Sixteenth-century background
Creating new frontiers, 1600-74
Britain, France, and the natives, 1674-1715
Multiple currents, 1715-53
War for dominance, 1754-64
Britain triumphant to America independent, 1765-76
Britain defeated, 1775-83
Flexing muscles, 1783-1811
Florida, but not Canada : from the War of 1812 to the Monroe Doctrine, 1812-23
Expansionism and its problems, 1823-43
From the Oregon question to the Gadsden Purchase, 1844-53
A great power in the making? : America, 1853-61
America divided, 1861-63
Winning the war, 1863-65
Settling the North American question, 1865-71
Postscript, 1871-2010.