Price: 13.00 USD; 17.50 CAD
Pages: 404
On-sale Date: 1991 ?
Editing: ?
Cover Thumbnail for The Cartoon History of the United States (HarperCollins, 1991 series) Edit Cover
Cover Gallery 

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents)

cover / 1 page

Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
Characters:
Uncle Sam; Elvis Presley; Richard Nixon; Buffalo Bill; Sacagawea; union members; suffragettes; slaves; minuteman; Union soldier; Confederate soldier; covered wagon driver; conquistador; American Indian; Statue of Liberty
Synopsis:
Montage of characters and scenes from American history.

Issue Data

Series Data

  • Color: Color covers; Black and White interior
  • Dimensions: 7 1/2" w x 9 1/4" h
  • Paper Stock: Cardstock cover; Newsprint interior
  • Binding: Perfect Bound
  • Publishing Format: One-Shot
  • Publication Type: book
  • Keywords: educational; fact; history; United States

Indexer Notes

LCCN 91-55037. Back cover bears designation 0891N.

"Portions of this work were previously published by Harper & Row in 1987 and 1988, respectively, as THE CARTOON GUIDE TO U.S. HISTORY VOLUME I 1585-1865 and THE CARTOON GUIDE TO U.S. HISTORY VOLUME II 1865-N0W."

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 1)

blank page(s) / 1 page

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 2)

text article / 4 pages

Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
typeset
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:The Cartoon History of the United States
Synopsis:
Title page; half title page; dedication; front matter

Indexer Notes

Illustration on title page

Contents
(Table of Contents: 3)

table of contents / 1 page

Letters:
typeset
Synopsis:
Table of contents

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 4)

text article / 1 page

Script:
Pencils:
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Letters:
Characters:
Larry Gonick
Synopsis:
Introduction to the author/artist

Indexer Notes

Spot illustration

[The Cartoon History of the United States Part I]
(Table of Contents: 5)

text article / 1 page

Letters:
Synopsis:
Title page for Part I, 1585-1865

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 6)

blank page(s) / 1 page

Prologue: Who Found It?
(Table of Contents: 7)

comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Pencils:
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Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Eric the Red; Christopher Columbus; Native Americans
Synopsis:
Arrival of human beings in the Americas prior to the first English colonization attempt in 1585.

Chapter 1: In Which England Plants This and That
(Table of Contents: 8)

comic story / 18 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Bartholomew Gosnold; John Smith; Pocahontas; Powhatan; Squanto; Myles Standish; Roger Williams; Puritans; slaves
Synopsis:
English people carve out colonies in Virginia and Massachusetts, coming into conflict with the Native population. They develop forms of representative government based on social contract, but also establish slavery and limit religious freedom. Roger Williams proposes universal soul liberty.

Chapter 2: New Colonies and Baby Chickens
(Table of Contents: 9)

comic story / 16 pages

Script:
Pencils:
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Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Levelers; Native Americans; Metacomet [King Philip]; King Charles II; Benjamin Franklin
Synopsis:
The English Civil War sparks agitation for the rights of Englishmen. Indian wars threaten the American colonies, as does royal oversight. Benjamin Franklin embodies a new breed of 18th-century freethinkers and secularists.

Chapter 3: When a Colony Grows Up, What Does It Do for a Living?
(Table of Contents: 10)

comic story / 16 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
slaves; slave owners; Puritans; merchants; shippers; Boston rioters; Native Americans
Synopsis:
Slavery grows, especially in the south, and is hedged about with a series of laws and customs keeping blacks suppressed. The north produces agricultural surpluses and capitalizes the Triangle Trade. The colonies are so diverse, no one seems to even imagine them uniting.

Chapter 4: Mighty Beefs from Little Beavers Grow
(Table of Contents: 11)

comic story / 20 pages

Script:
Pencils:
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Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
George Washington; King George III; Patrick Henry; colonial rioters; British soldiers; New England soldiers; John Hancock; Benjamin Franklin
Synopsis:
France and Britain contend for land and furs in North America. George Washington attacks French troops, precipitating the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War). In debt from war, the British government attempts to establish, increase, or collect American taxes. This provokes resistance, riot, and finally revolution.

Chapter 5: In Which Happiness Is Pursued, Gun in Hand
(Table of Contents: 12)

comic story / 15 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
George Washington; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamin Franklin
Synopsis:
With heavy help from France, the US stumbles its way to victory in the Revolution. France, slaves, Indians, and Tories all fare badly in the aftermath.

Chapter 6: Shoes, Myths, the Constitution, Etc.
(Table of Contents: 13)

comic story / 17 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
slaves; slave owners; debtors; rioters; shoemakers; bankers; Framers of the Constitution
Synopsis:
After the Revolution, debts are high and government weak. As debtors use force to avoid repayment, elites take the lead in drafting a Constitution to form a stronger central government, protecting slavery in the process.

Chapter 7: Mr. Jefferson Throws a Party
(Table of Contents: 14)

comic story / 15 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Thomas Jefferson; Alexander Hamilton; John Adams; slaves
Synopsis:
Jefferson and Hamilton inspire what become competing political parties. Jefferson's comes to dominate, in part through being highly flexible with its principles. Jefferson presides over relative peace, prosperity, debt reduction, and territorial expansion.

