1. Chapters 1 & 2. US at midcentury; Mexican War; Compromise of 1850.
2. Ch. 3 & 4. Slavery; Agrarianism v. Industrialization; Abolitionism.
3. Ch. 5 & 6. Bleeding Kansas; Rise of Republican Party; Dred Scott; Lincoln/Douglas debates.
4. Ch. 7 & 8. John Brown; 1860 Election; Secession; Fort Sumter.
5. Ch. 9 & 10. The Upper South's Dilemma; Armies are organized; War begins.
6. Ch.11 & 12. Bull Run and its consequences; McClellan hesitates; Blockade and beachhead in the South.
7. Ch.13 & 14. The Mississippi River War in 1862; Internal dissension; Landmark legislation.
8. Ch. 15 & 16. Shenandoah Valley Campaign; Lee takes command; The North struggles over slavery.
9. Ch. 17 & 18. Back and forth in Northern Virginia; Britain and France consider entry. Emancipation Proclamation.
10. Ch. 19 & 20. Lincoln suffers McClellan and discord over the army; more reversals; Internal dissension and riots in the North.
11. Ch. 21 & 22. Vicksburg taken; Gettysburg; The road to Chattanooga.
12. Ch. 23& 24. Defeatism in the South; The North considers Reconstruction; War struggles on.
13. Ch.25 & 26. Sherman advances toward Atlanta, Grant besieges Petersburg; Lincoln focuses on Emancipation, is re-elected.
14. Ch.27 &28, Epilogue. Sherman's March; Appomattox.