The This is Who We Were series provides the reader with a deeper understanding of day to day life in America during a particular decade. This new series is sure to be of value as both a serious research tool for students of American history as well as an intriguing climb up America's family tree. The richlyillustrated text provides an interesting way to study a unique time in American history.

Table of Contents

• Essay on the 2000s
• Introduction
• Section One: Profiles
• This section contains 27 profiles of individuals and families living and working in the 2000s. It examines their lives at home, at work, and in their communities. Based upon historic materials, personal interviews, and diaries, the profiles give a sense of what it was like to live in the years 2000 to 2009.
• Preface
• 2000: Real Estate Lawer
• 2000: Young Japanese Immigrant and Painter
• 2001: Waitress and Young Mother
• 2001: Collegiate Ultimate Frisbee Player
• 2001: Special Forces Sergeant in the War in Afghanistan
• 2002: Public Relations Specialist
• 2002: Shaman and Energy Healer
• 2003: Heavy Machinery Operator
• 2003: Workshop and Retreat Leader
• 2003: Lieutenant Colonel in the War in Iraq
• 2004: Salesperson and Training Director
• 2004: High School Girls’ Basketball Coach
• 2004: Elementary School Principal
• 2005: Telemarketer
• 2005: Pool Player
• 2006: Olympic Hockey Player
• 2006: Music Copyright Lawyer
• 2007: Avionics Mechanic in the National Guard
• 2007: Jazz Saxophonist
• 2008: Barack Obama Campaign Field Organizer
• 2008: Brigadier General
• 2008: Producer, CNN
• 2008: Surfer and Surfboard Entrepreneur
• 2009: Pastry Chef
• 2009: Irish Immigrant and Researcher
• 2009: Roofing Crew Leader
• 2009: Brewery Owner
• Section Two: Historical Snapshots
• This section includes lists of important “firsts” in America, from technical advances and political events to new products, books, and movies. Combining American history with fun facts, these snapshots present an easy-to-read overview of the 2000s.
• Preface
• Early 2000s
• Mid 2000s
• Late 2000s
• Section Three: Economy of the Times
• This section looks at a wide range of economic data, including prices for food, clothing transportation, and housing, plus reprints of actual advertisements for products and services of the time. It includes comparable figures for expenditures, income, and prices, plus a valuable year-by-year listing of the value of a dollar.
• Preface
• Consumer Expeditures
• Annual Income of Standard Jobs
• Selected Prices
• Value of a Dollar Index 1860-2016
• Section Four: All Around Us—What We Saw, Wrote, Read & Listened To
• This section offers reprints of newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, and other items designed to help readers focus on what was on the minds of Americans in the 2000s. These 50 original pieces show how popular opinion was formed, and how American life was affected.
• Preface
• “How and Why America Voted” The Associated Press, The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Missouri), November 8, 2000
• Timeline of Dot-Corn Bubble.
• “Terrorists Hijack 4 Airliners; Destroy World Trade Center; Hit Pentagon; Hundreds Dead,” Michael Grunwald, The Washington Post, September 12, 2001
• “Angry Americans Flock to Enlistment Centers” Doylestown Intelligencer (Pennsylvania), September 13, 2001
• “Some Skimp on Tinsel as Others Splurge” Melinda Ligos, The New York Times, December 5, 2001
• “The Manhunt” Josh Tyrangiel, Time Magazine, December 24, 2001
• “Green Berets up Close” Donatella Lorch, Newsweek, January 14, 2002
• “Inside the Battle of Shah-i-Kot, Where the Enemy Has Nothing to Lose and U.S. Soldiers Had to Fight for Their Lives” Michael Elliott, Time Magazine, March 18, 2002
• Cost of Past Wars in 2002 Dollars.
• “End of Noise Is Music to Students’ Ears” Chicago Daily Herald, April 8, 2002
• “New Housing Development Could Tighten” C. R. Ely Bond, Cedar Rapids Gazette, October 24, 2002
• “Searching for New Thrills in Old Wheels, Investors Wary of Stocks are Taking the Collectible Car Market Out for a Spin” Carol Buia, Time Magazine, March December 9, 2002
• “Economic Hope Fades” Madison Capital Times, February 26, 2003
• “Commercial Property Fallout From War; Hotel Use Declines; Office Sector Faces Uncertainty” John Holuha, The New York Times, March 30, 2003
• “Counting Heads” Peter Beinart, The New Republic, April 7, 2003
• “The Sand and the Fury” Arian Campo-Flores, Newsweek, April 7, 2003
• “Bolts in Rocks Have Climbers Screaming from Mountaintops” Dean Starkman, Newsweek, June 11, 2003
• “2 Soldiers, 6 Kids, 1 Exhausted Grandmother” Richard Jerome, Jason Bane, Cathy Free and Jane Sims Podesta, People Magazine, September 8, 2003
• “Rebuilding Iraq: An Assessment at Six Months” The New York Times, November 4, 2003
• “Remember the Alamo—in Music” Orlando Sentinel, April 8, 2004
• “Financial Firms Hasten Their Move to Outsourcing” Saritha Rai, The New York Times, August 18, 2004
• “Terri Schiavo Dies” Wikinews, March 31, 2005
• “At Least 55 Killed by Hurricane Katrina; Serious Flooding across Affected Region” Wikinews, August 30, 2005
• “Enron Executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling Found Guilty” Wikinews, May 25, 2006
• “Pluto Loses Planet Status” Wikinews, August 24, 2006
• “New Orleans Business Rebuilds to Help Homeowners Rebuild” NewsUSA, September 13, 2007
• “Congressional Democrats Prod President to do More to Head Off Foreclosures” Jesse J. Holland, The Daily Times (Farmington, New Mexico), October 4, 2007
• “In Name Count, Garcias Are Catching Up to Joneses” Sam Roberts, The New York Times, November 17, 2007
• “Freed From Debt, a Hair Stylist Looks to a Brighter Future” Kari Haskell, The New York Times, November 20, 2007
• Timeline of Housing Bubble.
