Each chapter in CONTENDING VOICES examines the lives of two individuals, some of them familiar historical figures and some of them lesser known, who took opposing positions on important issues in American history. The “paired biographies” in the text are followed by a set of four to six related primary sources, many in the individuals’ own voices; a “Questions to Consider” section; and an annotated bibliography. This unique format promotes critical thinking and engages students in enlightening historical debates.

1. Race and Redemption in the Reconstructed South: Robert Smalls and Wade Hampton.
2. Culture and Conflict on the Late Nineteenth-Century Plains: Sitting Bull and Richard Henry Pratt.
3. Organizing Labor in the Age of Industry: Terence Powderly and Samuel Gompers.
4. Monopoly, Money, and Power in Progressive America: John D. Rockefeller and Ida Tarbell.
5. Progressives at War: Randolph Bourne and George Creel.
6. Science, Religion, and “Culture Wars” in the 1920s: William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow.
7. Politics and the Big Screen in the Great Depression: Upton Sinclair and Louis B. Mayer.
8. Racism and Relocation During World War II: Harry Ueno and Dillon Myer.
9. Confrontation and Compromise in the Cold War: James Byrnes and Henry A. Wallace.
10. Politics and Principle in the Second Red Scare: Joseph McCarthy and Margaret Chase Smith.
11. From Black Protest to Black Power: Roy Wilkins and Fannie Lou Hamer.
12. The Battles of Vietnam: Robert McNamara and Jan Barry.
13. From Mystique to Militance: Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem.
14. Individualism and the Environment in the 1980s: Edward Abbey and James Watt.
15. Fighting a “War on Terror”: Richard Clarke and John Yoo.

Each chapter in CONTENDING VOICES examines the lives of two individuals, some of them familiar historical figures and some of them lesser known, who took opposing positions on important issues in American history. The “paired biographies” in the text are followed by a set of four to six related primary sources, many in the individuals’ own voices; a “Questions to Consider” section; and an annotated bibliography. This unique format promotes critical thinking and engages students in enlightening historical debates. A revised collection of Questions to Consider at the end of each chapter encourages readers to think more critically about the individuals and issues raised in the chapter. In Chapter 2, the focus shifts to Sitting Bull and Richard Henry Pratt and the conflict in the late-nineteenth-century West between Native Americans and whites. New sources examine the views of white reformers who sought to break down Native American culture, and Indians who fought to preserve their traditional way of life. In Chapter 4, the new focus is on the conflict between John D. Rockefeller and muckraker Ida Tarbell. New sources highlight the rise of big business in the late nineteenth century, and the Progressive-era concern about the concentrated wealth and power of big business and efforts to break it up. Several chapters feature new primary sources selected to reflect the issues and conflicts presented in the chapters. Each chapter features a biographical essay focusing on two individuals who stood on different sides of important issues, while also providing students the opportunity to analyze primary sources related to each chapter’s topic. A running glossary of important historical terms, events, and people appears at the bottom of selected pages in every chapter. Each of the two volumes of CONTENDING VOICES contains 15 chapters to parallel the coverage in most survey texts. Each biographical essay features prompts for students to refer to relevant primary sources, which follow the essay in each chapter. Each chapter offers interested students a Further Reading section, including biographies, monographs, and primary works.