Generally speaking, I am pleasantly surprised by the culturally inclusive nature of this text. Like all history textbooks relevance is a moving target. Because they are not subject-specific words, they can be easily swapped out for simpler terms. U.S. Historycovers the breadth of the chronological history of the United States and also provides the necessary depth to ensure the course is manageable for instructors and students alike. Despite the fact that multiple authors are listed as contributors to this text, there is a consistency throughout the text regarding its framework. I’d actually prefer if it was more up front about what kind of scholarship it’s using when, but that’s more of a pet peeve I have with all textbooks. I didn't find the same degree of inaccuracy that other reviewers refer to. Text is clear. Though limited in content, the organizational framework/index of the text serves as a sufficient "guide" for a general survey course; however, it will need to be... This text covers Pre-Colombian U.S. to the 21st Century. These fields have grown tremendously in the past 30 years and it is disappointing that few of the lessons are trickling down into textbooks. The text was conveyed in lively, consistent, and lucid prose. The inclusion of 32 separate chapters creates a book that will be read and understood effectively by both students and teachers. The chapters are organized by political, social, and cultural history. Organized as the text is, any changes or additions to the material would probably be very easy to implement. Again, this is fine. The organization is fairly conventional for a survey text of this kind. And what of the powerful non-Muslim states of West Central Africa, Kongo and Angola? The one thing missing from this section is an examination of COINTELPRO--students should be aware of the fact that the federal government was responding to this movement in harmful ways, and what many activists were up against when they fought for these causes. This was generally good. I did not notice problems with grammar. Reviewed by Brian Leech, Associate Professor, Augustana College on 11/18/18, Periods: Overall, good work by the authors. This promising textbook would benefit from greater comprehensiveness and greater depth. I think the book does reasonably well here by blending political and social history. The authors usually stick to a chronological approach, but they sometimes step away from that organization and look a a single subject over a longer period of time than is covered in any one chapter. On its face, the text appears to mirror the topics one sees in a typical commercial textbook. Overall the book is very accurate and error free. This is an eminently readable text. In the one sentence discussing the inheritors of the gold-for-salt trade, the Songhay, where is the mention of Askia Muhammad Toure, who founded it, or Sunni Ali Ber, who led its hostile takeover? The textbook provides an accurate and rather well-balanced portrayal of US history. The authors provide thorough details in 1052 pages. Focusing primarily on the last two chapters, the textbook is written in a way that updates might not be easily implemented. The document selections also do a valiant job in terms of connecting past and present in similar ways. The textbook has been proofread by many eyes and I can find no errors. The content is accurate. This textbook is no exception to this general rule. Please Note: There is a membership site you can get UNLIMITED BOOKS, ALL IN ONE PLACE. It's comprehensive, but the depth of coverage is uneven. By grouping the Missouri Crisis together with the Mexican War and the founding of the Liberty Party in the chapter on pre-1860 westward expansion, the authors effectively set the stage for the important role of the western frontier in the escalating North-South tensions that drove the country closer and closer to civil war. Women’s lives also gain a decent place in the text, even if there are a few times when we get “women” sections (e.g., page 177, page 490). The custom version can be made available to students in low-cost print or digital form through their campus bookstore. Reviewed by Gwen Tarbox, Professor, Department of English, Western Michigan University on 12/11/18, US History is certainly comprehensive: the task of tracing the development of the United States from pre-colonial times to the second term of President Barack Obama is a daunting one. To save costs, the publisher used open source material for images. Of course there were hundreds of groups who lived near the ocean, but there was never economic or population-pressure motivation to explore transoceanic exploration. This could be dangerous. I did not have to scroll back up to the top of the page to get to another chapter of the text. Many times there is little to no rationale given as to why a particular section stops where it does. Very consistent. The maps are also really, really well-done. Here are a couple of frustrations: I am very excited to begin using this book. The chapter on the years 1870 to 1900 refers to the Great Migration northward of African Americans as occurring "between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Great Depression," possibly giving the impression that a substantial proportion of that movement took place during the Gilded Age, when actually pre-1910 black migration to the North was small compared to what occurred during World War I. the years to which the term is usually applied. Grade Levels: 9 - 12. There is a notable (and odd) exception with the 1960s where the “presidential synthesis” seems to sneak in with John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Students would rather spend 3 hours Google searching rather than just 15 minutes reading a boring text. Again, I worry about the terminology. I often find that historical patterns are not