Prologue : layered pasts
Progenitors
Legacies of power from medieval North America
Legacies of conquest from medieval Europe
Conquistadores
Crusades of the Christ-bearers to the Americas
Crusades of the protestants to new worlds
Traders
Native Americans and the power of trade
Epidemics, war, and the remapping of a continent
Planters
Searching for order in new and old England
Planting patriarchy in New England and Virginia
Dutch, French, Spanish, and English counterpoints
Imperialists
Monarchical power reborn
Planters besieged
Revolution, war, and a new transatlantic order
Atlanteans
Producing and consuming in an Atlantic empire
People in motion, enslaved and free
Contending for a continent
Gloomy and dark days
Epilogue : present pasts.