Early America

A mind-expanding and myth-destroying exploration of notions of white race—not merely a skin color but also a signal of power, prestige, and beauty to be withheld and granted selectively. Ever since the Enlightenment, race theory and its inevitable partner, racism, have followed a crooked road, constructed by dominant peoples to justify their domination of others. Filling a huge gap in historical literature that long focused on the non-white, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter guides us through more than two thousand years of Western civilization, tracing not only the invention of the idea of race but also the frequent worship of “whiteness” for economic, social, scientific, and political ends.

Meet unforgettable people and animals in the What a Character! Notable Lives from History series as you enjoy 10 real stories within each book!

At the dawn of the 19th century, the great powers of Western Europe treated the United States like a disobedient child. America's complaints were ignored, until President James Madison declared a second war on Great Britain. British forces would descend on the United States, but America rallied and survived. With stunning detail on land and naval battles, the role Native Americans played in the hostilities, and the larger backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, this is the story of the turning points of this strange conflict, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".

History is recorded in many ways. According to author James Deetz, the past can be seen most fully by studying the small things so often forgotten. In his completely revised and expanded edition of In Small Things Forgotten, Deetz has added new sections that more fully acknowledge the presence of women and African Americans in Colonial America.

Leading into the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower, Martyn Whittock examines the lives of the "saints" (members of the Separatist Puritan congregations) and "strangers" (economic migrants) on the original ship. Collectively, these people would become known to history as "the Pilgrims". The story of the Pilgrims has taken on a life of its own as one of our founding national myths - their escape from religious persecution, the dangerous transatlantic journey, that brutal first winter.

"Memoirs of a Disguise" is a rich Literary Fiction book set prominently in New York City and various locations during the early 20th century. The tale commences with the introduction of Kerry Mackintosh, a man burdened by his failing music shop. This plight leads to the fateful encounter with Horatio Bottomfield - a compelling stranger seeking employment, marking the inception of an intense and complicated narrative. Join the JourneyFollowing his hiring, Bottomfield embarks on a dynamic journey through the harsh realities of life in the early 20th century, filled with intriguing characters,...

On the eve of a major treaty conference between Iroquois leaders and European colonists in the distant summer of 1722, two White fur traders attacked an Indigenous hunter and left him for dead near Conestoga, Pennsylvania. This act of brutality set into motion a remarkable series of criminal investigations and cross-cultural negotiations that challenged the definition of justice in early America. Leading historian Nicole Eustace reconstructs the crime and its aftermath, bringing us into the overlapping worlds of white colonists and Indigenous peoples in this formative period.

Over the last generation, historians have broadened our understanding of colonial America by adopting both a trans-Atlantic and a trans-continental perspective, examining the interplay of Europe, Africa, and the Americas through the flow of goods, people, plants, animals, capital, and ideas. In this Very Short Introduction, Alan Taylor presents an engaging overview of the best of this new scholarship.

On October 20, 1973, in San Francisco, a White couple strolling down Telegraph Hill was set upon and butchered by four young Black men. Thus began a reign of terror that lasted six months and left 15 Whites dead and the entire city in a state of panic. The perpetrators wanted nothing less than a race war.

During the years of the Early Republic, prominent Native leaders regularly traveled to American cities primarily on diplomatic or trade business, but also from curiosity. They were frequently referred to as "the Chiefs now in this city" during their visits. Colin Calloway has gathered together the accounts of these visits and created a new narrative of the country's formative years, redefining what has been understood as the "frontier." Calloway captures what Native peoples observed as they walked the streets, sat in pews, attended plays, drank in taverns, and slept in hotels.

In a work that fundamentally recasts the history of colonial America, Wendy Warren shows how the institution of slavery was inexorably linked with the first century of English colonization of New England. While most histories of slavery in early America confine themselves to the Southern colonies and the Caribbean, New England Bound forcefully widens the historical aperture to include the entirety of English North America.

The North, Middle, and South Forks of the Flathead River drain some of the wildest country in Montana, including Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. In Rangers, Trappers, and Trailblazers, John Fraley recounts the true adventures of people who earned their living among the mountains and along the cold, clear rivers in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the shadows of Salem Village in 1692, one young girl must navigate the complexities of a divided society. Often cold and hungry, eight-year-old Verity Manton, an orphaned ragpicker, clings to the scraps of love and kindness in her harsh world. Things get tangled as the village Puritans' strange behavior grows more alarming. Verity is caught between the safety of her life and the promise of a better future with a Quaker family who reaches out to her. Yet, she has been warned her whole life that Quakers are evil. Will Verity have the courage to trust her heart and choose a path that defies...

In The Dictionary Wars, Peter Martin recounts the patriotic fervor in the early American republic to produce a definitive national dictionary that would rival Samuel Johnson's 1755 Dictionary of the English Language. But what began as a cultural war of independence from Britain devolved into a battle among lexicographers, authors, scholars, and publishers, all vying for dictionary supremacy and shattering forever the dream of a unified American language.

A travel-themed book set in the American Southwest during the early twentieth century. Embark on an awe-inspiring journey through the American Southwest in "The American Southwest," a captivating travel narrative that paints vivid images of breathtaking landscapes and rich cultural heritage. Set against the backdrop of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California during a time of transformation, this evocative tale invites readers to explore the allure and beauty of regions steeped in history and promise. In this beautifully written account, the author transports you to the ...

The powers-that-be in auto racing in the 1920s, namely the American Automobile Association's Contest Board, prohibited everyone who wasn't a White male from the sport. Dewey Gaston, a Black man who went by the name Rajo Jack, broke into the epicenter of racing in California, refusing to let the pervasive racism of his day stop him from competing against entire fields of White drivers. In The Brown Bullet, Bill Poehler uncovers the life of a long-forgotten trailblazer and the great lengths he took to even get on the track.

Illustrations of America's barges and a history of the Erie Canal

It just doesn’t make sense, does it? The America of today shouldn’t exist if what our teachers and overseers taught us about the country’s history were true. The truth is that nearly all of it was untrue or, at the very best, wildly inaccurate. Your eyes are not fooling you. There’s no better or more important time than now to smash the establishment’s historical narrative on American History. A Twisted History of the United States, 1450-1945, is an innovative, rollicking, and eye-opening ride down America’s memory lane that, like all good histories, explains why things really ...

Once upon a time, a young woman attended a Ball hosted by a Prince. Although she was attired in a fancy gown, and wearing glass slippers, by midnight she would flee in rags and missing a shoe. As the tale of olde goes, she marries the Prince, however, this story doesn't end in Happily Ever After, because her name isn't Cinderella. No, this woman is called Pandora, and this is certainly no fairytale.

While taking a bath one evening, sixty-two-year-old Anna Bryant suffers a fatal stroke. But soon realizes that isn't the end of her life after finding herself in a stranger's bathroom moments later. Inhabiting a stranger's body. Through divine intervention, Anna has been given a second chance at life after a woman nearly half her age succumbs to a self-inflicted death. Anna is now expected to live the life Celeste Jeffers, a recent widow, has since abandoned. Although her new existence doesn't come with anything other than some vague muscle-memory and a few personal preferences, as Celeste,...