Efnisyfirlit

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Plates
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface and acknowledgments
• Chronology of significant dates in American history
• 1 The American context
• Ethnic culture
• Religious culture
• Political-legal culture
• Economic culture
• Media culture
• Arts, sports and leisure cultures
• National identity
• Social and institutional change
• American attitudes to US society
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 2 The country
• Political ecology
• Natural resources, economic development and environmental concerns
• Climate
• The regions: cultural geography
• Native American cultural regions
• Cultural regions in the contemporary US
• Changing public attitudes: where do we go from here?
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 3 The people: Settlement and immigration
• Mother of exiles
• Early encounters between Europeans and Native Americans
• The founders
• The first wave: colonial immigration, 1680–1776
• The second wave: the “old” immigrants, 1820–90
• Settlement patterns and nativism
• The third wave: the “new” immigrants, 1890–1930
• A renewed immigration debate and immigration restriction
• Wartime policies and the search for principle in immigration policy
• The fourth wave: 1965 to the present
• Attitudes to immigrants: the contemporary debate
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 4 The people: Women and minorities
• The reason for American women’s and minority history
• Women in the US
• Native Americans
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans
• African Americans
• Asian Americans
• Latino Americans
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 5 Religious culture
• Religious history
• Contemporary US religion
• Church, state and politics
• Religion and education
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 6 Political institutions: The federal government
• Historical origins
• The constitutional framework
• The political parties
• The legislative branch
• The executive branch
• Presidential elections
• Campaign financing
• Reform the system?
• The judicial branch
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 7 Political institutions: State and local government
• The place of state government in American federalism
• The evolution of state government and federalism in the US
• The structure of state government
• Local government
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 8 Foreign policy
• A nation apart? American attitudes to world affairs
• From neutrality to isolationism, 1776–1830
• From expansionism to imperialism, 1783–1914
• Isolationism and internationalism, 1914–45
• The Cold War era, 1946–92
• The sole superpower in the post–Cold War era and beyond
• The foreign policy establishment debate
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 9 The legal system
• Legal history
• The sources of US law
• The court system
• Federal and state court proceedings
• The legal profession
• Crime and punishment
• Attitudes to the legal system
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 10 The economy
• Economic history
• American economic liberalism: theory and practice
• Social class and economic inequality
• The contemporary economy
• Industry, manufacturing and energy
• Service industries
• Agriculture, forestry and fisheries
• Environmental issues
• Financial and industrial institutions
• Attitudes to the economic system
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 11 Social services
• Social services history
• The organization of contemporary social services
• Public social services
• The needy and the poverty line
• Voluntary services
• Healthcare
• Housing
• Attitudes to social services
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 12 Education
• American attitudes to education: high expectations
• American educational history
• Elementary and secondary schools
• Private elementary and secondary schools
• Higher education
• Recent problems and policy debates
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 13 The media
• Media history
• Freedom of the media
• The contemporary print media
• The contemporary broadcasting media
• The Internet and new media sources
• Attitudes to the media
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• 14 Arts, sports and leisure cultures
• The arts
• Sports
• Leisure
• Exercises
• Further reading
• Websites
• Appendices
• Declaration of Independence in Congress, July 4, 1776
• Constitution of the United States of America and amendments
• Index