Cover image for U.S. history for dummies
U.S. history for dummies
Title:
U.S. history for dummies
Author:
Wiegand, Steve, 1951-
Personal Author:
Edition:
3rd edition.
Publication Information:
Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley and Sons, [2014]
Physical Description:
xvi, 414 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Summary:
Overview: Ace your next history test with this concise, easy-to-read guide. U.S. History for Dummies, 3rd Edition fills the need to improve high school proficiency in history by providing a complete history of the United States, presented in an accessible, reader-friendly format designed to engage students while reinforcing lessons learned in class. The National Assessment of Educational Progress 2011 report showed that only 12% of high school seniors in the U.S. perform at a "proficient" level in history. This, coupled with the fact that U.S. History courses and AP exams have been redesigned to remedy the situation, means that many students and parents are in need of a supplemental study guide. Award-winning political journalist and history writer Steve Wiegand guides you through the events that shaped our nation, from pre-Columbian civilizations to the 21st century. The explorers, the wars, the leaders, and the eras are all fully explored and explained, demonstrating how the past influences the future. From the Boston Tea Party to the current Tea Party, the updated 3rd edition includes information about events that have occurred since the previous edition's 2009 release. New coverage includes: Recession recovery, including federal efforts, unemployment, and the widening class divide. -- The rise of the extreme right and the bitter divisions between political parties and geographic regions. -- Seeking the balance between superpower and domestic caretaker. -- The impact of social media, government surveillance, and cyber crime. -- Not all history is old news, and what happened yesterday affects us all today. It is vitally important that all U.S. citizens are well-versed in the building of our nation, and remain aware of current events. For students and parents wondering what they've missed, U.S. History for Dummies, 3rd Edition unlocks the door to the past-and the future.
General Note:
Includes index.
Language:
English
Contents:
Introduction: -- About this book -- Conventions used in this book -- What you're not to read -- Foolish assumptions -- Beyond the book -- Icons used in this book -- Where to go from here -- Part 1: Getting Stared With U S History: -- America: Short Biography: -- They came, they saw, they stayed: -- Catching up to the Spanish -- It's revolutionary! -- Putting America on the map: -- Nationalizing a nation -- Dirty politics -- Fighting with a neighbor, finding gold, and heading for a breakup -- Fighting among ourselves -- Making up is hard to do -- Struggling with greatness: -- Finding a place in the world -- Roaring through the 20s -- What's so great about a depression? -- Big one -- Cold War and a brave new world: -- From a Kennedy to a Ford -- Good intentions, mixed results -- Finishing out the century -- America in the 21st century: -- Bursting economic bubbles -- Politics and healthcare are no tea party -- Changing technology, changing America -- Native Americans And Explorers: 14, --- BC (?)-1607: -- Coming to America -- Exploring early civilizations -- Anasazi -- Mound builders -- Many tribes, not many people: -- In the Northwest -- In the Southwest -- On the Great Plains -- In the Northeast -- In the Southeast -- De-stereotyping the Native Americans -- Visiting by the Vikings -- Spicing up life-and other reasons for exploring -- Discovering a dozen other people who dropped by -- Sword the cross, and the measles: -- Native American slavery -- Native American slavery -- Men in the brown robes -- Destruction through disease -- Arriving late for the party: -- France -- England -- Pilgrims' Progress: The English Colonies, 1607-1700: -- Seeing potential in the New World -- Settling in Jamestown: -- Early troubles -- Making Native American friends -- Finding a cash crop -- Instituting slavery -- Colonizing: Pilgrims and Puritans: -- Mayflower compact: Dutch pilgrimage -- Massachusetts Bay colony: pure haven -- Bringing religious freedom: dissidents, Catholics, and Quakers: -- Sneaking off the Rhode Island -- Condoning only Christianity in Maryland -- Promoting tolerance in Pennsylvania -- Dealings of