Perspectives in American Social History – serie

This volume in the Perspectives in American Social History series highlights the extraordinary contributions of ordinary men, women, and children in the transformation of the country in the time of Andrew Jackson.Jacksonian and Antebellum Age: People and Perspectives spans the "age of the common man" by focusing on the everyday citizens who helped drive the big social changes of the times—or were simply caught up in them. The coverage takes readers into the lives of the frontiersmen, townspeople, women, children, religious groups, abolitionists, slaves, slave traders, and others who effected, and were affected by, the history of those times.Jacksonian and Antebellum Age explores a pivotal era in American history, a time that saw the return of the two-party system, heightened voter turnout, and the gathering of the abolitionist movement. As this volume demonstrates, no study of these defining events is complete without understanding how they were shaped by the country's least celebrated citizens.

In a compilation of essays, Early Republic: People and Perspectives explores the varied experiences of many different groups of Americans across racial, gender, religious, and regional lines in the early years of the country.Written by expert contributors drawing on extensive new research, Early Republic: People and Perspectives ranges across the broad spectrum of society to explore the everyday lives of Americans from the birth of the nation to the beginning of Jacksonian Age (roughly 1830).In a series of chapters, Early Republic provides vivid portraits of the farmers, entrepreneurs, laborers, women, Native Americans, and slaves who made up the population of the United States in its infancy. Key events, such as the two-party political system, the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, and the expansion into the Ohio Valley, are seen through the eyes of the ordinary citizens who helped make them happen, in turn, making the United States what it is today.Primary sources give readers an opportunity to hear the real voices of the people of the United States in its formative decadesA bibliography provides an exhaustive list of relevant social history works over the past 40 years

This entry in the Perspectives in Social History series examines the course and consequences of Reconstruction on the former Confederate states by focusing on the everyday people who lived through it.Reconstruction: People and Perspectives is a fascinating collection of essays and documents that illuminates the experiences of ordinary Americans across all levels of society in the southern United States during Reconstruction.Reconstruction: People and Perspectives describes in vivid detail the experiences of a diverse group of people caught up in the Civil War’s aftermath in the South. Chapters focus on Civil War veterans, former slaveholders, farmers and city residents, Northerners in the South, and African American men and women (both those who stayed in the South and those who migrated). It also reports on groups similar studies often overlook, such as Native Americans and white women. Looking at Reconstruction from a social historian’s point of view, this revealing work adds a much needed new voice to studies of the era.Primary documents provide first-hand insight into the lives and times of diverse individuals during one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. historyIncludes a bibliography of key works on the Reconstruction era as well as a reference chapter of terms, people, and events, including "carpetbaggers," "Gideon's band," and "the Colfax massacre"

This insightful set of essays reveals the day-to-day lives of the British colonists who laid the foundation for what became the United States.British Colonial America: People and Perspectives shifts the spotlight away from the famous political and religious leaders of the time to focus on colonial residents across the full spectrum of American society from the early-17th to the late-18th century.In narrative chapters filled with biographical sketches, British Colonial America explores the day-to-day world of the religious groups, entrepreneurs, women and children, laborers, farmers, and others who made up the vast majority of the colonial population. Coverage also includes those not afforded citizenship, such as African slaves and Native Americans. It is a revealing examination of life at ground level in colonial America, one that finds the people of that time confronting issues that appear throughout the American experience.Each chapter is authored by a published expert on the social aspects of life in colonial British AmericaA primary sources section includes travel diaries, newspaper articles, legislative documents, sermons, and other material that provides insight into the colonial experience

A collection of essays encompassing a wide variety of topics, people, and events that embodied the Jazz Age, both familiar and obscure.This volume in ABC-CLIO's social history series, People and Perspectives, looks at one of the most vibrant eras in U.S. history, a decade when American life was utterly transformed, often veering from freewheeling to fearful, from liberated to repressed.What did it mean to live through the Jazz Age? To answer this and other important questions, the volume broadens the spotlight from famous figures to cover everyday citizens whose lives were impacted by the times, including women and children, African Americans, rural Americans, immigrants, artists, and more. Chapters explore a wide range of topics beyond the music that came to symbolize the era, such as marriage, religion, consumerism, art and literature, fashion, the workplace, and more—the full cultural landscape of an extraordinary, if short-lived, moment in the life of a nation.

