U.S. history is increasingly perceived, interpreted, and taught as part of a global historical experience. The mutual influence of change - of global forces entering the United States and of American ideas, goods, and people moving out through the world - has been a consistent feature sincethe 16th century. Although most Americans today are aware that their influence is felt abroad and are increasingly aware of the influence of events abroad on their own lives, they tend to think of these as recent developments. In fact, those earliest exchanges of beliefs and products some 500 yearsago established a pattern of interaction that continues today.American Horizons tells the story of the United States by exploring this exchange on a global scale and placing it at the center of that story. By doing so, the authors provide a different perspective on the history of the United States, one that they hope broadens the horizons of those who readtheir work and are ever mindful of the global forces that increasingly and profoundly shape their lives. At the same time, American Horizons considers those ways in which U.S. inlfuence reshaped their lives and experiences of people of other nations.American Horizons presents an opportunity to view the nation's history as more than a mere sequence of events for students to memorize. Although adhering to the familiar chronological organization of the U.S. History course, their narrative style and structure provide the flexibility of shiftingemphasis from time to time to the global aspects of American history. Although the story of the United States is always at the center, that story is told through the movement of people, goods, and ideas into, within, or out of the United States.