yet obvious, but these chapters do a great job of identifying some of the connections back to major themes, particularly how September 11 set into motion many current challenges, and the entire section on "New Century, Old Disputes." I have seen several generations glance at it, then turn a few pages and then sit down to read more. One of the major problems I have is getting students to complete assigned readings so that we can engage in discussion. OpenStax College has compiled many resources for faculty and students, from faculty-only content to interactive homework and study guides. Grammar is clean, as far as I can see, but it's slightly annoying that they refer to the 1800s rather than the nineteenth century, contrary to the habit we presumably want to instill in our young history scholars. In general, the textbook navigated a middle road, the most consistent focus on political, military, economic/business, and diplomatic subfields across chapters. This early under-representation of environmental influences upon history continues throughout the text, as does a more general lack of attention to the stories of regular people. The section on the rise of Chesapeake slavery is comprehensive, and I found the chapter on the Revolutionary War highly engaging. This book has both a breadth and depth of information. It is adequate. The authors clearly worked diligently to include the major points of the history necessary for an introductory text. In this sense, my current text does a nice better job of providing a presentation that is not intimidating for students. FREE TO TRY FOR 30 DAYS. Periods: Overall, good work by the authors. On the other hand, that's an opportunity to have students reach further abroad for sources instead of just one textbook. ), but, yes, this textbook does a nice job of trying to look at the topics accurately and it is essentially error-free. The "side bars" did not add significant thematic consistency. Very accessible language, but also very bland overall (this varied quite a bit). In the chapter on the road to the Civil War, the sense of a compelling story with personalities and passions comes through clearly, and in the chapter on the Great Depression, its harsh ravages and the struggle to figure out what to do are expressed with suitable poignancy. The key terms demonstrate a commitment to all the "Greatest Hits" no survey would miss (carpetbaggers, the Sons of Liberty, the Roosevelt Corollary) alongside some relevant and inclusive new content I never learned about in college (charter schools, executive privilege, commodification). The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). Any grammatical errors are fixed consistently with updates. This book... I found nothing that was identifiably offensive, but there was a notable turn away from critically examining the reproduction of long-term inequalities. I did not notice distortion or any issue here that would confuse the reader. The United States Exploring the United States of America The United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii, stretches about three thousand miles from coast to coast—or east to west. That means assignments, quizzes, or tests must cause them to open the text and refer to certain parts while taking or preparing for the assignment/quiz/test. I did not find the text insensitive or offensive. Chapter 21: good coverage on progressivism overall, even if conservation seems a bit underplayed by the authors. Essential Questions Section 1: The Economy How have the economies of the However, if one is able to TOPICALLY and not chronologically teach history, then this would boost the rating significantly. The lives and viewpoints of the different players, male and female, white and nonwhite, are meaningfully presented. This is an excellent, free textbook. I think the textbook deserves relatively high marks in terms of cultural relevance. The second 16 chapters move all the way up to the election and presidency of Barack Obama (up until 2014). This book is current as of 2014. Chapter glossaries provide an opportunity to discuss terms and phrases necessary to the historical context pertinent to the chapter topics. Nothing seems obviously out of place within the general organization of the text. There were some glaring inaccuracies, mostly concentrating in the section on “West Africa and the Role of Slavery.” The text mentions that “West Africa . It touches on the highlights of U.S. history without ever really engaging in the sort of deep contextual discussion that truly engages with the history it is discussing. This text does a nice job of reflecting a relatively current and inclusive interpretation of US history. To save costs, the publisher used open source material for images. The supposed virtue of open source textbooks at this historical moment seems to be price, and I have strong sympathies with attempts to reduce the outrageous costs that students in the US must pay for higher education. read more. There are quite a few embedded links to outside resources, and the ones I looked at were all intact. Here, too, the text seemed most problem-free. If possible, I would like to see a few more primary sources. The text is very comprehensive, and its 32 chapters give a broad overview of American history from Pre-Columbian times to the end of Barack Obama's presidency. When it comes to women's history, the book is consistent in offering only a brief and limited perspective. The experiences of LGBT of color are not mentioned, despite a wealth of new research on the subject. I had no problems navigating the text or using the various links. Most everything in the text was very easy to read and understanding was aided by the comprehensive definitions given throughout the text. The issue is that this mention comes in a chapter that falls in the second half of the course and not