Chapter 8: Manifest Dentistry, or the Great Uprooting
(Table of Contents: 15)

comic story / 19 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Tecumseh; Andrew Jackson; James Monroe; James K. Polk; Brigham Young
Synopsis:
Jackson and others take the lead in an assault on the American Indians, killing many and driving others west of the Mississippi. Then they invade Mexico and steal a good chunk of its territory.

Chapter 9: Railroads, Over- and Underground
(Table of Contents: 16)

comic story / 16 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
William Lloyd Garrison; Harriet Tubman; Frederick Douglass; slaves; women's rights advocates; industrial workers; Irish immigrants
Synopsis:
The nation's industrial base grows rapidly. Americans (at least in the north) form many groups agitating for reform. Agitation for abolition of slavery is met with great hostility in the south.

Chapter 10: In Which a War Is Fought, for Some Reason...
(Table of Contents: 17)

comic story / 21 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Abraham Lincoln; slaves; free blacks; American Indians; Roger B. Taney; John Brown; Frederick Douglass; Ulysses S. Grant; Union soldiers; Confederate soldiers
Synopsis:
Controversies over slavery divide the nation. War breaks out in Kansas. An appalling fugitive slave law forces even legally free blacks to flee the country. The Republican Party rises, opposing extension of slavery and favoring the white working man, to win the 1860 election. Southern states secede and provoke a war. Lincoln frees and enlists the slaves. Grant hammers home to victory, although at terrible cost. On the point of victory, Lincoln is killed.

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 18)

blank page(s) / 1 page

[The Cartoon History of the United States Part II]
(Table of Contents: 19)

text article / 1 page

Letters:
Synopsis:
Title page for Part II, 1865-1991

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 20)

blank page(s) / 1 page

Introduction to Part II
(Table of Contents: 21)

comic story / 6 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
slaves; slave owners; capitalists; workers
Synopsis:
The Civil War as a conflict between the slave system and the free labor system... with the latter growing toward industrial capitalism.

Chapter 11: Destruction and Reconstruction
(Table of Contents: 22)

comic story / 19 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Andrew Johnson; Thaddeus Stevens; former slaves; Ulysses S. Grant; Ku Klux Klan members
Synopsis:
The American south is in need of physical and social rebuilding after the Civil War. Many white southerners try mightily to suppress black participation in society and government, with support from President Andrew Johnson. Congress forces through changes that enfranchise and enable blacks on paper. The realities of Reconstruction were nowhere near as bad as the myths portray.

Chapter 12: Where the Railroads Roam
(Table of Contents: 23)

comic story / 17 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
William F Cody [Buffalo Bill]; railroad workers; George Armstrong Custer; Sioux Indians; railroad capitalists
Synopsis:
Using corrupt political and financial measures, railroad barons procure floods of financial support for building their operations. As part of this campaign of spreading railroads through the west, the government and military work hard to neutralize or kill the Indians.

Chapter 13: Labor Pains
(Table of Contents: 24)

comic story / 16 pages

Script:
Pencils:
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Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Samuel Tilden; Rutherford B Hayes; Karl Marx; Samuel Gompers; Eugene V Debs; capitalists; striking workers
Synopsis:
Backroom maneuvering steals the 1876 Presidential election from Tilden to Hayes. Workers become more organized and militant, in some cases embracing socialism or Marxism. Capital and government combine to control the workers by force.

Chapter 14: In Which an Awful Lot Happens
(Table of Contents: 25)

comic story / 16 pages

Script:
Pencils:
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Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Grover Cleveland; Mary Lease; Geronimo; Emma Goldman; Eugene V Debs; Theodore Roosevelt; Socialists; capitalists; Filipino insurgents; Woodrow Wilson
Synopsis:
Capitalists "rationalize" industry and business with monopolistic trusts, despite cosmetic government regulation. Socialists, union members, and Populists fight the trusts and the government. Looking for cheap labor and captive markets, the country turns to overseas colonialism. Theodore Roosevelt promotes colonialism, along with progressive domestic policies. Woodrow Wilson supports Progressivism, but eventually leads the country into World War I.

Chapter 15: War and Peace and Warren Harding
(Table of Contents: 26)

comic story / 17 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Vladimir Lenin; Woodrow Wilson; A Mitchell Palmer; J Edgar Hoover; Warren G Harding; Marcus Garvey; Ku Klux Klan members
Synopsis:
The US helps win World War I, but Wilson comes up far short of his goals at the peace conference. Black nationalism and women's suffrage challenge and horrify many Americans, some of whom respond violently. Prohibition and jazz become signs of the times, even as the government organizes dishonest anti-Red campaigns.

