Building the American Republic, Volume 1 – A Narrative History to 1877
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€32.50
Now more than ever, we need informed citizens who bring a thorough knowledge of America's history to community life and the political process. Understanding what built our republic allows us to better maintain its democracy. These books are here to help. Harry L. Watson and Jane Dailey have set out to bring a highly readable, comprehensive telling of American history to the widest audience possible. And to that end, it will be one of the first American history textbooks to be offered completely free in digital form.Building the Republic deftly combines centuries of perspectives and voices into a fluid narrative of the United States. Through crisp, incisive prose it takes readers through the full scope of American history, starting with the first inhabitants and carrying all the way to the 2016 election. Throughout, Watson and Dailey emphasize the struggle for justice and equality in a more perfect union, the challenge of racial and ethnic conflict, the evolution of law and legal norms, the enduring influence of religious diversity, and the distinctive history and influence of the South.
They take care to integrate varied scholarly perspectives into their chapters and work to engage a diverse readership by addressing what we all share in common: membership in a democratic republic, with joint claims on its self-governing tradition. These two volumes will enable readers and students to gain a full understanding of America. They combine open-access text with rigorous academic standards and the backing of a major university press. By presenting a straightforward, absorbing history that's accessible to all readers, Watson and Dailey hope that more citizens will gain the knowledge they need to make the best possible choices for their country.
Harry L. Watson is the Atlanta Distinguished Professor of Southern Culture at the University of North Carolina. He is the author of Liberty and Power: The Politics of Jacksonian America and An Independent People: The Way We Lived in North Carolina, 1770-1820. His coedited books include Southern Cultures: The Fifteenth Anniversary Reader and The American South in a Global World. Jane Dailey is associate professor of American history at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Before Jim Crow: The Politics of Race in Post-Emancipation Virginia and Jim Crow America: A Norton Casebook in History and the coeditor of Jumpin' Jim Crow: Southern Politics from Civil War to Civil Rights.