summarizes the chief elements of the Second
American Party Systemby comparing the fun-
damental ideas of the Democrats and Whigs; a
table in Chapter 31 outlines the “victories” of
gender activists in the 1960s and 1970s and
shows the subsequent conservative response to
these events. These tables are not mere sum-
maries but instruments to promote deeper
learning and comprehension.
■ To encourage and facilitate study and review,
each chapter now ends with a list of key terms
and definitions and a set of review questions.
The key terms are also compiled in the glossary
that appears at the end of the text.historian’s task that students may fairly ask the
question posed in this book’s final Debating the
Pastfeature (Chapter 32): “Do Historians Ever
Get It Right?” Readers of The American Nation
must supply their own answer. What this long
book argues, however, is that the exploration of
the past itself is as important as any particular
facts that may be discerned along the way.
■ This edition of The American Nationconcedes
the difficulty of internalizing so many complex
concepts and materials. To assist in this task,
nearly every chapter includes at least one
“conceptual” table illuminating its key themes
and issues. For example, a table in Chapter 9
Preface xxv