This volume offers a social historian's view of the Civil War, shifting the focus away from political and military leaders to look at how the war affected, and was affected by, ordinary citizens of all kinds.Civil War: People and Perspectives looks at one of the most convulsive events in American history through the eyes of ordinary citizens, examining issues related to the home front and war front across the full spectrum of racial, class, and gender boundaries. Moving away from the traditional focus on famous political and military figures, this insightful volume recounts the experiences of soldiers, women and children, slaves and freed persons, Native Americans, immigrants, and other social groups during a time of extraordinary national upheaval. It is a revealing look at how the lives of everyday people—Northern and Southern, black and white, rich and poor, male and female, enslaved and free—shaped and were shaped by the American Civil War.

This work documents the importance of the civil rights movement and its lasting impression on American society and culture.This revealing volume looks at the struggle for individual rights from the social historian's perspective, providing a fresh context for gauging the impact of the civil rights movement on everyday life across the full spectrum of American society.From the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case to protests against the Vietnam War to the fight for black power, Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives looks at events that set the stage for guaranteeing America's promise to all Americans. In eight chapters, some of the country's leading social historians analyze the most recent investigations into the civil rights era's historical context and pivotal moments. Readers will gain a richer understanding of a movement that expanded well beyond its initial focus (the treatment of African Americans in the South) to include other Americans in regions across the nation.

This volume in the Perspectives in American Social History series reveals the long reach of the Industrial Revolution into the work lives and self-perceptions of average Americans.Industrial Revolution: People and Perspectives offers a well-informed look at the impact of new labor practices in the 1800s. It analyzes this pivotal moment in the broader context of the nation’s economic development, measuring its consequences for Americans as both workers and consumers in all regions of the country.Industrial Revolution examines what industrialization meant for American artisans, women workers, slaves, and manufacturers. It shows how this new working world led to sharpening class divisions and expanded consumerism. Throughout, groundbreaking social historians draw on 19th-century primary documents and the latest research to show how the Industrial Revolution transformed the life the average American.Primary documents including Alexander Hamilton’s "Report on Manufactures," poetry from the labor newspaper, The Voice of Industry, and William Gregg’s “Practical Results of Southern Manufactures”A chronology highlighting key developments in the Industrial Revolution, including the invention of the cotton gin, the steamship, the telegraph, and the sewing machine

An insightful collection of essays focused on American men, women, and children from a range of economic classes and ethnic backgrounds during the Great Depression.Who were the people waiting in the bread lines and living in Hoovervilles? Who were the migrants heading North and West? Did anyone survive the Depression relatively unscathed? Giving a voice to stories often untold, Great Depression: People and Perspectives covers the full spectrum of American life, portraying the experiences of ordinary citizens during the worst economic crisis in the nation’s history.Great Depression shows how specific groups coped with the traumatic upheaval of the times, including rural Americans, women, children, African Americans, and immigrants. In addition, it offers revealing chapters on the conflict between social scientists and policymakers responding to the crisis, the impact of the Depression on the health of U.S. citizens, and the roles that American technology and Hollywood movies played in helping the nation survive.11 expert contributors, including well-established scholars who bring new perspectives to the study of the Great DepressionA wide range of primary sources such as news articles, photographs, diaries, and letters that provide a deeper understanding of daily life during the Depression

This volume offers readers the opportunity to see how the Cold War and McCarthy eras affected men, women, and children of varying backgrounds, providing a more personal examination of this important era.Studies of the Cold War often focus on the political power players who shaped American/Soviet relations. Cold War and McCarthy Era: People and Perspectives shifts the spotlight to show how the fear of a Soviet attack and Communist infiltration affected the daily life of everyday Americans.Cold War and McCarthy Era gauges the impact of McCarthyism on a wide range of citizens. Chapters examine Cold War-era popular culture as well as the community-based Civil Defense Societies. Essays, key primary documents, and other reference tools further readers' understanding of how official reactions to Communist threats, both real and perceived, altered every aspect of American society.Contributions from acclaimed scholars of mid-20th-century America bring a wide range of backgrounds and perspectivesA selection of primary resources, from official documents to personal correspondence and diaries, offers firsthand accounts of life in the McCarthy era

