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The Routledge History of Nineteenth-Century America provides an important overview of the main themes within the study of the long nineteenth century in American History. By broadly incorporating the latest research to give an up-to-date overview of the whole era, the book explores the major advances that have taken place in the past few decades. During the nineteenth century, from the Constitutional era to World War I, the United States went from enslaving African Americans to emancipating them; from a citizenry comprised of wealthy men to one of broad political participation; from a rural, agricultural economy to one driven by industry and urban centers; and from a nation patched together through unreliable transportation to a country bound by communication and transportation networks. And at the center of that development was the Civil War, an event that changed the character and direction of the nation forever.
List of contents
Part I: The Early Republic
1) Slavery, the Constitution, and the First Political Parties
2) Class, the Market Revolution, and Urbanization
3) Gender, Sexuality, and the Birth of the Women’s Rights Movement
4) Religion and Reform
5) Native Americans and Westward Expansion
Part II: Antebellum America
6) Free African Americans, Black Abolitionism, and the Fugitive Slave Crisis
7) International Travel, Intellectual Life, and Global Influences on America
8) Party Politics and the Sectional Crisis
9) Literature and Culture during the American Renaissance
10) Plantation Slavery and Capitalism
Part III: The Civil War Era
11) Secession and the Outbreak of the Civil War
12) Wartime Military Mobilization, Business, and Technology
13) The Confederacy on the Battlefield and Homefront
14) Politics and Civil Liberties on the Union Homefront
15) Military Leadership and the International Dimensions of the War
16) African Americans and the Push for Emancipation
17) Law, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution, 1840-1880
Part IV: America in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
17) Gender Ideology and Women’s Rights Movement
18) Race, Segregation, and Criminal Justice
19) Business and Political Economy in the New South
20) Literature and Culture in the Post-War Era
21) Environmental History, Western Settlement and Native Americans
22) Progressive Era Politics and Society
About the author
Jonathan Daniel Wells is Professor of History in the Departments of History and Afroamerican and African Studies, and Director of the Residential College, at the University of Michigan.
Summary
The Routledge History of Nineteenth-Century America provides an important overview of the main themes within the study of the long nineteenth century. The book explores major currents of research over the past few decades to give an up-to-date synthesis of nineteenth-century history. It shows how the century defined much of our modern world, focusing on themes including: immigration, slavery and racism, women's rights, literature and culture, and urbanization. This collection reflects the state of the field and will be essential reading for all those interested in the development of the modern United States.
