Making America

Making America presents history as a dynamic process that is shaped by human expectations, difficult choices, and surprising circumstances. By describing history as a process that students themselves can—and do—influence, the text engages students in learning about the past and emphasizes that each person has the power to make history, to make America.

A strong chronological narrative, together with an integrated program of learning and teaching aids, makes the historical material vivid and comprehensible to students at all levels of preparedness.

• The chapter-opening Individual Choices feature provides a portrait of one individual and highlights how this person's decisions relate to an important issue raised in the chapter. This feature dramatizes the theme that historical events are not inevitable but are the result of real people making real choices.
• The chapter-ending Individual Voices feature presents a primary source in an accessible way, allowing students to explore a primary source as a historian would. Each source is either written by or related to the person in that chapter's Individual Choices feature. A variety of sources are used, including personal letters, poems, speeches, political statements, and newspaper articles. Brief introductions set the context for the primary source, and color-coded Exploration Points in the margin pose provocative questions and provide interesting facts about what the source reveals.