Designed to encourage critical thinking about history, the MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN HISTORY series introduces students to both primary sources and analytical essays on important topics in U.S. history. This collection serves as the primary anthology for the introductory survey course, covering the subject’s entire chronological span. Comprehensive topical coverage includes politics, economics, labor, gender, culture, and social trends. The fourth edition has been revised to reflect two new historiographical trends: the emergence of the history of religion as an exceptionally lively field and the internationalization of American history. Several chapters include images, songs, and poems to give students a better “feel” for the time period and events under discussion. Key pedagogical elements of the Major Problems format have been retained: 15 to 16 chapters per volume, chapter introductions, headnotes, and suggested readings.

1. Old Worlds Make New Ones.
2. Colonial Settlements and Conflicts, 1600–1690.
3. British Colonial Development, 1690–1770.
4. The American Revolution.
5. From Confederation to Constitution.
6. Nation Among Nations.
7. Foreign Policy, Westward Movement, and Indian Removal.
8. Market and Transportation Revolutions.
9. Nationalism and Sectionalism.
10. Reform and Religion.
11. Commercial Development and Immigration.
12. Agriculture and Slavery in the South.
13. Toward Civil War.
14. Civil War.
15. Reconstruction.

Designed to encourage critical thinking about history, the MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN HISTORY series introduces students to both primary sources and analytical essays on important topics in U.S. history. This collection serves as the primary anthology for the introductory survey course, covering the subject’s entire chronological span. Comprehensive topical coverage includes politics, economics, labor, gender, culture, and social trends. The fourth edition has been revised to reflect two new historiographical trends: the emergence of the history of religion as an exceptionally lively field and the internationalization of American history. Several chapters include images, songs, and poems to give students a better “feel” for the time period and events under discussion. Key pedagogical elements of the Major Problems format have been retained: 15 to 16 chapters per volume, chapter introductions, headnotes, and suggested readings. To execute the biggest change in this edition, the shift to “America in the world,” the authors include at least one document in nearly every chapter that reflects globalization: the ways that the perspectives of people in other parts of the world affected the United States. These documents and essays also highlight the connections between American and world trends. Examples include Venezuela Declares Independence, 1810 (Ch. 4); James McCune Smith Applauds the British and French for Ending of Slavery, 1838 (Ch. 10); and Feuille du Commerce Eulogizes John Brown, January 21, 1860 (Ch. 13). Although this edition retains many documents and essays that instructors say worked well in their survey courses, each chapter has also been updated to reflect the latest scholarship and to replace excerpts that instructors found difficult to use. The inclusion of both primary and secondary sources in a single collection provides a rich analytical experience for students. The primary sources give students evidence to explore; the secondary sources expose students to key historical debates. Often the secondary essays refer to one of the primary documents, so students can see how historians integrate evidence in an interpretation. An introduction -- “How to Read Primary and Secondary Sources” -- helps students distinguish types of sources and teaches them how to read and interpret critically. A Further Reading section provides students with a wealth of classic and cutting-edge scholarship that relates to key themes in each chapter.