American History: A Very Short Introduction
American History: A Very Short Introduction

Author: Paul S. Boyer

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-08-16

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 0199911657

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This volume in Oxford's A Very Short Introduction series offers a concise, readable narrative of the vast span of American history, from the earliest human migrations to the early twenty-first century when the United States loomed as a global power and comprised a complex multi-cultural society of more than 300 million people. The narrative is organized around major interpretive themes, with facts and dates introduced as needed to illustrate these themes. The emphasis throughout is on clarity and accessibility to the interested non-specialist.

The Coming of the Civil War
The Coming of the Civil War

Author: Avery Craven

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1957

Total Pages: 508

ISBN-13: 0226118940

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A stimulating and profound analysis of the factors which brought a nation into war with itself.

Prologue to Conflict
Prologue to Conflict

Author: Holman Hamilton

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-05-11

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 0813183081

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This account of the failed Compromise of 1850 a decade before the Civil War “has all the suspense of a novel . . . incisive and provocative” (The Journal of American History). In 1850, America was expanding rapidly westward as countless citizens went in search of land, opportunity—and, thanks to the gold rush in California, fortune. With settlements growing into towns and towns growing into cities, there was an urgent need for state and local government. But the simmering tension over slavery that existed between North and South would boil over as the effort to draw boundaries and establish civil administration proceeded. The slave states were concerned about the delicate balance of power tipping in the North’s favor, while the free states were wary about an expansion of slavery. The debate in the United States Senate lasted for months, and the nation waited anxiously for a resolution. This book tells the story of these events and analyzes their political complexities—and how they served as a dramatic prologue to the civil war that would erupt a decade later.

Historical Dictionary of the Old South
Historical Dictionary of the Old South

Author: William Lee Richter

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 592

ISBN-13: 081087914X

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The South played a prominent role in early American history, and its position was certainly strong and proud except for the "peculiar institution" of slavery. Thus, it drew away from the rest of an expanding nation, and in 1861 declared secession and developed a Confederacy... that ultimately lost the war. Indeed, for some time it was occupied. Thus, the South has a very mixed legacy, with good and bad aspects, and sometimes the two of them mixed. Which only enhances the need for a careful and balanced approach. This can be found in the Historical Dictionary of the Old South, which first traces its history from colonial times to the end of the Civil War in a substantial chronology. Particularly interesting is the introduction, which analyzes the rise and the fall, the good and the bad, as well as the middling and indifferent, over nigh on two centuries. The details are filled in very amply in over 600 dictionary entries on the politics, economy, society and culture of the Old South. An ample bibliography directs students and researchers toward other sources of information.

Hanging Together
Hanging Together

Author: John Higham

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2001-01-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0300129823

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This book presents three decades of writings by one of America's most distinguished historians. John Higham, renowned for his influential works on immigration, ethnicity, political symbolism, and the writing of history, here traces the changing contours of American culture since its beginnings, focusing on the ways that an extraordinarily mobile society has allowed divergent ethnic, class, and ideological groups to "hang together" as Americans. The book includes classic essays by Higham and more recent writings, some of which have been substantially revised for this publication. Topics range widely from the evolution of American national symbols and the fate of our national character to new perspectives on the New Deal, on other major turning points, and on changes in race relations after major American wars. Yet they are unified by an underlying theme: that a heterogeneous society and an inclusive national culture need each other.