
2. 1861
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1861” describes the events of that year, which began with the appointment of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy. Following the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, Lincoln ...
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3. 1862
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1862” covers the conscription of Confederate soldiers and the emergence of Robert E. Lee, who assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee won many significant battles against ...
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4. 1863
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1863” begins with Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 . Authorizing the enlistment of black soldiers, the proclamation helped change the Union’s fortunes and ...
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5. 1864
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1864” demonstrates that the Union defeats across Virginia in that year came at a politically precarious time for Abraham Lincoln, with rivals angling for the Republication presidential ...
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3. Achievements and challenges: The history the founding fathers made
R. B. Bernstein
in The Founding Fathers: A Very Short Introduction
For seven decades, the founding fathers played pivotal roles in creating an American nation and its constitutional system. “Achievements and challenges: The history the founding fathers ...
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8. 1945–1968: Affluence and social unrest
Paul S. Boyer
in American History: A Very Short Introduction
America in the immediate postwar period was a peculiar mix of material abundance and mass-culture distractions. Under the safety net of 1950s America, anti-communist paranoia and disquiet ...
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8. Against universalism: 1962–90s
Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen
in American Intellectual History: A Very Short Introduction
‘Against universalism’ explores the myriad challenges to universalism—in philosophy, social and political theory, and the arts—during the late twentieth century. It opens with a new view of ...
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3. The age of the city, 1860–1900
Eric Avila
in American Cultural History: A Very Short Introduction
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Americans united in an impulse to commemorate the lives lost and to coordinate that effort with new campaigns for civic beautification. “The age of the ...
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2. Alienation: December 1865–March 1867
Allen C. Guelzo
in Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction
The Radical Republicans arrived in Washington for the opening of Congress on December 4, 1865 with two major weapons in their hands: one was the party caucus and the other was the lopsided ...
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2. America and the transatlantic Enlightenment: 1741–1800
Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen
in American Intellectual History: A Very Short Introduction
‘America and the transatlantic Enlightenment’ explores how America played an important role in the making of the Enlightenment. The New World offered a startling new picture of the natural ...
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1. American culture in red, white, and black
Eric Avila
in American Cultural History: A Very Short Introduction
“American culture in red, white, and black” explains how diverse Americans planted the seeds of a new national culture during the colonial period, one that took shape through the ...
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3. Americans in the Depression
Eric Rauchway
in The Great Depression and New Deal: A Very Short Introduction
The Great Depression was, in its breadth, severity, and duration, without precedent in the history of the United States. ‘Americans in the Depression’ covers its effects on the people of ...
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6. 1865 and after the war
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1865 and after the war” begins with the Confederacy taking desperate measures to try and reverse its fortunes. In March, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural and in April, Robert E. Lee ...
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3. Arrogance: March 1867– May 1868
Allen C. Guelzo
in Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction
For the survivors of the defeated Confederacy, the first issue was simple survival. The war had wrecked the Southern economy with total direct and indirect costs of the war for the South ...
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5. Assimilation and allotment
Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green
in North American Indians: A Very Short Introduction
There were many contradictions in the way that the Native Americans were treated following European invasion, particularly in terms of the antithetical policies of separating Indians on ...
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1. Becoming southern
Charles Reagan Wilson
in The American South: A Very Short Introduction
‘Becoming Southern’ discusses how Native Americans became the first southerners. They developed the first regional culture from environmental conditions that would always be a foundation of ...
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1. Beginnings: Pre-history to 1763
Paul S. Boyer
in American History: A Very Short Introduction
Human settlement on the American continent began at least 15,000 years ago, when bands of people from present-day Siberia crossed a now-vanished land strip into Alaska. ‘Beginnings: ...
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7. British America
Alan Taylor
in Colonial America: A Very Short Introduction
Initially, the English monarch didn't exercise much power over his colonists entrusting colonization to private interests licensed by royal charters. ‘British America’ looks at the changing ...
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5. Calamities: World War I and the flu epidemic, 1917–1919
Walter Nugent
in Progressivism: A Very Short Introduction
‘Calamities: World War I and the flu epidemic, 1917–1919’ explains how progressive reforms fared against a global war and epidemic. Wilson's experience prior to the presidency was in ...
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3. The challenges of citizenship, 1848–1920
Susan Ware
in American Women's History: A Very Short Introduction
‘The challenges of citizenship, 1848–1920’ outlines the pressing issues of American life from the Civil War through to World War I. The activism of women such as Ida Wells-Barnet describes ...
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