Before Columbus (525 million years ago to 1492) -- New world (1492-mid-eighteenth century) -- Let freedom ring (1760s to 1820s) -- Young nation (late eighteenth century to 1850s) -- Sea to shining sea (1800-1850s) -- A house divided (1850-1865) -- Manifest destiny (1845-early twentieth century) -- Industrial revolution (1865-early twentieth century) -- Modern nation (1870s-1929) -- Great Depression (1929-1940) -- Greatest generation (1941-1945) -- Cold War (1946-1991) -- New frontiers (1950s t0 1980s) -- Civil rights (1947-now) -- Pop culture (Mid-twentieth century to now) -- Digital age (1945 to now) -- New millennium (2000 to the future).;A literary exhibition of 101 objects from across the Smithsonian's museums that together offer a marvelous new perspective on the history of the United States. Ranging from the earliest years of the pre-Columbian continent to the digital age, and from the American Revolution to Vietnam, each entry pairs the fascinating history surrounding each object with the story of its creation or discovery and the place it has come to occupy in our national memory.--