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IN ASSOCIATION
WITH
5th
Grade: the American World
The 17th Century
The 17th century saw the colonizing of the Americas by the Spanish, French, and English,
and the first of many clashes with the Native Americans which would continue throughout
this century and on into the next.
The 18th Century
The first part of this century is characterized by large scale terrorism, known in
American history as the French and Indian Wars, among three nations: the Native Americans,
the French, and the English, each of whom used the others for their own ends. The spoil
going to the victor was control of the continent. When that conflict finally ended, a
combination of philosophical exploration of the rights and responsibilities of both
governments and individuals, and rash political decisions by the English crown, sparked
the second major conflict of the century: the American Revolution.
The 19th Century
The new American nation had many challenges to face in not only getting itself taken
seriously by the millenia-old nations of the Old World, but in working out the details of
a new government experiment in a largely unexplored and untamed land, peopled with
fiercely independent and sometimes unruly citizens and hostile indigenous tribes. How she
rose to the challenge further defined her character.
American World
Teacher’s Resources
The American experiment: we have much to be proud of, and much to be ashamed of. It is the
old human story played out on a new stage. While Europeans experienced a degree of
personal freedom unheard of in the history of the Old World, Africans and Native Americans
experienced a degree of submission also unbeknownst to them in previous eras. The struggle
to live out Thomas Jefferson’s inspiring words, based on Biblical truth, that
“all men are created equal,” still goes on today. Biblical truth informed
America’s past; will America survive without Biblical truth informing her future?
These essential resources will help the homeschool parent grasp the big picture.
The Vikings
Elizabeth Janeway
The Vikings is a reprinted edition from Random House’s
acclaimed Landmark series. “The story of how Eric the Red and his son Leif sailed to
the west and discovered Greenland and the continent of North America is a true story. I
have tried to write a true book about their discoveries, but I want to tell you at once
that not everything that you will read in this book is fact. All the facts that we know
about Eric and Leif and their voyages are here, but in between the facts I have put some
fiction. I did this because the fictional parts of the book tell true things about the way
people lived and acted and felt in Norway and Iceland and Greenland a thousand years
ago.” - author’s foreward. Leif Eriksson discovers North America in ca. 1000.
The 17th
Century
The Story of the Thirteen Colonies
H. A. Guerber
This wonderful children’s historical narrative about the founding
of our country through the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 in 84 lessons is the
perfect introduction to American history for 5th graders. Guerber writes histories
focusing on the people that made it, interweaving a generous dose of Biblical worldview
throughout. Every bit as engaging and yet meaty with depth and detail as The Story of the Greeks and The Story of the Romans, The Story of the
Thirteen Colonies is being reprinted and will be available in August 2000.
Sweet Land of Liberty
Charles Coffin
If the Guerber
book cannot be found this book can take its place. It is the sequel of The Story of Liberty, and picks up where that book
leaves off. In the same style, it tells the story of the settlement of this country
through the end of the French and Indian War in the 18th century, all in chronological
order. It also includes chapters on James I of England, the establishment of French
colonies in the New World, the founding of New Netherlands (New York) by the Dutch,
Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and the civil war in England, the Quakers, Charles II, King
Philip’s War, and Louis Frontenac.
The World of Captain John Smith
Genevieve Foster
Like
Genevieve Foster’s other books, The World of Captain John Smith presents a look at
what was going on in the world during the lifetime of John Smith, leader of the first
permanent Virginia settlement of Jamestown. “This book is a story of the world. It is
a slice of history measured by the lifetime of Captain John Smith, a small, courageous
Englishman who was born in the days of Queen Elizabeth I and whose heart, he said, had
been forever ‘set on brave adventure.’ -Horn Book.
The Landing of the Pilgrims
James Daugherty
Another
excellent Landmark reprint by James Daugherty (he also wrote The Magna Charta for the Landmark series). Part
One tells the story from 1607-1620 of Will Bradford and the Separatists at Scrooby, their
persecution in England, their relocation to Holland, and their decision to emigrate to
America. Part Two continues the story from 1620-1621 of their voyage to the New World
aboard the Mayflower, their exploration and adventures along the coast, their eventual
settlement of Plymouth and their hard first winter there. Part Three concludes the story
from 1621-1623 of the departure of the Mayflower and the dangerous and exciting adventures
in the development of the colony, their encounters and relations with the local Indians,
the arrival of new settlers from England, and finally, what the colony was like twenty
years later in 1648. Excellent.
