With its sweeping inclusive view of American history, Created Equal, Brief Edition emphasizes social history–including the lives and labors of women, immigrants, working people, and persons of color in all regions of the country–while delivering the basics of political and economic history. In this new, streamlined version of Created Equal, the authors have preserved the chronological framework and strong narrative thread, the rich tapestry of people and events, the engaging and illuminating stories, and many of the Connecting History and Interpreting History features of the original text, but have sharpened the presentation and prose and condensed each chapter by 25 percent.

Table of Contents:
Each chapter ends with “Conclusion,” “Sites to Visit,” and “For Further Reading.” I. NORTH AMERICAN FOUNDERS. 1. First Founders. Ancient America. A Thousand Years of Change: A.D. 500 to 1500. Linking the Continents. Spain Enters the Americas. The Protestant Reformation Plays Out in America.2. European Footholds on the Fringes of North America, 1600-1660. Spain's Ocean-Spanning Reach. France and Holland: Overseas Competition for Spain. English Beginnings on the Atlantic Coast. The Puritan Experiment. The Chesapeake Bay Colonies. Interpreting History: Anne Bradstreet: “The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America.”3. Controlling the Edges of the Continent, 1660-1715. France and the American Interior. The Spanish Empire on the Defensive. England's American Empire Takes Shape. Bloodshed in the English Colonies: 1670-1690. Consequences of War and Growth: 1690-1715. Connecting History: Homeland Security and Deep Fears of the Enemy Within.II. A CENTURY OF COLONIAL EXPANSION TO 1775. 4. African Enslavement: The Terrible Transformation. The Descent into Race Slavery. The Growth of Slave Labor Camps. England Enters the Atlantic Slave Trade. Survival in a Strange New Land. The Transformation Completed. Interpreting History: “Releese Us out of This Cruell Bondegg.”5. An American Babel, 1713-1763. New Cultures on the Western Plains. Britain's Mainland Colonies: A New Abundance of People. The Varied Economic Landscape. Matters of Faith: The Great Awakening. The French Lose a North American Empire. Connecting History: Sounds Around Us: The Lost World of High Fidelity.6. The Limits of Imperial Control, 1763-1775. New Challenges to Spain's Expanded Empire. New Challenges to Britain's Expanded Empire. “The Unconquerable Rage of the People.” A Conspiracy of Corrupt Ministers? Launching a Revolution.III. THE UNFINISHED REVOLUTION, 1775-1803. 7. Revolutionaries at War, 1775-1783. Declaring Independence. “Victory or Death”: Fighting for Survival. Legitimate States, a Respectable Military. The Long Road to Yorktown. Connecting History: Uncanny Similarities: Britain's Vietnam?8. New Beginnings: The 1780s Beating Swords into Plowshares. Competing for Control of the Mississippi Valley. Creditors and Debtors. Drafting a New Constitution. Ratification and the Bill of Rights. Connecting History: Equal Representation?9. Revolutionary Legacies, 1789-1803. Competing Political Visions in the New Nation. People of Color: New Freedoms, New Struggles. Continuity and Change in the West. Shifting Social Identities in the Post-Revolutionary Era. The Election of 1800: Revolution or Reversal?IV. EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES OF FREEDOM AND SLAVERY, 1803-1848. 10. Defending and Expanding the New Nation, 1803-1818. The British Menace. The War of 1812. The “Era of Good Feelings”? The Rise of the Cotton Plantation Economy.11. Expanding Westward: Society and Politics in the “Age of the Common Man,” 1819-1832. The Politics Behind Western Expansion. Federal Authority and Its Opponents. Real People in the “Age of the Common Man.” Ties That Bound a Growing Population. Connecting History: The Strange Career of the Monroe Doctrine.12. Peoples in Motion, 1832-1848. Mass Migrations. A Multitude of Voices in the National Political Arena. Reform Impulses. The United States Extends Its Reach. Interpreting History:Senator John C. Calhoun Warns Against Incorporating Mexico into the United States.V. DISUNION AND REUNION. 