''The Federal Union: A History of the United States to 1877'' (originally published as ''The Federal Union: A History of the United States to 1865)'' is history of the United States written by John D. Hicks,

George E. Mowry George Edwin Mowry (September 5, 1909 – May 12, 1984) was an American historian focusing primarily on the Progressive Era. As a professor at UCLA and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he taught large classes and directed over 50 ...

and

Robert E. Burke Robert Emmet Burke (August 1, 1847 – June 5, 1901) was a U.S. Representative from Texas. Early years Robert Emmet Burke was born near Dadeville, Alabama, and attended nearby public schools. He moved to Jefferson, Texas, in 1866. Military s ...

. First published in 1937, it covered the period from the

discovery of the Americas The prehistory of the Americas (North America, North, South America, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean) begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age. These groups are generally believed to have ...

in 1492 to the end of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in 1865. Four revised editions followed that also covered the Reconstruction Era up to 1877, and accordingly were published with an updated subtitle. The fifth and final edition appeared in 1970. ''The Federal Union'' was primarily written as a university-level

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...

, and was published with accompanying manuals for instructors and for students. It was the first of a two-volume set. The second volume was entitled ''The American Nation: 1865 to the Present.'' An abridged one-volume edition first appeared in 1946 as ''A Short History of American Democracy.'' The book was aimed at undergraduate students, other readers appreciated its qualities. For example, historian George Fort Milton admired Hicks's "capacity for extraordinary compression without at the same time either getting the style too bare-bones for pleasurable reading; or the facts too black-and-white for the necessary implications of gradations of gray."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federal Union History books about the United States American history books History textbooks