The Witchcraft of Salem Village
Shirley Jackson
Stories
of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem
Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a
woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a
whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches.
Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of
accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundations.
A Coloring Book of the 13 Colonies
Bellerophon Books
This
coloring book is a bit different than the others. For every two-page spread, the first
page is interesting text briefly discussing the settlement of one of the thirteen
colonies, with little details and quotes from source material that doesn’t always
make it in the history books, while the facing page is a full-page drawing of that
colony’s seal, along with an explanation of its symbols, its Latin inscription, etc.
It includes directions for coloring, where known, as well as a brief summary of sphragistics,
the study of seals. The seals are arranged in chronological order of establishment: the
Virginia Company, Plymouth, New Netherland, New Amsterdam, the Council for New England,
Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Maryland, Rhode Island, Harvard College, Connecticut,
New York City, Carolina, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and the New England
Pine Tree.
G. A. Henty’s
American era historical fiction:
By Right of
Conquest: or With Cortez in Mexico (1595) paperback
edition
The 18th
Century
The Story of the Thirteen Colonies
H. A. Guerber
This wonderful children’s historical narrative about the founding
of our country through the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 in 84 lessons is the
perfect introduction to American history for 5th graders. Guerber writes histories
focusing on the people that made it, interweaving a generous dose of Biblical worldview
throughout. Every bit as engaging and yet meaty with depth and detail as The Story of the Greeks and The Story of the Romans, The Story of the
Thirteen Colonies is being reprinted and will be available in August 2000.
Sweet Land of Liberty
Charles Coffin
If the Guerber
book cannot be found this book can take its place. It is the sequel of The Story of Liberty, and picks up where that book
leaves off. In the same style, it tells the story of the settlement of this country
through the end of the French and Indian War in the 18th century, all in chronological
order. It also includes chapters on James I of England, the establishment of French
colonies in the New World, the founding of New Netherlands (New York) by the Dutch,
Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, and the civil war in England, the Quakers, Charles II, King
Philip’s War, and Louis Frontenac.
Colonial Craftsmen and the Beginnings of American Industry
Edwin Tunis
Edwin Tunis has
written marvelous books for children illuminating various periods of American history. In
this book, he explains the common occupations and crafts-work found in colonial America.
Part One: New World, New Ways, explores British Restrictions, Specialists, Status, The
Apprentice System, Journeymen, Masters, Quality and Honesty, and Prices in colonial New
Exgland. Part Two: Country Work looks at The Blacksmith, The Cooper and White Cooper, The
Housewright, The Sawyers, The Joiner, The Miller, The Tanner and Currier, The Fuller, The
Itinerants, The Cat Whipper, The Weaver, The Tailor, The Chandler, and the Tinker. In Part
Three: Town Shops, we learn of The Barber and Wigmaker, The Baker, The Apothecary, The
Hatter, The Eyeglass Seller, The Cutler, The Tobacconist, and the Hornsmith. Part Four:
Bespoke Work explores The Town Blacksmiths, The Locksmith, The Gunsmith, The Whitesmith,
The Plumber, The Pewterer, The Coopersmith, The Silversmith, The Builder, The
Cabinetmaker, The Wainwright and the Coachmaker, The Bookbinder, The Weaver, The
Shoemaker, and the Limner. Part Five: Group Work looks at The Shipwrights, The Chandlers,
The Potters, The Block Printers, and the Letterpress Printers. And in Part Six:
Manufactories, we learn of The Papermakers, The Glass Blowers, The Braziers, The
Clockmakers, and The Ironmasters. This is a very nicely illustrated book on a fascinating
subject.
Struggle for a Continent
Albert Marrin
“For over
seventy years (1690-1760), France and Great Britain wrestled for control of North America,
pitting the inhabitants of the new world against one another. Three peoples, the Native
American “Indians,” French colonists, and British colonists, each with their
different wants, needs, and customs, clashed repeatedly until their hatreds exploded in
the French and Indian Wars. Colonists allied with Redcoats, Frenchmen fought side by side
with Indians, and Britain and France each used the Native Americans for their own ends
during years of the most horrifyingly cruel warfare ever waged on the North American
continent. In this exciting retelling, Albert Marrin takes the reader from the terrifying
midnight raid at Schenectady to Pontiac’s final seige at Detroit. Here, too, we meet
those who would become heroes of the American Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin and
a young surveyor named George Washington, testing his courage against the French in the
Ohio River Valley. Filled with rich and gripping detail, Struggle for a Continent
brings each stage of the wars into sharp focus, vividly recreating the years of ruthless
fighting that paved the way for another conflict that began in 1776--the American
Revolution.” -Book Jacket. A clear and fascinating accurate portrayal of the Indians,
the French, and the British, and their relationships from 1690 to 1760.
