"Is America's past a tale of racism, sexism, and bigotry? Is it the story of the conquest and rape of a continent? Is U.S. history the story of white slave owners who perverted the electoral process for their own interests? Did America start with Columbus's killing of all the Indians, leap to Jim Crow laws and Rockefeller crushing the workers, then finally save itself with Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal? The answers, of course are no, no, no, and NO."--back cover.

Originally published: 2004.

The city on the hill, 1492-1707 -- Colonial adolescence, 1707-63 -- Colonies no more, 1763-83 -- A nation of law, 1776-89 -- Small republic, big shoulders, 1789-1815 -- The first era of big central government, 1815-36 -- Red foxes and bear flags, 1836-48 -- The house dividing, 1848-60 -- The crisis of the Union, 1860-65 -- Ideals and realities of Reconstruction, 1865-76 -- Lighting out for the territories, 1861-90 -- Sinews of democracy, 1876-96 -- "Building best, building greatly," 1896-1912 -- War, Wilson, and internationalism, 1912-20 -- The Roaring Twenties and the Great Crash, 1920-32 -- Enlarging the public sector, 1932-40 : The New Deal : immediate goals, unintended results -- Democracy's finest hour, 1941-45 -- America's "happy days," 1946-59 -- The age of upheaval, 1960-74 -- Retreat and resurrection, 1974-88 -- The moral crossroads, 1989-2000 -- America, world leader, 2000 and beyond.