A Brief History
This article presents tables of contents for our online versions of freely accessible “textbooks” for college history courses.
Digging Deeper
American History through the Civil War
An examination of the creation and development of a distinctively American civilization, from its origins through the Civil War (to 1865)
- Introduction
- The New Global World
- The Invasion and Settlement of North America: Creating a British Empire in America, 1550-1750
- Growth and Crisis in Colonial Society, 1720-1765
- Toward Independence: Years of Decision, 1763-1776
- Making War and Republican Governments, 1776-1789
- Politics and Society in the New Republic, 1787-1820
- Economic Transformation, 1790-1860
- A Democratic Revolution, 1820-1844
- Religion and Reform, 1820-1860
- The South Expands: Slavery and Society, 1800-1860
- Expansion, War, and Sectional Crisis, 1844-1860
- Two Societies at War, 1861-1865
- Conclusion
American History after the Civil War
An examination of how the fundamental American principles of freedom and equality developed as the United States emerged as the world’s leading power from the Civil War to the present
- Introduction and Reconstruction
- Conquering a Continent
- Industrial America at Work
- The Rise and Reform of Industrial Cities
- Populists and Progressives
- An Emerging World Power
- Wrestling with Modernity
- The Great Depression and the New Deal
- The World at War, 1937-1945
- Cold War America from 1945 to 1963
- Triumph of the Middle Class
- The Civil Rights Movement
- Conservative America Ascendant
- Conclusion on National Dilemmas in Global Society
The French Revolution and Napoleon
Analysis of the causes of Revolution in France, political, ideological and social conflict in the construction of French democracy expansion of the revolution outside of France.
- Introduction
- The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century: Social Crises, Wars, and Rebellions
- The Scientific Revolution
- Constitutionalism
- Absolutism
- The Enlightenment
- The American Revolution
- The French Revolution
- Napoleon
- The Revolutions of 1848
- Conclusion
Western Civilization to 1500
This course will seek to answer the question “What is civilization?” by studying certain historical moments in the West-classical Greece, the Roman Republic, early Christianity, the High Middle Ages, and the Renaissance-in order to see the changes over time in politics, religion, society, economics, and culture and to realize the extent to which the present world has inherited these institutional and intellectual foundations of human life.
- Introduction
- Pre-History
- The First Civilizations
- The Second Generation of Civilizations
- Ancient Slaves and Women
- Early Greece
- Classical and Hellenistic Greece
- The Fall of Macedon and the Rise of Rome
- The Pax Romana
- The Transformation of the Roman Empire
- Unity and Diversity in Three Heirs of the Roman Empire
- Renewal and Reform
- An Age of Confidence
- Crisis
- Renaissance
- The Experiences of Life in Early Modern Europe
Western Civilization from 1500
This course examines how the peoples of Western Europe understood freedom and sought to secure it in the 500 years from the Renaissance to World War II. Focusing on selected historical moments during this period, the course considers how this quest for freedom transformed politics, religion, economics, and morality; it also examines the reaction to this transformation, especially in totalitarianism.
- Introduction
- Renaissance
- The Spanish Golden Age
- The Experiences of Life in Early Modern Europe
- The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century: Social Crises, Wars, and Rebellions
- Artists and Composers
- The Scientific Revolution
- Constitutionalism
- Absolutism
- The Enlightenment
- The American Revolution
- The French Revolution
- Napoleon
- The Revolutions of 1848
- An Age of Industry in the Pax Britannica (1815-1914)
- Causes of World War I
- World War I
- The Fall of the Russian Empire and the Rise of the Soviet Union
- Fascism and Nazism
- World War II and the Holocaust
- Consequences of World War II: The Rise of the Cold War to 1962 and the Fall of Empires
- Conclusion of the Civilization Sequence
World History: Ancient and Medieval
World history from early human societies through the mid-17th century.
- Introduction
- Pre-History
- The First Civilizations
- The Second Generation of Civilizations
- Ancient Slaves and Women
- Early Greece
- Classical and Hellenistic Greece
- The Fall of Macedon and the Rise of Rome
- The Pax Romana
- The Transformation of the Roman Empire
- Unity and Diversity in Three Heirs of the Roman Empire
- Renewal and Reform
- An Age of Confidence
- Crisis
- Renaissance
- The Spanish Golden Age
- The Experiences of Life in Early Modern Europe
World History: Modern
World history from mid-17th century to the present.
- Introduction
- The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century: Social Crises, Wars, and Rebellions
- Artists and Composers
- The Scientific Revolution
- Constitutionalism
- Absolutism
- The Enlightenment
- The American Revolution
- The French Revolution
- Napoleon
- The Revolutions of 1848
- An Age of Industry in the Pax Britannica (1815-1914)
- Causes of World War I
- World War I
- The Fall of the Russian Empire and the Rise of the Soviet Union
- Fascism and Nazism
- World War II and the Holocaust
- Consequences of World War II: The Rise of the Cold War to 1962 and the Fall of Empires
- The Culture of Protest: Contesting the Cold War Order in the 1960s
- The End of the Cold War
- Conclusion of the Civilization Sequence
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Markham, J. David and Matthew Zarzeczny. Simply Napoleon (Great Lives). Simply Charly, 2017.
Zarzeczny, Matthew D. Meteors That Enlighten the Earth: Napoleon and the Cult of Great Men. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
The featured image in this article, a collage by Carn of famous women, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.