This new edition of a widely-acclaimed anthology incoroprates the best of the extensive new scholarship in women's history with American history as a whole. Some sixty documents and articles, including essays written by the editors especially for this volume, are integrated within an interpretative framework that demonstrates how biology (reproduction), economics, politics, and ideology interact in the rich, distinctive history of American women. This second edition demonstrates with new force and vigor why gender has become a powerful and useful analytical device for those seeking to understand the past and present.