Table of Contents

1. Worlds and Time, to 1584 

Weighing the Evidence: Spanish Conquest, 1511–1550

2. The Rulers and the Ruled, 1590–1692 

Weighing the Evidence: Rule and Rebellion, 1675–1680 

3. Of Wars and Rebellions, 1693–1753 

Weighing the Evidence: The Zenger Trial, 1735

4. Resistance and Revolution, 1754–1774 

Weighing the Evidence: Native Identity and Diplomacy, 1754–1775 

5. Of Independence, 1775–1784

Weighing the Evidence: Radicalism of the Revolution, 1770–1776 

6. The Constitution of a Nation, 1784–1791

Weighing the Evidence: Petitioning the Government, 1776–1799 

7. Of Rights, 1789–1799 

Weighing the Evidence: Bill of Rights, 1787–1791

8. A Democracy of Numbers, 1796–1820 

Weighing the Evidence: The Sedition Act, 1798–1801

9. Of Men and Machines, 1820–1828 

Weighing the Evidence: The Rise of the Working Class, 1827–1829 

10. The Soul of America, 1829–1841

Weighing the Evidence: Removal and Colonization, 1815–1832 

11. Union and Disunion, 1841–1857

Weighing the Evidence: The Mexican-American War, 1846–1848 

12. The Face of Battle, 1858–1865 

13. Of Citizens and Persons, 1865–1887

Weighing the Evidence: Elk v. Wilkins, 1884 

14. Populism, Expansion, and Segregation, 1873–1896 

Weighing the Evidence: The Populist Persuasion, 1873–1896 

15. Efficiency and the Masses, 1897–1914

Weighing the Evidence: Conservation in the Progressive Era, 1890–1910

16. The Nature of Prosperity, 1914–1929 

Weighing the Evidence: The Legal Construction of Whiteness, 1909–1923 

17. New Deals, 1929–1938 

Weighing the Evidence: Packing the Court, 1937 

18. The Brutality of Modernity, 1939–1945

Weighing the Evidence: Japanese Internment, 1942–1946

19. The Nature of a Cold War, 1945–1957

Weighing the Evidence: Predicting Elections, 1952 

20. Rights and Wrongs, 1958–1967

Weighing the Evidence: The Debate over Residential Segregation, 1961–1972  

21. Battle Lines, 1968–1980 

Weighing the Evidence: Fighting for Women’s Rights, 1970s 

22. Twilight of the American Century, 1981–2000 

Weighing the Evidence: Immigrant Rights and Education, 1982

23. America, Disrupted, 2001–2008 

Weighing the Evidence: The War on Terror at Home, 2001

24. The Frailty of Democracy, 2009–2025 

Weighing the Evidence: Politics and the Internet, 2004–2021