U.S. History For Dummies

Now revised — the easy-to-understand guide to the story of America Want to better understand U.S. History? This friendly book serves as your tour guide through the important events of America's past and present, introducing you to the people who helped to shape history. From pre-Columbus to the American Revolution, from Watergate to Iraq to Barack Obama, you'll discover fascinating details that you won't find in dry history texts! They're coming to America — explore early civilizations, meet Native Americans, and see how the development of the English colonies led to slavery and the American Revolution From Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln — examine the contributions of great Americans as well as the discovery of gold, the birth of California, the Civil War, and Manifest Destiny America grows up — be there during the conquering of the West, industrial development, and the invention of the light bulb and the telephone The impact of the World Wars — understand the sweeping changes these epochal events brought to America and the rest of the world The Cold War, Camelot, and Clinton — take a closer look at the Korean War and communism, the fabulous '50s, JFK, Vietnam, Nixon and Watergate, Reaganomics, and the Clinton years From the '90s to now — witness the birth of the microchip, the impact of hanging chads in a presidential election, the largest terrorist attack on American soil, and the growing economic crisis Open the book and find: Ten important events that defined American culture Interesting Americans, from presidents to gangsters to sports heroes How America fought to win independence from England Details about all the major wars and their long-term effects Insight into the roots of slavery Inventions that changed life for Americans The impact of the atomic bomb The Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 Part I: Getting There, Getting Settled, and Getting Free 7 Chapter 1: America: A Short Biography 9 Chapter 2: Native Americans and Explorers: 12,000 BC(?)–1607 23 Chapter 3: Pilgrims’ Progress: The English Colonies, 1607–1700 43 Chapter 4: You Say You Want a Revolution : 1700–1775 57 Chapter 5: Yankee Doodlin’: 1775–1783 77 Chapter 6: Blueprints and Birth Pains: 1783–1800 91 Part II: Growing Pains 103 Chapter 7: “Long Tom” and One Weird War: 1800–1815 105 Chapter 8: Pulling Together to Keep from Falling Apart: 1815–1844 123 Chapter 9: War, Gold, and a Gathering Storm: 1845–1860 145 Chapter 10: A Most Uncivil War: 1861–1865 159 Chapter 11: Putting the Country Back Together: 1865–1876 175 Part III: Coming of Age 189 Chapter 12: Growing Up: 1876–1898 191 Chapter 13: Growing into the 20th Century: 1899–1918 209 Chapter 14: Gin, Jazz, and Lucky Lindy: 1919–1929 225 Chapter 15: Uncle Sam’s Depressed: 1930–1940 241 Chapter 16: The World at War: 1941–1945 257 Part IV: America in Adulthood 275 Chapter 17: TV, Elvis, and Reds under the Bed: 1946–1960 277 Chapter 18: Camelot to Watergate: 1961–1974 293 Chapter 19: Hold the Malaise, or, Ayatollah So: 1975–1992 309 Chapter 20: No Sex, Please, I’m the President: 1993–1999 323 Chapter 21: “It’s A Small World, After All”: Entering the 21st Century 337 Part V: The Part of Tens 357 Chapter 22: Ten American Inventions that Changed Life as We Know It 359 Chapter 23: Ten Events that Defi ned American Culture 363 Chapter 24: Ten Events in US History They Keep Making into Movies 367 Part VI: Appendixes 371 Appendix A: The Bill of Rights: Amendments 1–10 of the Constitution 373 Appendix B: The Declaration of Independence 375 Index 379

About the Author :
Steve Wiegand is an award-winning political journalist and history writer. He currently writes a thrice-weekly political column for the Sacramento Bee. Steve Wiegand is an award-winning political journalist and history writer. He currently writes a thrice-weekly political column for the Sacramento Bee.