This classic text retains the superb scholarship of the first edition in a thoroughly revised and accessibly written new edition. With both new and updated essays by distinguished American and Canadian authors, the book provides a comprehensive historical overview of the formation and growth of North American regions from European exploration and colonization to the second half of the twentieth century. Collectively the contributors explore the key themes of acquisition of geographical knowledge, cultural transfer and acculturation, frontier expansion, spatial organization of society, resource exploitation, regional and national integration, and landscape change.

Part 1 Part I: Introduction Chapter 2 The North American Past: Retrospect and Prospect Part 3 Part II: Colonization: 1490s-1770s Chapter 4 European Encounters: Discovery and Exploration Chapter 5 The Spanish Borderlands Chapter 6 France in North America Chapter 7 The Colonial Origins of Anglo-America Chapter 8 Colonial America in the Eighteenth Century Part 9 Part III: Expansion: 1780s-1860s Chapter 10 The Geographical Dimensions of a New Nation, 1780s-1820s Chapter 11 Beyond the Appalachians, 1815-1860 Chapter 12 The Northeast and Regional Integration, 1800-1860 Chapter 13 British North America, 1763-1867 Part 14 Part IV: Consolidation: 1860s-1920s Chapter 15 Settling the Great Plains, 1850-1930 Chapter 16 The Far West, 1840-1920 Chapter 17 Population Growth, Migration and Urbanization, 1860-1920 Chapter 18 The National Integration of Regional Economies, 1860-1920 Chapter 19 The Progress of American Urbanism, 1860-1930 Chapter 20 Realizing the Idea of Canada Part 21 Part V: Reorganization: 1930s and Onward Chapter 22 America between the Wars Chapter 23 The Twentieth Century American City Chapter 24 The Other America: Changes in Rural America during the Twentieth Century Chapter 25 Canadian Cities in a North American Context Part 26 Part VI: Conclusion Chapter 27 Historical Geography since 1983 Chapters 28 Sources for Recreating the North American Past