Books in UNCOVERING HISTORY series

In the decades before the Civil War effectively ended the institution of slavery in the United States, many people risked their lives to rescue Southern African Americans from the shackles of slavery and shepherd them to the safety of the Northern states and Canada. Thousands of slaves made the journey under cover of night. Once free, some became agents of the railroad while others educated those in the North about the horrors of slavery. The remarkable stories of people who would achieve freedom or die trying are chronicled within these pages.

Before the merging of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, traveling West was a perilous, time-consuming endeavor. Native Americans hunted vast herds of buffalo across the plains and a few hardy pioneers lived in scattered, isolated settlements. The construction of the transcontinental railroad would change all that, opening up the means for coast-to-coast travel, boosting private enterprise, and nearly destroying Native Americans for good. A feat of engineering genius and human endeavor, this timely volume illuminates the hardships, accomplishments, greed, and racial conflicts of one of America's greatest achievements.

From the final decades of the 1500s through the mid-1700s, the North American continent witnessed a whirlwind of competition and colonization as European powers vied to establish their place in the northern reaches of the New World. Each powerOCowhether England, France, Holland, Spain, or othersOCorelied on strong-willed individuals who were driven by motives as different as night and dayOCofrom religious freedom to gold and glory. These adventurous people served as conquerors and colonists, explorers and evangelists, promoters and profiteers, farmers and freemen, Puritans and planters, sovereigns and servants. Before the era of European colonization in North America was complete, each had made his or her contribution, creating possibilities for themselves and their descendents in America that many had never thought possible. Learn how these colonists flourished in the midst of overwhelming obstacles in Colonial America: 1543-1763.

For many Americans, the era of the "Roaring Twenties" represented good times, a respite from war, and a booming economy. Consumer goods flew from the shelves of America's stores and shops, and the country invested in the stock market as never before. But by the end of the decade, millions witnessed the end of those heady days of jobs, money to spend, and financial security. Fear gripped the nation. By the end of the 1930s, the United States had experienced at least 10 years of hard times, unemployment, and radical change that redefined the role of the federal government. The country had relied on its new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to boost the economy with his ambitious New Deal programs, but many questioned the success of his policies. Readers can explore for themselves the effectiveness of Roosevelt's policies and the legacies they left in this timely volume.

For more than 150 years, English men and women had planted themselves along the Atlantic Coast of the New World as colonists, intent on creating new lives of possibility and opportunity. But by the 1760s, countless thousands of people who had been loyal to king and country began to question that same loyalty. As British authorities began to hamper the lives the colonists had created, many in America followed a new course of action. As policies brought protest and taxes represented tyranny, those colonists ceased to consider themselves English subjects and came to view themselves as Americans seeking independence. But before that new identity and that dream of freedom could become a true reality, they would have to engage in a prolonged conflictOCothe American Revolutionary War. In Revolutionary America: 1764-1789, readers will learn about colonial life and the mechanisms that encouraged America's residents to fight for freedom from the British crown.

This detailed volume tells the dark story of the Salem witchcraft trials with a lively narrative and primary source documents, such as transcripts and letters, that highlight the tales and voices of both the victims and the perpetrators. Readers will learn about the harsh living conditions as well as the religious and social views of the day and how they influenced society's reactions to the unknown and difficult (or impossible) to explain. This text also meets the Common Core standards for history and social studies, such as evaluating various explanations for actions or events and determining which explanation best accords with textual evidence.

For thousands of years, the first residents of the Western Hemisphere had established unique worlds for themselves. From their earliest Ice Age ancestors' arrival across the Bering Land Bridge in 10,000 BCE until 500 years ago, American Indians flourished on the North, Central, and South American continents. Highly sophisticated tribal or national identities, based on social, political, and religious customs, were developed. Establishing the cornerstones of civilized native life, including hunting, fishing, gathering, and farming, these peoples fashioned weapons and tools out of simple materials, such as bone, stone, and wood. They used the land and its resources to their advantage. But the Indians' world would one day intersect with a people as curious as the their migrating ancestors had been. After thousands of years of Indian dominance over the future United States, Europeans introduced new ideas, new technologies, and a new religion. In The New World: Prehistory to 1542, learn how these newcomers forever affected the lives of those native peoples who had long called America their home.

Snaking its way through 363 miles of upstate New York, the original Erie Canal was the most massive public works project the United States had seen before the Civil War. Many doubted that such a grand waterway could be constructed, but upon its completion, it almost instantly became an enduring national symbol of American ingenuity. This volume relates the captivating story of the Erie Canal, chronicling how some dedicated political figures and surveyors-turned-engineers helped make one of the earliest American engineering marvels a reality. Primary source documents provide historical context, showing how the Erie Canal transformed the greater American landscape.