associated in the section of the course that covers the 1840s (a period more commonly associated with the concept of Manifest Destiny in US history). Reviewed by Matthew Lindaman, Professor, Winona State University on 8/21/16, Very comprehensive in scope and coverage. Holland was but one province in the Netherlands, although people of the time called the Dutch Republic “Holland” in the same way some people think Manhattan is “New York City.” The review... I think this does an excellent job of emphasizing the many different ways historians think about the past, and different areas of students learning. The textbook does well with race throughout. • Images and Maps: More disappointing are the images, cartoons, and maps. You can even provide a direct link in your syllabus to the sections in the web view of your book. I really appreciated the last two chapters, which look at recent history, especially since it is often so difficult to teach. I do very much appreciate the fact that the American West doesn’t just get confined to a single chapter, which happens in most other textbooks. Although it fulfills its duty as a history textbook by including fairly detailed recountings of events (with some exceptions to come), the editors are guilty of including large chunks of information in the precolonial and colonial eras that are tangential at best to the story of U.S. History. Reviewed by Kevin Rucker, Senior lecturer, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 10/24/19, I found that the text does broadly covers significant historical events and people in a broad overview. Even fewer arrived to support husbands or operate stores in these mining towns. The chapter on the Reagan years is also very detailed in terms of laws and programs, but much of Reagan’s work is discredited, and he is painted as disingenuous compared to LBJ. The geography of Virginia is also interwoven into the text. As is true of most history books, this text is laid out in chronological order, with the events of one chapter leading to those in the next. EVALUATION 94.5-100% A 77.5-80.4 C The post-1945 chapters (chapters 28-32) tend to cover longer periods of time (15-20 years). read more. In the section about the Stamp Act crisis of 1765, the book is imprecise about the specifics of when and how the Boston mob ransacked Lieut. But since this is an open text, instructors could link to new articles if they so choose. Some of the language, like "Hispanic" or "Indian" might need more specificity. Eurocentrism is about seeing the world from one perspective, and ignoring the possibility that your reader does not share it. However, I find certain holes concerning what I would call the darker side of US history, like my mention of the scarce coverage of the Philippine-American War and the rather hidden account of the failure of American government to help rescue those fleeing from Hitler. I think that the text might work better in a history course that ended in 1914, since the sections that covered the colonial, Civil War, and Progressive eras were lengthier and more developed. The text makes an effort to address culturally related issues, focusing mostly on African Americans and women to the exclusion or coverage of other minority and racial groups. Even if students do complete the readings, they often forget what they read about, or did not engage deeply enough to really analyze them. However, when you dig a little deeper the book lacks the narrative and interpretive quality of recent commercial textbooks such as the popular text by... Additionally, there are always a number of words in each chapter that are not course specific, but are used under the assumption that the student will know what they mean. For me, that is not sufficient. I think it would be better for the students if there was a clearer break/cutoff from one chapter to another. At the same time, there were sections where I felt the writing was almost too simplistic. Redlining is also mentioned in this section, which is again odd since this was not introduced until the 1930s. This promising textbook would benefit from greater comprehensiveness and greater depth. In the very same paragraph, to say that “Sub-Saharan Africans had little experience in maritime matters. As for the learning objectives, they are directed to the content of the online text; at times the brevity of chapter content alone does not allow sufficient information for developing critical thinking responses. The material is fairly modular (perhaps to a fault -- it seems fragmented in places), so it shouldn't be too difficult to add these sorts of conceptual tools with minimal editing. Price: $ 2,522.25 United States History and Geography, Chapter Tests and Lesson Quizzes. The text is largely up-to-date, using the most accurate terminology for its historical referents. This book is fairly easy to read and written in a way that most students will no problem understanding. United States History Teacher Notes for the Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies Georgia Department of Education 5.31.2017 Page 2 of 189 SSUSH1 – Compare and Contrast the development of English settlement and colonization during the 17th century. Additional questions will need to be developed respectively for those points deemed more important for understanding chapter topics. It is not possible to have historical distance on a topic until a generation, at least, has passed. Date: 01/16/2013 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education. While the text does discuss 1840s expansion in chapter 11: “A Nation on the Move: Westward Expansion, 1800-1850,” nowhere in that chapter is the term Manifest Destiny introduced even though it was coined in connection with a debate to annex Texas in 1845 (which is addressed). In some cases there are multiple chapters on one era. I read each chapter in