How did today's hot-button issues develop? How did these issues grow into passionately debated controversies within American society? The volumes in this series trace the historical roots and key aspects of questions that Americans have found of compelling importance in shaping our way of life.Each volume provides the tools for readers to sharpen their own thinking and take an informed position by providing: analysis of primary documents and statistics; an even-handed approach to help readers move beyond polemics; timeline, tables, and other resources to support students' reports; and, annotated bibliographies of print and electronic sources for further study.