The first volume of The Cambridge History of America and the World examines how the United States emerged out of a series of colonial interactions, some involving indigenous empires and communities that were already present when the first Europeans reached the Americas, others the adventurers and settlers dispatched by Europe's imperial powers to secure their American claims, and still others men and women brought as slaves or indentured servants to the colonies that European settlers founded. Collecting the thoughts of dynamic scholars working in the fields of early American, Atlantic, and global history, the volume presents an unrivalled portrait of the human richness and global connectedness of early modern America. Essay topics include exploration and environment, conquest and commerce, enslavement and emigration, dispossession and endurance, empire and independence, new forms of law and new forms of worship, and the creation and destruction when the peoples of four continents met in the Americas.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures; List of Maps; List of Contributors to Volume I; General Introduction: What is America and the World? Mark Philip Bradley; Introduction to Volume I Eliga Gould, Paul Mapp and Carla Gardina Pestana; Part I. Geographies; 1. Changing American Geographies S. Max Edelson; 2. Maritime Borderlands Andrew Lipman; 3. The Americas and the Contested Aquatic World of the Atlantic, Indian, and the Pacific Oceans Rainer F. Buschmann; 4. Extractive Industries and the Transformation of American Environments Jennifer L. Anderson; Part II. People; 5. Jews, Muslims, Pagans and America David Abulafia; 6. Statelessness, Subjecthood and the Early American Past Christopher Hodson; 7. Mobility and the Movement of Peoples Patrick Griffin; 8. How Native Americans Shaped Early America Pekka Hämäläinen; Part III. Empires; 9. The Early Iberian American World Kevin Terraciano; 10. Making Colonies and Empires in North America and the Greater Caribbean Alison Games; 11. Imperial Wars, Imperial Reforms Eric Hinderaker and Rebecca Horn; 12. Law and Empire, 1500–1820 Catherine Evans and Philip Girard; Part IV. Circulation/connections; 13. West Africa, 1500–1825 Rebecca Shumway; 14. Trade Emma Hart; 15. Uncertain America: Settler Colonies, the Circulation of Ideas and the Vexed Situation of Early American Thought Michael Meranze; 16. America and the Pacific: The View from the Beach Kate Fullagar; Part V. Institutions; 17. Slavery, Captivity, and the Slave Trade in Colonial North America's Global Connections Gregory E. O'Malley; 18. A Maritime World Elizabeth Mancke; 19. Antislavery in America, 1760–1820: Comparisons, Contours, Contexts Christopher Leslie Brown; 20. Women, Gender, Families, and States Heather Miyano Kopelson; 21. Empires and the Boundaries of Religion Katherine Carté; Part VI. Revolutions; 22. Independence and Union: Imperfect Unions in Revolutionary Anglo-America Daniel Hulsebosch; 23. Atlantic Revolutions Janet Polasky; 24. Citizenship James Sidbury; 25. The United States and the Americas Caitlin Fitz; Index.