one sitting without any difficulty. They break up the long chapters, but do not interfere with the flow of the topics. Even when examining the Gilded Age, the textbook repeated the long-outdated "debate" about the virtues of the Robber Barons. One of the greatest strengths of US History is its listing of objectives and goals at the beginning of each section. I can easily quibble with some choices, but that is true of all textbooks. Three examples stand out: the Crusades, greater coverage of Africa, and deeper coverage of the European Reformation; all of these allowed greater depth to the historical story, with the option of covering them on the assigned readings, or not, without missing the flow. As an example, Chapter 4 on English internal politics and colonial aims was extremely useful in providing context for the development of many of the colonies; a similar level of background would have been helpful in Chapter 23 so that students would understand the complex causes of WWI. Finally, section 31.2, which focuses on the growth of the New Right, should come earlier, and be expanded to include a deeper look at the culture wars, especially how abortion became a focal point. The glossaries at the end of the chapters reveal the simplicity of language. With respect to kinds of history, it's very good in giving race and gender sufficient attention. To save costs, the publisher used open source material for images. The book also does a great job of presenting the United States within a global framework. It ignores how the Moors brought algebra and Greek and Roman philosophy back to Europe, which led to the Enlightenment. Well-written and this text will be utilized by this professor for years to come. Actually, George's intention was to disincentivize ownership of more land than one needed to make a productive living, ownership of land to charge rent on or to speculate on the western frontier. This can be frustrating when assessing students on a term or subject when they haven't read both of the chapters where the information is covered. The chapters do not... Engage with history and encourage connections between the past and present day. The text is set out in such a way that it can be easily updated with 21st-century developments, and the chapters and sections are set out so that they could be enhanced without disturbing the overarching structure of the text. If US History surveys are envisioned as addressing the dual goals of acquainting students with the broad outlines of our history (what happened, when?) The book is generally up to date and represents the most recent scholarship. The 32 chapters are very similar to many other textbooks which are commercially available, and they are well suited for two-semester and three-term surveys of US history. Perhaps the print is a bit small in .pdf, but then again I didn't bother to try to fix it. Students can read a chapter and follow the historical narrative without becoming overwhelmed in factual detail. In its 32 chapters all phases of the development of the American nation are addressed. The only caveat here is that a few of the links connect to articles that, while timely now, could become dated in the future. The period of 1760-1790 is explored in chapters 5, 6... It might need more chapters added throughout the years, or some edits based on new information about the past, but it appears to have made a strong effort to describe history from other viewpoints and not just the western European viewpoint. In Chapter 1, black and brown leaders are consistently left out of the narrative. That is a rarely mentioned but important history. Thus, as far as images were concerned, I found the selections strong and ones that look sharp in a contemporary setting. Having students examine the Federal Slave Narrative database, new immigrant oral histories from the Library of Congress, or exhibits at the National Cowboy Museum, however, may engage their interests, be completed more rapidly online, and also be useful for in-class activities. While no two instructors will agree on the level of detail aspects of US history should receive, this text does to a nice job of presenting a useful narrative supported by ancillaries that include: brief chapter timelines, sidebars (Americana, Defining America, and My Story), images, maps, web links, section-level objectives (that correspond to lower level of Bloom’s Taxonomy), bold-faced key terms, section summaries, and objective and essay review questions. While "Give me Liberty" are better productions on the page. The text is comprehensive in the sense that it is a skeleton of major events in (mostly) political and (partly) cultural history. Their support team was very receptive to my findings. The text ends at 2013, and it seems the time has come for an update. is far more complex than simply to say, "Because of poor soil and a drought that lasted nearly two centuries their civilization declined . The hyperlinks in particular allow for quick detours and explorations, which lend themselves either for in-class discussions, homework assignments or starting points for small research projects. With the exception of Vietnam (which is discussed throughout three chapters rather than in one), separate chapters line up quite well with particular classes, and where they do not, they are broken down by sections fairly easily. Each chapter is easy to navigate with sub-chapters divided further into sub-headings. Usefully organized, consistent in style. All of these made this particular text very easy to navigate. Finally, the review and critical thinking questions serve as a reasonable guide for considering chapter content. It also does a great job of introducing elements of environmental history. In those areas where the text provides, extensive coverage, it is up to date. 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