Out of print. Search AddAll.com via an author search using
‘albert marrin,’ and a title search using ‘struggle for a continent.’
George Washington’s World
Genevieve Foster
Like the
other books by Genevieve Foster, George Washington’s World looks at the
history of the world during the slice of Washington’s lifetime. When he was a boy, we
meet Daniel Boone and other future heroes of this country as children, Pontiac, the Asante
of Africa, Spain and the Pueblos of New Mexico, Frederick, King of Prussia, Catherine the
Great, Voltaire, and more; when he was a young man and a soldier, we meet India and the
European traders, and Goethe; when George was a farmer we sail the South Seas with Captain
Cook, meet Lavoisier, Layfayette, the Corsairs of Algiers, the Turkish Empire, Poland, and
more; when he was the general of the American army during the Revolution, we not only
learn of that conflict, but meet Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, and learn what is
happening of import in Spain, Holland, and China; and so on throughout his life.
War for Independence
Albert Marrin
Albert Marrin
recreates the important events of the time from the Boston Massacre to Washington’s
farewell to his troops. There are the stories of the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s
midnight ride and the Minutemen of Lexington and Concord, the disastrous defeat of Long
Island, the winter at Valley Forge, the victories of Trenton, Saratoga, and Yorktown, and
more. It is also about the ideas and individuals behind the world’s first successful
rebellion: Thomas Paine, George Washington, Samuel and John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and
more. Illustrated with well chosen historical media and clear maps, it is an outstanding
one-volume narrative of the whole history of the Revolution.
The American Revolution
Bruce Bliven, Jr.
The war started
on April 19, 1775, when the minutemen of Lexington and Concord fired on the British
Redcoats from Boston. But in the hearts and minds of the American people, it was the
revolution that was begun, as John Adams said, fifteen years before a drop of blood was
shed. This Landmark book reprint contains the complete story of both the war and the
revolution that covered a quarter of a century from 1760-1783. Along with the causes and
the battlefield narrative of the war, the events are viewed, as they should be, within the
larger framework of European history. Twenty chapters tell about the Young King that Ends
a Great War, Quarrels over Money, Americans Boycott British Goods, Boston: a Massacre and
a Tea Party, the First Continental Congress, Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, the
Americans Attack Canada, the Americans Declare Independence, Washington Crosses the
Delaware, Brandywine and Germantown, Saratoga, Valley Forge, Battle of Monmouth, British
Conquer in the South, America’s Most Famous Traitor, King’s Mountain and
Cowpens, Nathaniel Greene, Yorktown, and the War’s End.
The U.S. Constitution for Everyone
Mort Gerberg
This
slim book presents the text of the Constitution, explains its fundamentals, and traces the
events leading up to its adoption in 1788. It is a clear, easy-to-read introduction to
America’s founding document. A page of the Constitution’s actual text faces a
page of explanation and information in such a way that both young and old can develop a
clear understanding of the Constitution. It also includes the text of all 27
Constitutional amendments.
The 19th
Century
The Story of the Great Republic
H. A. Guerber
This wonderful children’s historical narrative about the beginning
of the United States after the War for Independence (1783) through Roosevelt’s
administration at the turn of the century in 77 lessons is the perfect continuation of
American history for 5th graders. Guerber writes histories focusing on the people that
made it, interweaving a generous dose of Biblical worldview throughout. Every bit as
engaging and yet meaty with depth and detail as The
Story of the Greeks and The Story of the
Romans, The Story of the Great Republic is being reprinted and will be
available in August 2000.
The Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
Rhoda Blumberg
In 1804, the land west of the Mississippi was a vast mystery, thought to be full of
monsters and giants. Thomas Jefferson had just acquired the vast Louisiana Territory from
Napoleon, who needed some quick cash to finance his war in Europe. The Louisiana Territory
included all the land west of the Mississippi drained by that great river and her
tributaries. No one had ever explored the whole area before, something that the third
president was keen on rectifying. He chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to head the
dangerous and rugged expedition. While they didn’t find giants, their odyssey of
scientific discovery is unequaled in American history. Lavishly illustrated, Rhoda
Blumberg uses excerpts from their journals and other historical information to recreate
this most exciting of American journeys for her readers. An ALA Notable Book; School
Library Journal Best Book of the Year; and Golden Kite Award book.
