Americans are fond of describing their country as a young nation. Though there is much in that description that is true, it should not obscure the richness and variety of the nations pasta past that provides the indispensable key to understanding the nations present. This completely new reference set examines in detail the formative stages of Americas essential past from European settlement of the Western Hemisphere and the displacement of indigenous peoples to the birth of the United States and its astonishing growth, in both population and territory, from a modest confederation of thirteen independent states.