THE BRIEF AMERICAN PAGEANT presents a concise and vivid chronological narrative, focusing on the central themes and great public debates that have dominated American history. Colorful anecdotes, first-person quotations, and the text’s trademark wit are all evident throughout. The strong historical narrative is highlighted by focus questions, chapter outlines and summaries, marginal glossaries, and special features such as “Makers of America”, “Examining the Evidence”, and “Thinking Globally”. Links to additional online study aids ensure that students understand and retain the material as they read and prepare for exams. Available in the following split options: Volume I: To 1877 (Chapters 1–22), ISBN: 9781285193304; Volume II: Since 1865 (Chapters 22–41), ISBN: 9781285193311.

Part I: FOUNDING THE NEW NATION ca. 33,000 B.C.E.–1783 C.E.
1. New World Beginnings 33,000 B.C.E.–1769 C.E.
2. The Planting of English America 1500–1733.
3. Settling the Northern Colonies 1619–1700.
4. American Life in the Seventeenth Century 1607–1692.
5. Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution 1700–1775.
6. The Duel for North America 1608–1763.
7. The Road to Revolution 1763–1775.
8. America Secedes from the Empire 1775–1783.
Part II: BUILDING THE NEW NATION 1776-1860.
9. The Confederation and the Constitution 1776–1790.
10. Launching the New Ship of State 1789–1800.
11. The Triumphs and Travails of the Jeffersonian Republic 1800–1812.
12. The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism 1812–1824.
13. The Rise of a Mass Democracy 1824–1840.
14. Forging the National Economy 1790–1860.
15. The Ferment of Reform and Culture 1790–1860.
Part III: TESTING THE NEW NATION 1820–1877.
16. The South and the Slavery Controversy 1793–1860.
17. Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy 1841–1848.
18. Renewing the Sectional Struggle 1848–1854.
19. Drifting Toward Disunion 1854–1861.
20. Girding for War: The North and the South 1861–1865.
21. The Furnace of Civil War 1861–1865.
22. The Ordeal of Reconstruction 1865–1877.

THE BRIEF AMERICAN PAGEANT presents a concise and vivid chronological narrative, focusing on the central themes and great public debates that have dominated American history. Colorful anecdotes, first-person quotations, and the text’s trademark wit are all evident throughout. The strong historical narrative is highlighted by focus questions, chapter outlines and summaries, marginal glossaries, and special features such as “Makers of America”, “Examining the Evidence”, and “Thinking Globally”. Links to additional online study aids ensure that students understand and retain the material as they read and prepare for exams. Available in the following split options: Volume I: To 1877 (Chapters 1–22), ISBN: 9781285193304; Volume II: Since 1865 (Chapters 22–41), ISBN: 9781285193311. A renewed and strengthened global focus throughout the Ninth Edition helps students appreciate the American story within a worldwide context. An expanded set of “Thinking Globally” essays demonstrates how developments in North America were part of worldwide phenomena. New essays include “Alexis de Tocqueville on Democracy in America and Europe” (Chapter 13), “America and the World in Depression and War: A Study in Contrasts” (Chapter 34), and “The Global 1960s” (Chapter 37). Much of the post-World War II material (Chapters 35–41) has been revised and updated. Fresh and lively discussions examine America’s postwar power and prosperity, the “challenges to the postwar order,” the rise of political conservatism, and the post-Cold War and post-9/11 developments in foreign policy. Instructors who want to engage students with recent American history -- the last 75 years -- will find insightful and exciting treatments. Colorful anecdotes, first-person quotations, and the text’s trademark wit contribute to the book’s reputation as one of the most popular, effective, and entertaining texts in American history. The popular “Makers of America” feature brings alive not only major ethnic and social groups (the Plains Indians, Italian Americans, the Vietnamese), but also prominent social and political groups and movements (the Oneida Community, the Environmentalists, the Feminists). These exceptionally well-written essays add depth and personality to the historical presentation in the text. Quote boxes sprinkled liberally throughout the chapters take students back to the period under discussion and give them a sense of what people of the time said and thought about various events, questions, and controversies. “Examining the Evidence” features give students a chance to practice the art of historical thinking by showing how historians develop interpretations of the past. They cover a wide range of sources that lead students to discover: how a letter from a black freedman to his former master illuminates his family’s hopes for a new life; what the manuscript census teaches us about immigrant households in New York in 1900; how political cartoons work to make points with satire and humor; or how the shopping mall changed consumers’ behavior and politicians’ campaign tactics after World War II. The maps in the text are exceedingly clear and closely linked to the textual narrative. They provide precise topographical detail and clear labels to better communicate the text’s analytical points. In addition, a global locator map in a corner of each map provides geographical context for the area under discussion. Key terms are highlighted in the text and defined in the margins where they are first introduced. Both key terms and key people lists appear at the end of the chapter to help students review chapter highlights. In every chapter, focus questions, chapter outlines and summaries, marginal glossaries, and links to related primary sources ensure that students understand and retain the material as they read and prepare for exams.