The Boundless Frontier: America From Christopher Columbus to Abraham Lincoln

The Boundless Frontier follows the major events of American History from the pre-Columbian Indians through the Civil War. This comprehensive reader presents the development of America as it changed from an unexplored Indian land into a "civilized" and unified country as the Europeans and their descendents pushed into the frontier, constantly moving the borders to the west. James T. Wall depicts this development of a nation through this gradual engulfing of land to its sophistication as technology guided its evolution and a new democratic government took over. He notes the effects of other countries on the nature of America, while describing their relationship with the people there. Yet, Wall focuses on the growth and conflict that evolved as a vast frontier became a unified country that suffered from many internal and external conflicts. He ends with the conflict that temporarily divided the United States, the Civil War.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The American Indians
Chapter 3 Exploration and Discovery
Chapter 4 English Interest in America
Chapter 5 The Virginia Colony, 1607-1699
Chapter 6 The New England Colonies, 1620-1691
Chapter 7 The Middle Colonies, 1664-1702
Chapter 8 The Southern Colonies, 1632-1734
Chapter 9 Religion in Colonial America
Chapter 10 Patterns of Settlement in North America
Chapter 11 The Colonial Wars, 1689-1763
Chapter 12 British-American Estrangement, 1763-1775
Chapter 13 The American Revolution, 1775-1783
Chapter 14 The Confederation Government, 1781-1789
Chapter 15 The Federal Constitution
Chapter 16 The Federalist Era, 1789-1801
Chapter 17 The Jeffersonian Era, 1801-1815
Chapter 18 The Era of Good Feelings, 1815-1825
Chapter 19 The Jacksonian Era, 1825-1841
Chapter 20 The Era of Manifest Destiny, 1841-1850
Chapter 21 The Era of Popular Sovereignty, 1850-1860
Chapter 22 The Era of the Civil War, 1861-1865
Chapter 23 Postscript: An Essay for Students
Chapter 24 Works Cited
Chapter 25 Index