A lively, accessible collection of essays exploring the history of the struggle for women's rights in the United States from the colonial period to the present.The fight for women’s rights was one of the first topics explored by women’s historians when the field emerged in the 1970s. Current and authoritative, Women’s Rights: People and Perspectives shows just how complex and multifaceted our understanding of that fight has become.Women’s Rights spans the breadth of American history, from Native American women prior to colonization to women during the Revolution, Antebellum period, the Civil War, and the Gilded Age. Coverage of the 20th century moves from the Progressive Era to the Great Depression and World War II; from the emergence of modern feminism to the present. Throughout, it offers fascinating details of ordinary and extraordinary lives while charting the evolving roles of women in American society.Primary sources, including the 1692 witchcraft examination of Bridget Bishop; an excerpt from a 1917 National American Woman Suffrage Organization document, "Why Women Should Vote; " and excerpts from "School Days of an Indian Girl by Zitkala-Sa"Each chapter contains sidebars for more in-depth coverage and an annotated bibliograpy offers information on scholarly works for further research

A revealing volume that portrays the lives of African Americans in all its variety across the entire 19th century—combining coverage of the pre- and post-Civil War eras.Uniquely inclusive, African Americans in the Nineteenth Century: People and Perspectives offers a wealth of insights into the way African Americans lived and how slave-era experiences affected their lives afterward. Coverage goes beyond well-known figures to focus on the lives of African American men, women, and children across the nation, battling the oppression and prejudice that didn’t stop with emancipation while they tried to establish their place as Americans.The book ranges from the African origins of African American communities to coverage of slave communities, female slaves, slave–slave holder relations, and freed persons. Additional chapters look at African Americans in the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow eras. An alphabetically organized “mini-encyclopedia,” plus additional information sources round out this eye-opening work of social history.Primary sources illustrate the experience of the African American social cohorts discussed in each chapterA chronology of historic economic, military, political, and social events impacting African American communities and societies during the 19th century is included

An insightful look into the immediate and long-term impact of the Vietnam War on a wide range of people and social groups, both Americans in the United States and in Vietnam.This collection of essays by highly respected social historians looks at the Vietnam War era through the eyes of the ordinary citizens caught up in those tumultuous times. Focusing on the period between 1961 and 1975—from the dramatic U.S. military escalation to the fall of Saigon—it offers fresh insight on the impact of the war on individuals on the home front and the battlefront.Each chapter of Vietnam War Era: People and Perspectives examines how a particular group of Americans interacted with the war and its related issues, among them military advisors and soldiers, the silent majority and antiwar activists, women, labor unions, African Americans, students, government leaders, veterans, the media, and religious communities. The authors draw clear connections between the stories of individual lives and the larger social movements that defined the era's human drama.

Moving beyond traditional texts, this revealing volume explores the world of the average citizens who played an integral part in the Revolutionary era of American history.American Revolution looks at one of the most significant eras in American history through the eyes of its least famous, least studied citizens. It is an eye-opening collection of essays demonstrating how the wrenching transformation from English colonies to an emerging nation affected Americans from all walks of life.American Revolution features the work of 14 accomplished social historians, whose findings are adding new dimensions to our understanding of the Revolutionary era. But some of the most fascinating contributions to this volume come from the people themselves—the anecdotes, letters, diaries, journalism, and other documents that convey the experiences of the full spectrum of American society in the mid- to late-18th century (including women, African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, soldiers, children, laborers, Quakers, sailors, and farmers).Fourteen distinguished historians examine the social effects of the American Revolution on the people who lived through itIncludes diary entries, personal letters, news stories, and other first-person accounts of people often ignored in history