The nations of the Americas have collectively shaped modern world history. The purpose of the International Baccalaureate History of the Americas (Higher Level) course is to develop the candidates’ understanding of the growth of the nation-states of the Americas: the United States, Canada, and the countries of Latin America, including Central America and the Caribbean. The history of the Americas is a distinct set of narrative pathways that interconnect the nations of the region not only with their mother nations and the Old World, but also with each other through a network that includes political and economic forces, culture, technology, and conflict. The history of the Americas is a unique record of ideological and physical struggles, innovations, and attempts to improve the human condition. It is a record of the maintenance of traditions and attempts to develop new ones. The history of the Americas is paradoxical: a “new” history with roots in the ancient heritage of the indigenous peoples, and the integration, segregation, and synthesis of diverse peoples and ideas of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The history of the Americas is at once revolutionary and conservative.