13. The Crisis over Slavery, 1848-1860. Regional Economies and Conflicts. Individualism vs. Group Identity. The Paradox of Southern Political Power. The Deepening Conflict over Slavery. Interpreting History:Professor Howe on the Subordination of Women.14. “To Fight to Gain a Country”: The Civil War. Mobilization for War, 1861-1862. The Course of War, 1862-1864. The Other War: African American Struggles for Liberation. Battle Fronts and Home Fronts in 1863. The Prolonged Defeat of the Confederacy, 1864-1865.15. In the Wake of War: Consolidating a Triumphant Union, 1865-1877. The Struggle over the South. Claiming Territory for the Union. The Republican Vision and Its Limits. Connecting History: Two Presidents Impeached.VI. THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN AMERICA, 1877-1900. 16. Standardizing the Nation: Innovations in Technology, Business, and Culture, 1877-1890. The New Shape of Business. The Birth of a National Urban Culture. Thrills, Chills, and Bathtubs: The Emergence of Consumer Culture. Defending the New Industrial Order. Interpreting History: Andrew Carnegie and the “Gospel of Wealth.”17. Challenges to Government and Corporate Power: Resistance and Reform, 1877-1890. Resistance to Legal and Military Authority. Revolt in the Workplace. Crosscurrents of Reform.18. Political and Cultural Conflict in a Decade of Depression and War: The 1890s. Frontiers at Home, Lost and Found. The Search for Alliances. American Imperialism. Connecting History: Systems of Education.VII. REFORM AT HOME, REVOLUTION ABROAD, 1900-1929. 19. The Promise and Perils of Progressive Reform, 1900-1912. Migration and Immigration: The Changing Face of the Nation. Work, Science, and Leisure. Reformers and Radicals. Expanding National Power. Interpreting History:Defining Whiteness.20. War and Revolution, 19121920. A World in Upheaval. The Great War and American Neutrality. The United States Goes to War. The Struggle to Win the Peace.21. The Promise of Consumer Culture: The 1920s. The Decline of Reform. Hollywood and Harlem: National Cultures in Black and White. Science on Trial. The Business of Politics. Consumer Dreams and Nightmares. Interpreting History: Mario Puzo, The Fortunate Pilgrim. VIII. FROM DEPRESSION AND WAR TO WORLD POWER, 1929-1953. 22. Hardship and Hope in the 1930s: The Great Depression. The Great Depression. Presidential Responses to the Depression. The New Deal. A New Political Culture. Connecting History: Presidents and the Media.23. Global Conflict: World War II, 1937-1945. Mobilizing for War. Pearl Harbor: The United States Enters the War. The Home Front. Race and War. Total War.24. Cold War and Hot War, 1945-1953. The Uncertainties of Victory. The Quest for Security. A Cold War Society. The United States and Asia. Connecting History: The Origins of the Cold War.IX. THE COLD WAR AT FULL TIDE, 1953-1979. 25. Domestic Dreams and Atomic Nightmares, 1953-1963. Cold War, Warm Hearth. The Civil Rights Movement. The Eisenhower Years. Outsiders and Opposition. The Kennedy Era. Interpreting History: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring. 26. The Nation Divides: The Vietnam War and Social Conflict, 1964-1971. Lyndon Johnson and the Apex of Liberalism. Into War in Vietnam. The Movement. The Conservative Response.27. Reconsidering National Priorities, 1972-1979. Twin Shocks: Détente and Watergate. Discovering the Limits of the U.S. Economy. Reshuffling Politics. Diffusing the Women's Movement. Connecting History: Energy Use in the United States.X. A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS, A GLOBAL ECONOMY, 1979-2001. 28. The Cold War Returns–and Ends, 1979-1991. Anticommunism Revived. Republican Rule at Home. Cultural Conflict. The End of the Cold War.29. Post-Cold War America, 1991-2000. The Economy: Global and Domestic. Tolerance and Its Limits. Violence and Danger. The Clinton Presidency. The Nation and the World. The Contested Election of 2000. Interpreting History: Vermont Civil Union Law.30. A Global Nation for the New Millennium. The American Place in a Global Economy. The Stewardship of Natural Resources. The Expansion of American Popular Culture Abroad. Identity in Contemporary America. Connecting History: The Internet and the World Wide Web.Appendix. The Declaration of Independence. The Articles of Confederation. The Constitution of the United States of America. Amendments to the Constitution. Presidential Elections. Present Day United States. Present Day World.