Mill
David Macaulay
“In Mill, a School Library Journal Best Book of
the Year, David Macaulay pays tribute to the historically important mills of 19th-century
New England. Using close-up pen-and-ink illustrations, Macaulay thoroughly explains the
Yankee ingenuity that went into the elaborate process of running machines that were
generated by the flow of water. In the case of this cotton mill in the imaginary town of
Wicksbridge, Macaulay also demonstrates how important the mill was to a community’s
economic and social viability. Macaulay tracks the mill’s history, expertly
explaining how all its new fixtures and materials reflect the political and industrial
changes in the country. For example, in 1852 the owner sides with his abolitionist wife
and shuns the use of “Negro cloth,” inexpensive cloth made from slave-picked
cotton. Instead he decides to start producing multi-colored, finer fabrics--a decision
that leads to the expansion of the mill and the introduction of the steam engine. This
finely woven tale is filled with technical intricacies and intriguing historical details.
But ultimately, Mill is generated by the human story that led to the building of
New England’s cotton mills--as well as their eventual demise.”
1812: the War Nobody Won
Albert Marrin
Britain relunctantly gave up possession of the colonies in
the United States after the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. That didn’t change
the feeling that the American colonies, and American citizens, still belonged to Britain.
Taking advantage of the years of instability while the new goverment was being framed and
put into effect, Britain increasingly provoked America in various ways. The straw that
broke the camel’s back was her unceasing impressment of American seamen in the cruel
and inhumane British Royal Navy. As soon as the new country could build up enough of a
navy to oppose the Queen of the Seas, war was declared. This is the story of that
conflict: what led up to it, what happened, who the players were, and what were the
consequences. During the course of the war, the British army marched on Washington and
burned it to the ground--Mrs. Dolly Madison, the First Lady, barely escaped capture as she
saw to the safety of our national documents and the famous portrait of George Washington,
which she refused to leave behind; and Francis Scott Key, imprisoned on a British ship,
wrote the Star-Spangled Banner.
The Francis Parkman Reader
Francis Parkman, Samuel Eliot Morison, editor
Francis
Parkman was the greatest American historian of the 19th century. His acclaimed account of
the Conspiracy of Pontiac was an Everyman’s Library staple, and his narratives of the
history of the Oregon Trail were required reading by 19th century schoolchildren in this
country, who eagerly devoured them. Parkman’s histories read like novels, only every
phrase, every description, is an exact recording of the events he eye-witnessed or
painstakingly pulled together from source material. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once said to a
companion, “By the way, talking of history, have you read Parkman’s works? He
was, I think, among the greatest of the historians, and yet one seldom hears his
name.” The more famous American historian of the 19th century, John Fiske, while
lecturing at University College in England on “America’s Place in History,”
found enthusiastic agreement among his hearers when mentioning Irving, Bancroft, Ticknor,
Prescott, Kirk, and Motley, but when speaking of Francis Parkman his remarks were received
with bewilderment. (Parkman just happened to be in the audience that day, unbeknown to
Fiske.) The best works of this outstanding but forgotten historian are happily in print
again in The Francis Parkman Reader.
The California Gold Rush
May McNeer
On January 24,
1848, James Marshall discovered a small nugget of gold in a stream near Sutter’s
Mill, California. Though he tried to keep it a secret, word spread through the country
like wildfire. Before the year was out, the great American gold rush had begun. This
true-life adventure story recreates the days when young and old went west with pick and
shovel in the hope of finding riches. While true to the factual accounts of the California
gold fields, the text is lively and filled with details on the lives of the ordinary yet
fascinating people, colorful anecdotes of life in the mining camps, and more.
Daily Life on a Southern Plantation
Paul Erickson
In
this handsome book, you will meet the Hendersons, who live on a Southern plantation with
their children in 1853. You’ll also meet Daddy Major, Rosena, Scipio, and Cicero,
slaves who work in the Big House and in the cotton fields. Full-color photographs of
interiors, clothing, and objects, plus artwork and oral history, document a typical day on
a plantation. You will see the stately bedrooms and dining room of the plantation house,
as well as the simple slave quarters and cabins. Inside the Big House, morning chores are
done and the children readied for school (or play); in the kitchen house, food is cooked
and bread is baked; and in the sugar house, cane is crushed. Readers will learn about
mealtimes, leisure hours, doctors and disease, and bedtimes. You’ll also learn about
attitudes toward slavery, slave meetings in the woods, and much more in this unique visit
to a restored Southern plantation in New Iberia, Louisiana.
Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War
Albert Marrin
Although this is a
biography of Lincoln and a history of the Civil War, it is much more than either of those.
It is a portrait of Lincoln that makes our sixteenth president accessible to young readers
as a human being, rather than as a historic icon or paragon of virtue. The author,
renowned for his award-winning books on great leaders, shows how a principled but
imperfect man -- full of intelligence but also of sorrow, logical and determined, but also
cautious and prejudiced, grew under the pressure of personal tragedy and national crisis
to become our greatest president. The book is written in a quick-flowing, engaging style,
detailed but easy to read. The author effortlessly uses eyewitness accounts--letters,
speeches, diaries, newspapers, poems, songs, memoirs--to create setting, to show
personality, political climate, to give voice to the attitudes and hopes of everyday
Americans. The treatment of slavery is especially vivid. All the important events of the
war are here, but the emphasis is on people, personalities, human feelings and behavior,
resulting in another excellent Marrin history.
Albert Marrin’s American era histories
Albert Marrin
Albert Marrin,
chairman of the history department at Yeshiva University, has written a number of
excellent histories and biographies for children and young adults, spiced with extensively
footnoted primary sources and illustrations from authentic historical media. Marrin has
that rare quality that distinguishes great historians from good ones: objectivity and
moral strength, and the ability to convey accurate historical research with literary style
and high-level interest. Virginia’s
General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War retells the story of the conflict from the
southern viewpoint, painting a vivid portrait of the great general and American hero. In Unconditional
Surrender: U. S. Grant and the Civil War, he does the same with General Grant as his
subject. Reading all three books on Lincoln, Lee, and Grant give a thorough overview of
not only the history of the Civil War, but what the conflict was about from both the
Northern and Southern viewpoint. Empires Lost and
Won: the Spanish Heritage in the Southwest, is a “vivid narrative ... across
three centuries of struggle for control of the American Southwest. ... from the cruel
conquistadors to ... the battles between the U.S. and Mexico’s General Santa Anna ...
a welcome improvement over dry textbook accounts of the Alamo and the Mexican War.”
The Mexican War was fought prior to the Civil War. Cowboys,
Indians, and Gunfighters: the Story of the Cattle Kingdom discusses the history of the
North American West from the arrival of the first cattle from Spain in 1521, and includes
the battle for Texas’ independence, and the stories of such famous Westerners as
Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickock, and others.
G. A. Henty’s
American era historical fiction:
With Lee in
Virginia: A Story of the American Civil War (1860’s) paperback
edition
In the Heart
of the Rockies: A Story of Adventure in Colorado (1860)
A Tale of the
Western Plains (1880’s)
American
Literature: The Last of the Mohicans by James
Fenimore Cooper, The Complete Tales of Washington Irving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Selected Poems edited by
Laurence Buell, American Tall Tales by Adrien
Stoutenburg, The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel
Chandler Harris, and Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark
Twain, from 5th Grade Literature selections
American World
Teacher’s Resources
The Penguin Atlas of North American History
Colin McEvedy
The Penguin Atlas of North American History includes nicely readable maps of all periods
of American history to 1870, or the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War. From
that time on the exploration of North America was close to being complete, and the state
lines were in place. Colin McEvedy also includes, along with each map, a brief essay on
the events and time period being portrayed.
History of the United States
Henry William Elson
In one volume, this history
of the United States covers the major events and persons of our nation from Christopher
Columbus to the end of the Second World War. Elson’s history is unique among surveys,
in that it falls “between the elaborate works, which are beyond the reach of most
busy people, and the condensed school histories, which are emasculated of all literary
style through the necessity of crowding so many facts into small space.” He
successfully combined the science of historical research with the art of historical
composition, as other great historians also have done. It is a narrative history, telling
the stories of the people and the times. I have found it very helpful for filling in the
holes in my own knowledge of American history, and for including details and perspective
about persons and events out of vogue with many modern historians, as this work was
originally published in 1904, and continuously reprinted until after World War II.
Out of print. Search AddAll.com via an author search using
‘elson,’ and a title search using ‘history of the united states.’