the Dutch -- Coping with Native American troubles -- Rebelling-with Bacon -- You Say You Want A Revolution: 1700-1775: -- Looking at America in 1700 -- Colonizing New France -- Fighting the first true World Wars: -- King William's War -- Queen Anne's War -- King George's War -- Awakening to greater religious freedom -- French and Indian War: -- Unifying the colonies -- Defeating British General Braddock -- Out fighting the French -- Growing like a weed: -- Accounting for the population explosion -- Living the good life -- Heading toward divorce with Britain: -- Proclamation of 1763 -- Revenue Acts (1764) -- Stamp Act (1765) -- Townshend Act (1767) -- Boston Massacre (1770) -- Boston Tea Party (1773) -- Intolerable Acts (1774) -- Congressing over cocktails -- Mr Revere, your horse is ready -- Yankee Doodlin': 1775-1783: -- In this corner, the Brits -- In this corner, the Yanks -- Mr Washington goes to war: -- Finding faults in George -- commanding a country -- Declaring independence: -- Stirring up colonists' emotions -- Writing history -- Kissing up to the French -- Undergoing life changes: the loyalists and the slaves: -- Remaining loyal to the crown -- Confronting slavery issues -- Winning a war: -- Felling a British fort -- Battling it out on Bunker-make that Breed's Hill -- Losing the campaign in Canada -- Nixing plans to take New York -- Winnin' at Trenton and Princeton -- Making the Brits surrender at Saratoga -- Sparring at sea -- Losing big in Charleston -- Minimizing the damage at Guilford Courthouse -- Turning things around at Yorktown -- Blueprints And Birth Pains: 1783-1800: -- Making the rules: -- Going back to Philly -- Selling the Constitution to the states -- Dishing up politics, American style: -- Washington the politician -- Family feuding: Jefferson vs Hamilton -- Raising the dough -- Earning respect: -- Shaking things up: Shays's Rebellion -- Taxing liquid corn: the whiskey rebellion -- Going mad over the Native Americans -- Attempting to censor the press -- Finding foreign friction -- Part 2: Growing Pains: -- Long Tom And One Weird War: 1800-1815: -- Jefferson gets a job -- Disorder in the court -- Growing by leaps and bounds: -- Capitalizing on Napoleon's going-out-of-business sale -- Lewis, Clark, and the woman on the dollar coin -- Fighting pirates, and a dambargo: -- To the shores of Tripoli -- No one likes a bloodless war -- Little Jemmy takes the helm: -- New kids on the block -- Fighting the Native Americans-again -- Why not invade Canada this year? -- Three strikes and the Brits are out -- Calling it even: -- Working on a settlement -- Squawking about things in New England: -- Pulling Together To Keep From Falling Apart: 1815-1844: -- Embracing nationalism-sort of: -- Taking it to the bank -- Tariff-ic idea -- This land I my land, but for how much? -- Orders from the court -- Increasing industry -- Slavery cancer grows: -- Cotton and sugar mean more slaves -- Opposing slavery -- Compromising over Missouri -- Mind your own hemisphere: the Monroe Doctrine -- Mud-wrestling to the White House: -- Adams wins, but Jackson isn't done -- Old hickory: the Jackson presidency -- Nullify this: -- Nullification debate hits the Senate -- Tarrible idea -- Bringing down the bank -- Inventing a better life: -- Riding the train -- Reaping what you sow -- Communicating across America -- Staking out new land: -- Pushing out the Native Americans -- Claiming independence for Texas -- Changing it up at president --

War, Gold, And A Gathering Storm: 1845-1860: -- Wrenching land from Mexico: -- Provoking a war -- Capturing California and the Southwest -- Rushing for gold: -- Risking life and limb to strike gold -- Compromising on the slavery issue -- Coming over and spreading out: -- Germans, the Irish, and the know-nothings who opposed them -- Making waves: the Mormons -- Wagons ho! -- Becoming aware of women's rights (or the lack thereof) -- Beginning of the end: -- Factoring a slave's life -- Battling in Kansas -- Making a "dredful" decision -- Squaring off for a showdown: the Lincoln-Douglas debate: -- Spark Number 1: John Brown -- Spark Number 2: Lincoln's election -- Most Uncivil War: 1861-1865: -- Introducing Abraham Lincoln: -- Presenting the 16th president -- Understanding Lincoln's views on slavery and the Union -- Bending the Constitution to preserve the Union-and win reelection -- North versus South: comparing advantages and action plans -- Freeing the slaves: -- Proclaiming emancipation -- Surveying the consequences of emancipation -- Reviewing the troops, the generals, and the major battles: -- Men at the top -- War at sea -- War on land -- Two more reasons why the North won -- Losing a leader -- Putting The Country Back Together: 1865-1876: -- Southern-fried mess: life in the South after the Civil War -- Starting a new life -- Becoming sharecroppers -- Piecing the Union back together: -- Demanding loyalty, legislating equality -- Using violence to keep blacks down -- Tailor-made president: Andrew Johnson -- Growing corruption in politics: -- Riding the railroads to economic ruin -- Fixing a presidency (and not in a good way) -- Part 3: Coming Of Age: -- Growing Up: 1876-1898: -- Heading West in a quest for wealth: -- Making money from minerals -- Making money from animals -- Making money from vegetables -- Ousting "undesirables": -- Putting up a fight -- Legalizing discrimination -- Cramming into cities -- Inventing big business: -- Building the railroads -- Manufacturing steel more efficiently -- Refining (and controlling) oil -- Getting wired for sound and light -- Forming trusts and striking against them -- Electing a string of forgettable Presidents -- Rise of populism -- Splendid little war -- Growing Into The 20th Century: 1899-1918: -- Here today, Guam tomorrow: colonizing Spain's lands: -- Arguing about American imperialism -- Keeping a high profile in international affairs -- Making a lot of noise and carrying a big stick: -- Roosevelt takes office -- Progressing toward political and social reform: -- Muckrakers expose evil and initiate change -- Improving working conditions-and other people's drinking habits -- Contracting labor pains: -- Struggling in a changing workforce -- Initiating improvements to working conditions -- Transporting America -- Suffering for suffrage -- Leaving the South: African Americans migrate to northern cities -- War to end all chapters -- Gin, Jazz, And Lucky Lindy: 1919-1929: -- Wilson goes out of his league for peace -- Restricting immigration and challenging the natives: -- Closing the gate -- Return of the Klan -- Darwin versus God -- Warren, Cal, and Herbert: Republicans in the White House -- Good times (or were they?): -- Helping the rich -- Increasing American spending habits -- Making it difficult on the poor -- Ain't we go fun?: -- Going to the movies -- Listening to the radio -- Listening to music and writing literature -- Playing games -- Drying out America: prohibition begins -- Changing morals -- Age of heroes -- Uncle Sam's Depressed: 1930-1940: -- Great depression: causes and consequences -- Shoving aside racial minorities -- Keeping women at home-or work -- Developing organized labor -- FDR: making alphabet soup: -- Electing a reformer -- Creating hope through a new deal -- Packing the Supreme Court -- Assessing the New Deal -- Critics, crooks, and crime fighters: -- Huey Long -- Francis E Townsend -- Charles E Coughlin -- Bad guys and G-men -- World At War: 1941-1945: -- Trying to avoid war-again -- Playing the role of a good neighbor -- Sensing impending doom -- Gearing up for war: -- Getting industry and the economy in shape for World War II -- Working with labor unions during war times -- Employing women for the war effort -- Making strides-African Americans achieve greater equality -- Returning for work after being kicked out-Latinos -- Treating the Japanese Americans poorly -- Dealing with the war in Europe: -- Meeting at Yalta -- Winning one step at a time -- Making the final push -- Discovering the war's greatest crime -- Ending the war in Europe, and the end of FDR -- Dealing with the war in the Pacific: -- Fighting back -- Turning the tide -- Dropping the bomb -- Part 4: America In Adulthood: -- TV, Elvis, And Reds Under The Bed: 1946-1960: -- Cold War and a hot "police action": -- Gauging the United Nations -- World as a chessboard -- Berlin airlift -- Miracle of 48 -- Korean War -- Uncle Sam's big stick -- Finding commies under the bed: -- Casting suspicion on hiss -- Leaking scientific secrets: the Rosenbergs -- Checking the loyalty of federal workers -- Telling all tales: "tail-gunner Joe" -- Having it all: -- Booming economy -- Moving to the burbs -- Tuning into the tube -- Rockin' n' rollin -- American king -- Moving, slowly, to the front of the bus: -- Brown against the board -- Boycotting the bus --