• “Rights Groups: Forcing Wikileaks.org Offline Raises ‘Serious First Amendment Concerns’“ Wikinews, February 28, 2008
• “Who Should Heal Our Health Care System?” NewsUSA, March 13, 2008
• From the Blog of Major P. Alston Middleton, Jr., USMC.
• “Beijing 2008: Michael Phelps Wins Eighth Gold” Wikinews, August 17, 2008
• “Foreclosures Open Up New Market” NewsUSA, November 18, 2008
• “U.S. Celebrates as President Obama Vows New Era” CNN.com, January 20, 2009
• “Madoff Jailed after Pleading Guilty to $50 Billion Fraud Scheme” Wikinews, March 12, 2009
• “In Down Economy, Cities Reach Out to Gay Tourists” NewsUSA, May 14, 2009
• “The Earlier, the Better: Building Immune Defenses Against H1N1” NewsUSA, June 12, 2009
• “Michael Jackson Dead at 50 after Cardiac Arrest” CNN.com, June 26, 2009
• “During Visit by Bill Clinton, North Korea Releases American Journalists” Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, August 5, 2009
• “Unemployment by the Numbers” Christopher Leonard, The Hawk Eye (Iowa), October 3, 2009
• “Administration Eyes Ways to Help Jobless” The Bakersfield Californian, October 4, 2009
• “Should Unemployed People Work for Free” Parade, Komono Tribune (Indiana), October 11, 2009
• “Thousands March in Washington for Gay Rights” Katherine Skiba, Los Angeles Times, October 12, 2009
• “Authorities: ‘Balloon Boy’ Incident was a Hoax” Greg Morrison and Janet DiGiacomo, Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2009
• “Recliner No Decliner, Easy Chair Sales a Bright Spot for Furniture Industry” Emory Dalesio, Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Illinois), October 21, 2009
• “Unemployment Hits 10.2 Percent” Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com, November 6, 2009
• “Officials: Fort Hood Shootings Suspect Alive; 12 Dead” CNN.com, November 7, 2009
• “Retaining Women in the IT Industry” NewsUSA, November 24, 2009
• Section Five: Census Data
• This section includes state-by-state comparative tables, Census 2010 profiles and briefs.
• Preface
• State-by-State Comparative Tables: 2000, 2010 and 2016
• Total Population
• White Population
• Black Population
• American Indian/Alaska Native Population
• Asian Population
• Hispanic Population
• Foreign-Born Population
• Urban Population
• Rural Population
• Males per 100 Females
• Median Age
• High School Graduates
• College Graduates
• One-Person Households
• Homeownership
• Median Home Value
• Median Gross Rent
• Households Lacking Complete Plumbing Facilities.
• Note: When reviewing the ranking columns, be aware that the District of Columbia is included in the list of states.
• Twenty-third Decennial Census of the United States
• 2010 Census
• 2010 Census: United States Profile
• 2010 Census: Alabama Profile
• 2010 Census: Alaska Profile
• 2010 Census: Arizona Profile
• 2010 Census: Arkansas Profile
• 2010 Census: California Profile
• 2010 Census: Colorado Profile
• 2010 Census: Connecticut Profile
• 2010 Census: Delaware Profile
• 2010 Census: District of Columbia Profile
• 2010 Census: Florida Profile
• 2010 Census: Georgia Profile
• 2010 Census: Hawaii Profile
• 2010 Census: Idaho Profile
• 2010 Census: Illinois Profile
• 2010 Census: Indiana Profile
• 2010 Census: Iowa Profile
• 2010 Census: Kansas Profile
• 2010 Census: Kentucky Profile
• 2010 Census: Louisiana Profile
• 2010 Census: Maine Profile
• 2010 Census: Maryland Profile
• 2010 Census: Massachusetts Profile
• 2010 Census: Michigan Profile
• 2010 Census: Minnesota Profile
• 2010 Census: Mississippi Profile
• 2010 Census: Missouri Profile
• 2010 Census: Montana Profile
• 2010 Census: Nebraska Profile
• 2010 Census: Nevada Profile
• 2010 Census: New Hampshire Profile
• 2010 Census: New Jersey Profile
• 2010 Census: New Mexico Profile
• 2010 Census: New York Profile
• 2010 Census: North Carolina Profile
• 2010 Census: North Dakota Profile
• 2010 Census: Ohio Profile
• 2010 Census: Oklahoma Profile
• 2010 Census: Oregon Profile
• 2010 Census: Pennsylvania Profile
• 2010 Census: Puerto Rico Profile
• 2010 Census: Rhode Island Profile
• 2010 Census: South Carolina Profile
• 2010 Census: South Dakota Profile
• 2010 Census: Tennessee Profile
• 2010 Census: Texas Profile
• 2010 Census: Utah Profile
• 2010 Census: Vermont Profile
• 2010 Census: Virginia Profile
• 2010 Census: Washington Profile
• 2010 Census: West Virginia Profile
• 2010 Census: Wisconsin Profile
• 2010 Census: Wyoming Profile
• 2010 Census Briefs
• Age and Sex Composition
• The American Indian and Alaska Native Population
• The Asian Population
• The Black Population
• Congressional Apportionment
• The Hispanic Population
• Housing Characteristics
• The Older Population
• Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin
• Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010
• The White Population
• Further Reading