The Oxford History of the American People
Samuel Eliot Morison
Published by Penguin, the publisher of accessible editions of the works
of ancient, classical, and medieval authors, the Oxford History of the American People is
written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, Samuel Eliot Morison. In three
volumes, he covers the complete history of North America, from prehistory to the death of
John F. Kennedy in an interesting and easy-to-read narrative style. Volume One
covers Prehistory to 1789 and the writing of the Constitution of the United States, Volume Two
covers 1789 through reconstruction at the end of the Civil War, and Volume Three
covers 1869 through the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
America’s Christian History: the Untold Story
Gary DeMar
“From the founding of the colonies to the declaration of the
Supreme Court, America’s heritage is built upon the principles of the Christian
religion. And yet the secularists are dismantling this foundation brick by brick,
attempting to deny the very core of our national life. This book lays out the essence of
the Christian America debate ... providing solid proof that Christianity gave this country
its life and its character.” Did you know that ‘America is a Christian
nation’ has been inscribed into law by the United States Supreme Court? That the
record of American history, its founders, and two centuries of its presidents and
governors have echoed that inscription? The Christian history of America, rewritten by
modern secularism, is brought into clear view again by Gary DeMar in The Untold Story.
The Roots of American Order
Russell Kirk
This book
is not a typical history of the United States. Instead, it is a book on the history of the
ideas and the philosophy of that made the United States the country it is. It is a book on
the history of the individual, moral, legal, and societal order of Western Civilization,
and how American society was built and grew on that order. It covers in scope the time
period from Moses and the giving of the Law, through the Civil War. Chapters include
Order, the First Need of All; The Law and the Prophets; Glory and Ruin: the Greek World;
Virtue and Power: the Roman Tension; the Genius of Christianity; the Light of the Middle
Ages; the Reformer’s Drum; the Constitution of Church and State; Salutary Neglect:
the Colonial Order; Eighteenth-Century Intellects; Declaration and Constitution; and
Contending Against American Disorder.
The Francis
Parkman Reader
Francis Parkman, Samuel Eliot Morison, editor
Francis Parkman was the greatest American historian of the 19th century.
His acclaimed account of the Conspiracy of Pontiac was an Everyman’s Library staple,
and his narratives of the history of the Oregon Trail were required reading by 19th
century schoolchildren in this country, who eagerly devoured them. Parkman’s
histories read like novels, only every phrase, every description, is an exact recording of
the events he eye-witnessed or painstakingly pulled together from source material. Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle once said to a companion, “By the way, talking of history, have
you read Parkman’s works? He was, I think, among the greatest of the historians, and
yet one seldom hears his name.” The more famous American historian of the 19th
century, John Fiske, while lecturing at University College in England on
“America’s Place in History,” found enthusiastic agreement among his
hearers when mentioning Irving, Bancroft, Ticknor, Prescott, Kirk, and Motley, but when
speaking of Francis Parkman his remarks were received with bewilderment. (Parkman just
happened to be in the audience that day, unbeknown to Fiske.) The best works of this
outstanding but forgotten historian are happily in print again in The Francis Parkman
Reader.
The Causes of the Civil War
Kenneth M. Stampp
Was the
Civil War unavoidable? Did economic interests, political agitation, and the cultural
differences between North and South do more to bring it about than the issue of slavery?
Kenneth Stampp presents the full range of continuing debate on the issues and events
leading up to America’s bloodiest conflict, skilfully integrating the conclusions of
historians with the writings of the men who were part of the struggle. A classic since its
introduction in 1959, this sourcebook contains eighty-seven selections drawn from original
sources of the period, such as newspaper editorials and speeches by public figures, plus
essays by historians from the post-Civil War period up to the present. Chapters cover
issues such as “Slave Power” and “Black Republicans”, State Rights and
Nationalism, Economic Sectionalism, Slavery, Majority Rule and Minority Rights, and the
Conflict of Cultures. Newspaper editorials from the Trenton Gazette, the New
Orleans Daily Crescent, the Philadelphia Public Ledger, the Boston Post,
the New York Herald, the Charleston Mercury, and the Chicago Tribune,
to name a few, stand side by side with speeches and essays by John C. Calhoun, Jefferson
Davis, Alexander H. Stephens, Stephen Douglas, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, William H.
Seward, and Frederick Douglass, to name a few.
Return to Grammar Stage History
Return to CCH’s Online Catalog: History
