Critical Moments in American History
The 1980 Presidential Election: Ronald Reagan and the Shaping of the American Conservative Movement
1st Edition
By Jeffrey D. Howison
October 26, 2013
Ronald Reagan’s victory in the 1980 presidential election marked a watershed moment in the history of the United States, heralding the triumph of the American conservative movement. Once a supporter of the New Deal, Reagan had come to symbolize the union of three diverse forms of ...
The Louisiana Purchase: A Global Context
1st Edition
By Robert D. Bush
October 15, 2013
In 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land from France at a price of approximately three cents per acre, dramatically altering the young nation’s geography and its political future. President Thomas Jefferson had struggled for three years over the purchase, which many ...
The Nativist Movement in America: Religious Conflict in the 19th Century
1st Edition
By Katie Oxx
March 27, 2013
By the mid nineteenth century, anti-Catholicism had become a central conflict in America. Fueling the dissent were Protestant groups dedicated to maintaining what they understood to be the Christian vision and spirit of the "founding fathers." Afraid of the religious and moral impact of Catholics, ...
The Cuban Missile Crisis: The Threshold of Nuclear War
1st Edition
By Alice George
March 20, 2013
For thirteen days in October of 1962, a truly perilous flirtation with nuclear war developed between the United States and USSR, as the superpowers argued over the installation of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba. Launched by rash judgment and concluded through circumspect leadership, the Cuban ...
The Battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens: The American Revolution in the Southern Backcountry
1st Edition
By Melissa A. Walker
October 16, 2012
The American South is so identified with the Civil War that people often forget that the key battles from the final years of the American Revolution were fought in Southern states. The Southern backcountry was the center of the fight for independence, but backcountry devotion to the Patriot cause ...
Freedom to Serve: Truman, Civil Rights, and Executive Order 9981
1st Edition
By Jon Taylor
October 04, 2012
On the eve of America’s entry into World War II, African American leaders pushed for inclusion in the war effort and, after the war, they mounted a concerted effort to integrate the armed services. Harry S. Truman’s decision to issue Executive Order 9981 in 1948, which resulted in the integration ...
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: Political Trauma and American Memory
1st Edition
By Alice George
October 03, 2012
On November 22nd, 1963 the assassination of President John F. Kennedy set into motion a series of events that irrevocably changed American politics and culture. The media frenzy spawned by the controversy surrounding the death of JFK has since given way to a powerful public memory that continues to...
The Battle of the Greasy Grass/Little Bighorn: Custer's Last Stand in Memory, History, and Popular Culture
1st Edition
By Debra Buchholtz
July 20, 2012
In June of 1876, the U.S. government’s plan to pressure the Lakota and Cheyenne people onto reservations came to a dramatic and violent end with a battle that would become enshrined in American memory. In the eyes of many Americans at the time, the Battle of Little Bighorn represented a symbolic ...