A.D. 1700 | 46 | |
Paleolithic and Archaic Indians 18,000-1000 B.C. | 48 | |
Beringia Challenged | 51 | |
Woodland Era 1000 B.C.-A.D. 1400 | 52 | |
Complex Societies A.D. 1000-1540 | 54 | |
Alaska's Indigenous People | 57 | |
At Contact 1492-1700 | 60 | |
Indian Dwellings | 63 | |
World Survey Prehistory-A.D. 1700 | 66 | |
Europe Discovers America: 1000-1775 | 68 | |
Vikings 793-1042 | 70 | |
Spain in North America 1492-1800 | 72 | |
Christopher Columbus | 75 | |
France 1534-1763 | 78 | |
Northern Europe 1621-1867 | 80 | |
England 1584-1732 | 82 | |
John Smith | 85 | |
Colonial Life 1612-1752 | 86 | |
Witches in Salem | 89 | |
Slave Trade 1619-1775 | 90 | |
Colonial Wars 1675-1775 | 92 | |
World Survey 1000-1775 | 94 | |
The Revolution Era: 1765-1801 | 96 | |
The Revolution Begins 1765-1775 | 98 | |
Paul Revere | 101 | |
George III | 103 | |
Revolutionary War 1775-1781 | 104 | |
Benjamin Franklin | 107 | |
The New Nation 1782-1801 | 110 | |
The Stars and Stripes | 112 | |
World Survey 1765-1801 | 116 | |
Continental Expansion: 1803-1853 | 118 | |
Moving West 1803-1819 | 120 | |
War of 1812 1812-1815 | 124 | |
Transportation Revolution 1794-1855 | 126 | |
Robert Fulton | 129 | |
The Jacksonian Period 1829-1837 | 130 | |
Alexis de Tocqueville | 133 | |
Texas Joins the Union 1836-1848 | 134 | |
The Alamo | 137 | |
Indian Removals 1830-1850 | 138 | |
Westward Expansion 1821-1853 | 140 | |
The Donner Party | 144 | |
World Survey 1803-1853 | 146 | |
A Divided Nation: 1817-1877 | 148 | |
Missouri Compromise 1817-1821 | 150 | |
Road to War 1822-1860 | 152 | |
Uncle Tom's Cabin | 155 | |
Lincoln-Douglas Debates | 156 | |
Civil War 1861-1865 | 158 | |
Sherman's March to the Sea | 162 | |
The Cost of War | 165 | |
Lee and Grant at Appomattox | 167 | |
Reconstruction 1865-1877 | 168 | |
Reconstruction Legislatures | 170 | |
World Survey 1817-1877 | 172 | |
From Sea to Shining Sea: 1867-1896 | 174 | |
Tracks Across the Continent 1865-1890 | 176 | |
"Seward's Ice Box" | 178 | |
The Last Indian Wars 1862-1900 | 180 | |
Carlisle School | 182 | |
The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee | 184 | |
Closing the Frontier 1865-1896 | 186 | |
The Great Land Rush | 189 | |
Gilded Age Politics 1873-1896 | 190 | |
World Survey 1867-1896 | 192 | |
Modern America Rises: 1870-1917 | 194 | |
The Birth of Industrial America 1859-1911 | 196 | |
Coal-Oil Johnny | 199 | |
Booms, Busts, and Labor Struggles 1869-1912 | 200 | |
"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor..." | 203 | |
The New South 1865-1909 | 204 | |
Urban Growth in the North 1870-1917 | 206 | |
Progressivism 1887-1916 | 208 | |
A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight | 210 | |
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire | 213 | |
America Builds an Empire 1889-1917 | 214 | |
Anti-Imperialists and Imperialists | 216 | |
World Survey 1870-1917 | 218 | |
Becoming a Great Power: 1914-1933 | 220 | |
Into the Great War 1914-1918 | 222 | |
A World "Safe for Democracy" 1918-1920 | 224 | |
Harlem Hellfighters | 227 | |
Normalcy and Cultural Conflict 1921-1929 | 228 | |
The Scopes Trial | 231 | |
The Stresses of Modernization 1920-1930 | 234 | |
The House That Ruth Built | 236 | |
The Jazz Age 1920-1929 | 238 | |
World Survey 1914-1933 | 240 | |
Remaking America: 1929-1945 | 242 | |
The Great Depression 1929-1933 | 244 | |
Henry Ford-Revolutionary and Reactionary | 247 | |
The New Deal 1933-1940 | 248 | |
HUAC Investigates Un-American Activities, 1938 | 251 | |
Culture and Life in the Depression 1933-1939 | 252 | |
The Road to World War II 1931-1941 | 254 | |
At War 1941-1945 | 256 | |
Japanese-American Internment | 259 | |
The Navajo Code Talkers | 262 | |
World Survey 1929-1945 | 264 | |
Cold War America: 1945-1989 | 266 | |
The Atomic Age 1945-1960 | 268 | |
The Rosenbergs | 271 | |
Korea and McCarthyism 1950-1957 | 272 | |
Fifties Society, Faith, and Science 1946-1964 | 274 | |
Kennedy and the Space Race 1960-1972 | 276 | |
Civil Rights Revolution 1954-1963 | 278 | |
Jackie Robinson Desegragates Baseball | 281 | |
The Vietnam War 1963-1968 | 282 | |
Great Society and Great Unrest 1962-1976 | 286 | |
The New Left | 288 | |
Personal Freedom 1956-1981 | 290 | |
A Post-Imperial Presidency 1972-1984 | 292 | |
Looking Out for the Environment 1962-1992 | 294 | |
World Survey 1945-1989 | 296 | |
Global Hegemony: 1985-Present | 298 | |
The Cold War Ends 1981-1991 | 300 | |
The Gulf War | 302 | |
Politics of Culture War 1991-2001 | 304 | |
O.J. Simpson | 307 | |
Oklahoma City Bombing | 309 | |
Gay Marriage | 310 | |
Globalization Since 1945 | 312 | |
Biomedicine | 314 | |
The Hubble Space Telescope | 317 | |
Perils of the New Millennium Since 2001 | 318 | |
9/11 | 321 | |
World Survey 1985-Present | 324 | |
At a Glance | ||
Native Americans Today | 328 | |
Notable Accomplishments | 336 | |
Leaders and People of Note | 338 | |
Sports | 342 | |
Scientists and Inventors | 344 | |
Artists | 348 | |
Explorers | 352 | |
Periods and Movements | 354 | |
Religious Groups | 356 | |
Appendix | 360 | |
Recommended Reading | 371 | |
Index | 372 | |
Illustrations Credits | 383 |