Camelot To Watergate: 1961-1974: -- Electing an icon: -- Bay of Pigs -- Facing the possibility of nuclear war -- Dark day in Dallas -- Sending troops to Vietnam: -- Sinking deeper into a confusing war -- Taking a look at the Tet offensive -- Increasing pressure in "Nam and escalating fears at home -- Continuing the fight for Civil Rights: -- Enforcing their rights: African Americans -- Challenging the system: Latin Americans -- Maintaining their culture: Native Americans -- Entering a generation in revolt: -- Draft dodging, drugs, and demonstrations -- Rise of feminism -- Coming out of the closet -- Weirdness in the White House: --Making strides: Nixon administration -- Watching it all fall apart: Watergate -- Hold The Malaise, Or Ayatollah So: 1975-1992: -- Wearing Nixon's shoes: -- Doing the best he could -- Whipping inflation -- Good intentions, bad results: -- Measuring misery -- Befriending the enemy -- There's a first time for everything: -- Buying into the "Reagan Revolution" -- Paying for "Reaganomics" -- Dealing with foreign affairs -- Warming up after the Cold War: -- Engaging in the Gulf War -- Back on the home front -- No Sex, Please, I'm The President: 1993-1999: -- Bill, Newt, and Monica: -- Treading lightly abroad -- Pushing harder on the home front -- Pushing the "contract with America" -- Judging a president -- Homegrown terrorism: -- Rally around Ruby Ridge -- Taking down a cult: Waco -- Bombings rock the nation -- Don't open that mail: the Unabomber -- Making ourselves sick: -- Suffering from AIDS -- Dealing with drugs -- World of change: -- You've got mail! -- Trading under a global economy -- Part 5: Facing The New Millennium: -- Terror Comes Home; America Goes To War(s): -- Whew! A squeaker: Bush and Gore., 2000: -- Hanging chads and butterfly ballots -- Post-election scrutinizing -- Nation stunned: -- al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden -- Taking on the Taliban -- Fighting terrorism on the home front -- That damn Saddam: -- Toughening the stance against Iraq -- US invasion -- Meanwhile, in the rest of the world -- Winds and losses: -- Big blow in the big easy -- Ike hits Texas -- Recessions Can Be Really Depressing: -- Ouch! The economy stubs its toe: -- Dot-com drams and investor nightmares -- Houses that went upside down -- We're from the Government: we're here to help: -- Brand new president, same old problems -- Buying time by buying bonds -- Did government intervention work? -- Brother, can you spare a job?: -- Looking for work and looking -- Where the work went -- Unspreading the wealth: -- Rich get richer -- Blame game -- Reforming Healthcare Is No Tea Party: -- Great Presidential Race of 2008: -- Obama versus McCain -- Obama's historic victory -- Calling the president a liar -- Going to a Tea Party: -- Taking over the House -- Cutting taxes by compromising -- Lurching toward healthcare: -- Courting the Supreme Court -- Stumbling start -- Reelecting Obama: -- Challenger -- Race -- Results -- Meanwhile, back at the budget: -- Hitting the debt ceiling -- Driving off the fiscal cliff -- Shutting down the government -- This New America: -- Techno revolution: -- Getting news from new news sources -- Calling all cells -- Socializing on the web -- Entertaining ourselves, by ourselves -- Spying on web activities -- Going gray-but with more variety: -- Surfing the "silver tsunami" -- Stirring the melting pot -- Redefining the American family: -- Changing with the times -- Legalizing gay marriage -- Part 6: Part Of Tens: -- Ten Events That Defined American Culture: -- Publication of "Poor Richard's Almanack" (1732) -- Performance of "The Black Crook" (1866) -- Opening of the Home Insurance Building (1884) -- Advent of the Copyright Act (1909) -- Rise of Jazz (1920s) -- Birth of talking pictures (1927) -- Abstract Expressionism Movement (1950s) -- Establishment of the NEA (1965) -- Acceptance of "Deep Throat" (1972) -- Opening of Facebook (2004) -- Ten Unfortunate Statements By US Presidents: -- I'm no physicist, but -- Uh, are you sure, Mr President? -- Yup, it'll sure come in handy some day -- Geography was not my best class -- Well, keep it in your pants -- Uh, this is only a test -- Go ahead and read, but don't listen -- I shall not tell a lie -- They were under Saddam's bed -- Geography was not my best class, either -- Part 7: Appendixes: -- Appendix A: Bill of Rights: Amendments 1-10 of the Constitution -- Appendix B: Declaration of Independence -- Index.
ISBN:
9781118888988
Format :
Book