To 1877 (v. 1): A History of the United States, Volume 1: To 1877 (American Passages: A History of the American People) - Softcover

This is Volume I (to 1877) of AMERICAN PASSAGES, SECOND EDITION that examines U.S. history the way people live--in the flow of time. Rather than pursuing one topic (such as politics, culture, society, reform, the military, or economics) at a time, each chapter of the text interweaves important themes and issues into one interrelated narrative. Through this method of presentation, students can observe the many ways that events, movements, and groups of people have served to shape history and can learn to make connections between these themes and issues. References to the book's fully integrated Web site and to AMERICAN JOURNEY ONLINE DATABASE--a cross-referenced, hyperlinked library of primary sources that are organized by topic--allow students to experience history from the vantage of those who lived it. AMERICAN PASSAGES: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, SECOND EDITION is available in the following split options: American Passages, Comprehensive, Second Edition (Chapters 1

Edward L. Ayers is the President of the University of Richmond. He was educated at the University of Tennessee and Yale University, where he received his Ph.D. in American Studies. Previously Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia, where he began teaching in 1980, Ayers was named National Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for the Support of Education in 2003. His book, IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES: WAR IN THE HEART OF AMERICA, 1859-1863 (2003), won the Bancroft Prize for distinguished work on the history of the United States. THE PROMISE OF THE NEW SOUTH: LIFE AFTER RECONSTRUCTION (1992) won prizes for the best book on the history of American race relations and on the history of the American South. It was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. He is the co-editor of THE OXFORD BOOK OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH (1997) and ALL OVER THE MAP: RETHINKING AMERICAN REGIONS (1996). The World Wide Web version of "The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War" was recognized by the American Historical Association as the best aid to the teaching of history. His latest book is WHAT CAUSED THE CIVIL WAR? REFLECTIONS ON THE SOUTH AND SOUTHERN HISTORY (2005).

Lewis L. Gould's other books include "The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt"; "Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics"; "Helen Taft: Our Musical First Lady"; and "The Modern American Presidency".

David M. Oshinsky received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his doctorate from Brandeis. His is currently Jack S. Blanton Chair of History at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to that he taught for 26 years at Rutgers University, where he held the Board of Governors Chair as well as chairman of the History Department. Oshinsky is the author of five books, including A CONSPIRACY SO IMMENSE: THE WORLD OF JOE MCCARTHY (1983), which was voted one of the year's "best books" by the "New York Sunday Times Book Review," and won the Hardeman Prize for the best work about the U.S. Congress. His book, WORSE THAN SLAVERY: PARCHMAN FARM AND THE ORDEAL OF JIM CROW JUSTICE (1996), won both the Robert Kennedy Book Award for the year's most distinguished contribution to the field of human rights and the American Bar Association's Scribes Award for distinguished legal writing. Oshinsky's latest book is POLIO: AN AMERICAN STORY (2005).

Jean R. Soderlund is Professor of History and Deputy Provost for Faculty Affairs at Lehigh University. She received her Ph.D. from Temple University and was a post-doctoral fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her book QUAKERS AND SLAVERY: A DIVIDED SPIRIT won the Alfred E. Driscoll Publication Prize of the New Jersey Historical Commission. Soderlund was an editor of three volumes of the PAPERS OF WILLIAM PENN (1981-1983) and co-authored FREEDOM BY DEGREES: EMANCIPATION IN PENNSYLVANIA AND ITS AFTERMATH (1991).
She has written articles and chapters in books on the history of women, African Americans, Native Americans, Quakers, and the development of abolition in the British North American colonies and early United States. She is currently working on a study of the Lenape people within colonial New Jersey society. She is a council member of the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, and she served as a committee chair for the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians.