The founding Fathers based the American system on principles of equality and freedom, but often people who made America their home faced inequality, injustice, and legal discrimination. The Free and the Unfree documents what happened when Native Americans, African Americans, immigrants, religious minorities, and women tested America's humanitarian and democratic principles. It surveys the social, cultural, political, and economic developments that broadened America's definition of freedom-from the earliest contacts with Native Americans and the Revolutionary War through the Civil Rights movement and the sexual revolution. The Free and the Unfree presents a concise, thorough, and up-to-date examination of the spirit and limits of freedom, providing readers with a little-known perspective on American history.