Originally published: 2004

The city on the hill, 1492-1707 -- Colonial adolescence, 1707-63 -- Colonies no more, 1763-83 -- A nation of law, 1776-89 -- Small republic, big shoulders, 1789-1815 -- The first era of big central government, 1815-36 -- Red foxes and bear flags, 1836-48 -- The house dividing, 1848-60 -- The crisis of the Union, 1860-65 -- Ideals and realities of Reconstruction, 1865-76 -- Lighting out for the territories, 1861-90 -- Sinews of democracy, 1876-96 -- "Building best, building greatly," 1896-1912 -- War, Wilson, and internationalism, 1912-20 -- The Roaring Twenties and the Great Crash, 1920-32 -- Enlarging the public sector, 1932-40 : The New Deal : immediate goals, unintended results -- Democracy's finest hour, 1941-45 -- America's "happy days," 1946-59 -- The age of upheaval, 1960-74 -- Retreat and resurrection, 1974-88 -- The moral crossroads, 1989-2000 -- America, world leader, 2000 and beyond