Chapter 16: Shock Therapy for a Great Depression
(Table of Contents: 27)

comic story / 24 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Herbert Hoover; Franklin D Roosevelt; unemployed workers; members of the AFL; members of the CIO; Adolf Hitler; Harry Truman;
Synopsis:
The Great Depression bankrupts both great and small, forcing millions out of work. With Hoover not coping, the people elect Franklin Roosevelt, who tries a multitude of energetic programs. Labor unions disagree over approaches (and over admitting non-whites), but force the auto industry to the bargaining table. Germany and Japan wage aggressive war, finally attacking the United States as well. Industry booms with war work. Blacks and women find new opportunities, but 100,000 Japanese Americans are imprisoned without just cause.

Chapter 17: Bright, White Light
(Table of Contents: 28)

comic story / 21 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Uncle Sam; Russian bear; Harry S Truman; Mickey Mouse (cameo); Joseph McCarthy; Dwight D Eisenhower; Little Richard; Elvis Presley
Synopsis:
After victory in World War II, tensions between the US and USSR skyrocket. The Marshall Plan limits the attractiveness of Communism while boosting US profits and influence. The USSR explodes its first atomic bomb, and launches the first Earth satellite. Communist hunts at home mangle the Constitution, and the US overthrows democratic governments overseas if they are not friendly enough to the US. Despite demands for conformity, young people, African Americans, musicians, and experimental writers begin to break out.

Chapter 18: Revolution Now?
(Table of Contents: 29)

comic story / 23 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
Uncle Sam; Ho Chi Minh; Fidel Castro; Harry S Truman; Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King Jr; John F Kennedy; Lyndon B Johnson; Richard M Nixon; Daniel Ellsberg; Elijah Mohammed [Elijah Muhammad]; Malcolm X; American soldiers; Vietnamese soldiers; student protestors; civil rights protestors; urban rioters
Synopsis:
Truman begins dismantling segregation. The US props up and/or dismantles anti-communist governments in South Vietnam... part of a general attitude of neo-colonialism. African Americans demand more rights, and some are killed for it. A series of assassinations tears the nation. Johnson pushes through dramatic domestic programs, but also escalates the war in Vietnam. Nixon is elected President, but Americans reject his leadership and the war in Vietnam.

Chapter 19: And They Lived Happily Ever After
(Table of Contents: 30)

comic story / 34 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
cult members; black professionals; black unemployed; women's liberationists; Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; George H W Bush; Mikhail Gorbachev; OPEC oil producers; savings and loan executives; savings and loan depositors
Synopsis:
The 60s have bad fallout (drugs, STDs, dangerous cults, a nuclear arms race) as well as good results. Black poverty and black opportunity both increase. Many become more ecologically aware, and many believe that we are reaching an age of more limitations. Reagan wins office rejecting limits and regulations, stimulating the economy while vastly increasing the deficit. The Soviet Union begins to disintegrate. The US attacks Iraq over Kuwait. Any history book ends in the middle. There are no tidy conclusions.

Bibliography
(Table of Contents: 31)

text article / 3 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:non-fiction; history
Characters:
slaves; soldiers; Thomas Jefferson; Andrew Jackson; William F Cody [Buffalo Bill]; Eugene V Debs; Marcus Garvey
Synopsis:
Bibliography, with commentary and spot illustrations

Index
(Table of Contents: 32)

text article / 12 pages

Letters:
typeset
Synopsis:
Index

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 33)

blank page(s) / 1 page

Indexer Notes

Inside back cover

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 34)

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page

Editing
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Table of Contents ToC
    Table of Contents
  1. [no title indexed]
  2. [no title indexed]
  3. ["The Cartoon History of the United States"]
  4. Contents
  5. ["About the Author"]
  6. [The Cartoon History of the United States Part I]
  7. [no title indexed]
  8. Prologue: Who Found It?
  9. Chapter 1: In Which England Plants This and That
  10. Chapter 2: New Colonies and Baby Chickens
  11. Chapter 3: When a Colony Grows Up, What Does It Do for a Living?
  12. Chapter 4: Mighty Beefs from Little Beavers Grow
  13. Chapter 5: In Which Happiness Is Pursued, Gun in Hand
  14. Chapter 6: Shoes, Myths, the Constitution, Etc.
  15. Chapter 7: Mr. Jefferson Throws a Party
  16. Chapter 8: Manifest Dentistry, or the Great Uprooting
  17. Chapter 9: Railroads, Over- and Underground
  18. Chapter 10: In Which a War Is Fought, for Some Reason...
  19. [no title indexed]
  20. [The Cartoon History of the United States Part II]
  21. [no title indexed]
  22. Introduction to Part II
  23. Chapter 11: Destruction and Reconstruction
  24. Chapter 12: Where the Railroads Roam
  25. Chapter 13: Labor Pains
  26. Chapter 14: In Which an Awful Lot Happens
  27. Chapter 15: War and Peace and Warren Harding
  28. Chapter 16: Shock Therapy for a Great Depression
  29. Chapter 17: Bright, White Light
  30. Chapter 18: Revolution Now?
  31. Chapter 19: And They Lived Happily Ever After
  32. Bibliography
  33. Index
  34. [no title indexed]
  35. ["What? You don't know what a burgess is?"]
Related Links
Issue was modified by
  • Boris Ammerlaan
  • Peter Croome
  • Kirk House
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Jim Van Dore
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