The first volume of American Mosaic is an academic reader, filled with primary sources from what is known as "early American history." The book contains dozens of documents, speeches, congressional addresses, drawings, and even excerpts from fiction, to help teachers tell the story of the founding and early development of the United States. Time periods covered in Volume 1 of American Mosaic include pre-Columbian North America, European colonization, the American Revolution, the new nation and Jeffersonian era, early industrial and reform eras, and the path to Civil War and Reconstruction. Documents are able to be easily copied and distributed to students due to the book's paperback binding and 8.5 inch by 11 inch formatting.