Ronald J. Pestritto's and Thomas G. West's earlier volume The American Founding and the Social Compact addressed the nature of the thought and philosophy of the men who shaped the American founding. In this second volume in a trilogy, Pestritto and West examine the fate of the founders' principles in the nine teeth century, when these principles faced their first great challenges. Support of slavery, culminating in secession and civil war, came from the South; and after the war came positivism, relativism, and radical egalitarianism, which originated in Europe and infiltrated American universities, where intellectuals repudiated the founders' views as historically obsolete and insufficiently concerned with true human liberation. In ten chapters covering major thinkers in nineteenth-century American political thought, contributors discuss the rise and resolution of ideological conflicts in the early generations of the American republic. In Challenges to the American Founding Pestritto and West have compiled an invaluable resource for the roots of the twentieth-century departure in American politics from the political vision of the American founders.

In The Challenge of American History, Louis Masur brings together a sampling of recent scholarship to determine the key issues preoccupying historians of American history and to contemplate the discipline's direction for the future. The fifteen summary essays included in this volume allow professional historians, history teachers, and students to grasp in a convenient and accessible form what historians have been writing about.

The individuals presented in these narrative biographies significantly, and sometimes decisively, impacted contemporary American life in a wide range of areas, including national politics, foreign policy, social and political activism, popular and literary culture, sports, and business. The combined biographical/thematic approach is designed to serve two purposes: to present more substantive biographical information, and to offer a fuller examination of key events and issues. The book is an ideal supplement for undergraduate courses on The United States Since 1945, as well as for courses on Modern America and 20th Century America.

Volume II gathers documents from the period of the Revolution through the Jacksonian era, up to the Civil War and the Emancipation. To fit both Colonial and Early National courses, documents covering 1765-1776 appear at the beginning of this volume and at the end of Volume I.

The third volume in Great Issues In American History, From Reconstruction to the Present Day is now updated and revised to include another decade of American history. Beatrice K. Hofstadter, wife of the late Richard Hofstadter and herself an historian who worked with him closely on the original edition, has added a new section covering 1970 to 1981 and rearranged other sections in the light of what has since proved to be of lasting importance. This collection of significant documents in American history now goes from Lincoln's Proclamation on the Wade-Davis Bill on July 8, 1864, to Reagan's Address on Arms Control Negotiations on November 18, 1981. Volume I From Settlement to Revolution. 1584-1776 Edited by Clarence L. Ver Steeg and Richard Hofstadter Volume Il From the Revolution to the Civil War. 1765-1865 Edited by Richard Hofstadter

On many occasions Americans as a religious people have experienced tension and indecision as they have wrestled with a variety of critical issues crossing their paths. How to implement their religious creeds and ideals in an ever-changing society is recorded in the religious language of the people as they have sought to articulate their identity and destiny. Critical Issues in American Religious History identifies fifteen key, chronologically arranged issues that have prompted considerable debate and discussion over the years. The distinctive element of this work is the singular thematic thread which runs from cover to cover: America's religious experience reflects four interrelated dimensions of religious tension. The carefully selected primary and secondary materials speak to the tension between the secular and sacred, beliefs and behaviors, inclusion and exclusion, and conflict and consensus. Each chapter theme is woven around a particular critical issue pertaining to one or more of these four tensions. Ideally suited for classroom use, Mathisen's work enlarges the reader's critical thinking through an examination of primary and secondary sources of America's religious past. Special features in each chapter include: -- Introductory commentary -- Primary and secondary source readings -- Questions for reflection and discussion -- Suggested readings for further study

There’s no book like this one for educators interested in issues-centered teaching. More than 40 experts have contributed articles offering comprehensive coverageof the field of social issues education. In addition to a full examination of objectives and methods, contributors show how social issues can be taught as part of history, geography, the social sciences, and global and environmental studies. The challenges of assessment, curriculum, and effective teacher education are fully explored. With its teaching ideas and useful resource section, this book is an indispensable addition to your library! Contributors include: Shirley Engle, Anna Ochoa-Becker, Jack Nelson, Carole Hahn, Byron Massialas, Jeff Passe, Jesus Garcia, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Merry Merryfield, Patricia Avery, Sam Totten, Bill Wraga, Walter Parker, and James Shaver.

Eight prominent scholars consider whether Louis Hartz's interpretation of liberalism in his classic 1955 book should be repudiated or updated, and whether a study of America as a "liberal society" is still a rewarding undertaking.