| Table of Contents |
| | Foreword | |
| | Preface | |
| | Introduction | |
| Pt. I | Before the English (1609-1664) / Oliver A. Rink | |
| | Ch. 1 | Native Americans before the Invasion | 3 |
| | Ch. 2 | The Dutch Stake Their Claim | 12 |
| | Ch. 3 | Establishing a Colony | 30 |
| | Ch. 4 | Peter Stuyvesant and the New Immigrants | 45 |
| | Ch. 5 | Life in New Netherland | 61 |
| | Ch. 6 | New Netherland's Last Years | 87 |
| Pt. II | The English Province (1664-1776) / Ronald W. Howard | |
| | Ch. 7 | From Proprietary Colony to Royal Province | 113 |
| | Ch. 8 | Advancing English Culture | 130 |
| | Ch. 9 | A Mixed and Enterprising People | 145 |
| | Ch. 10 | Colonial Culture: The Sacred and The Secular | 165 |
| | Ch. 11 | Provincial and Imperial Politics | 182 |
| | Ch. 12 | The Coming of the Revolution | 202 |
| Pt. III | From Revolution to Statehood (1776-1825) / Edward Countryman | |
| | Ch. 13 | "Never a More Total Revolution" | 229 |
| | Ch. 14 | "The Rights of Mankind" | 241 |
| | Ch. 15 | A New Empire | 257 |
| | Ch. 16 | "A Large and Valuable Canal" | 269 |
| | Ch. 17 | New York City, New York's Cities | 284 |
| | Ch. 18 | The Empire State and the Albany Regency | 295 |
| Pt. IV | Antebellum Society and Politics (1825-1860) / L. Ray Gunn | |
| | Ch. 19 | New York Modernizes: Economic Growth and Transformation | 307 |
| | Ch. 20 | Society, Religion, and Reform | 323 |
| | Ch. 21 | New York at the Crossroads of Culture | 346 |
| | Ch. 22 | From Factions to Parties: The Emergence of the Second Party System | 369 |
| | Ch. 23 | Politics and Policy | 383 |
| | Ch. 24 | Politics Transformed: Slavery, Nativism, and the Rise of the Republican Party | 397 |
| Pt. V | The Gilded Age (1860-1914) / Paula Baker | |
| | Ch. 25 | New York during the Civil War and Reconstruction | 419 |
| | Ch. 26 | Making Sense of Mass Society | 452 |
| | Ch. 27 | "Progress" and Politics | 479 |
| Pt. VI | The Triumph of Liberalism (1914-1945) / Joel Schwartz | |
| | Ch. 28 | Progress under Siege | 519 |
| | Ch. 29 | The Electric Age | 549 |
| | Ch. 30 | Public Work in the Great Depression | 575 |
| | Ch. 31 | War Brings a New Day | 600 |
| Pt. VII | The Empire State in a Changing World (1945-2000) / Joel Schwartz | |
| | Ch. 32 | Top of the World | 623 |
| | Ch. 33 | Things Fall Apart | 656 |
| | Ch. 34 | The Long Slide | 682 |
| | Ch. 35 | Uneven Recovery | 706 |
| | Ch. 36 | New York State at the End of the Century | 723 |
| | Selected Readings | 735 |
| | Before the English (1609-1664) | 737 |
| | The English Province (1664-1776) | 745 |
| | From Revolution to Statehood (1776-1825) | 764 |
| | Antebellum Society and Politics (1825-1860) | 772 |
| | The Gilded Age (1860-1914) | 785 |
| | The Triumph of Liberalism (1914-1945) | 795 |
| | The Empire State in the Changing World (1945-2000) | 806 |
| | Contributors | 817 |
| | Index | 819 |
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