Before the Revolution: America's ancient pasts

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, wars, 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 alternatives

Imperialists

Monarchical power reborn

Planters besieged

Revolution, warfare, and a new transatlantic order

Atlanteans

Producing and consuming in an Atlantic empire

People in motion in slavery and freedom

Contending for a continent

Gloomy and dark days

Epilogue : present pasts.