The birth of America : from before Columbus to the Revolution / William R. Polk.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Polk, William R. (William Roe), 1929-2020.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--History.

United States.

History.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 392 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : HarperCollins, [2006]

Summary:

Looking west, the people of the gentle Mediterranean saw the Atlantic as the great unknown, obscured by storm cloud, without welcoming shores, and given to violence. Their ships were too light to withstand its waves; their navigation instruments were baffled by its immensity; their experience stopped short of its rocks and reefs. So fearful were they of losing touch with land that they coined for us the concept of being "disoriented"-to have lost one's east, the European shore-in the watery wastes of the western sea.

Contents:

Introduction: Revising the American Past xi

Part I Europe and Africa Come to America

1 The Native Americans 3

2 The Fearsome Atlantic 24

3 Sugar, Slaves, and Souls 40

4 Fish, Fur, and Piracy 53

5 Society and Wars in the Old Countries 64

6 The African Roots of American Blacks 79

Part II The Establishment of British America

7 Early Days in the Colonies 101

8 "Mother england" Loses Touch 126

9 The Growth of the Colonies 144

10 Blacks in America 163

11 Whites, Indians, and Land 186

Part III Breakdown of the Imperial System

12 The French and Indian War 209

13 From International War to Colonial War 219

14 Production and Commerce 230

15 Representation and Taxation 247

Conclusion: Stumbling Toward War

16 Foreign Friends and Fellow Sufferers 269

17 "An Ungovernable People" 279

18 Casting the Die 298.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-373) and index.

ISBN:

0060750901 :

OCLC:

66143956

Publisher Number:

9780060750909