Shortest History of the United States

When Britain`s thirteen American colonies declared their independence on July 4, 1776, the United States of America was born. It became a profoundly powerful nation that, for much of its history, has been the crucible of invention and creativity, a refuge for millions, and a beacon of hope, freedom, and multiculturalism. But from the start, it was hardly united. In this insightful, evenhanded account, Don Watson highlights the key figures who fought for the country`s inalienable rights and embodied its indomitable spirit--in politics and at home, on the frontiers and in its cities, in books and music and on screens. And he traces how the central conflicts of the United States--those over freedom, race, enterprise, religion, and violence--evolve through its history. As we witness a country at war with itself in the 1860s, leading the free world less than a hundred years later, and beset by wild division and turmoil in the twenty-first century, we see that this singular nation has never ceased changing--and that the American experiment continues to unfold. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.