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History - American — page 3

1,154 public-domain history - american books, summarised. Page 3 of 25.

Cover of Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast

Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast

Samuel Adams Drake

Rough-hewn cliffs, deserted colonial forts, and wind-scoured island ledges frame a journey down the Atlantic margin where early European ambition met the uncompromising granite of the American wilderness.

History - American8 min read
Cover of Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century

Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century

Annie Lash Jester

Settlers stepping ashore in seventeenth-century Virginia encountered a wilderness that demanded complete domestic reconstruction, transforming English traditions into a distinct, rugged plantation society.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Report of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations on the Petition of the Honourable Thomas Walpole, Benjamin Franklin, John Sargent, and Samuel Wharton, Esquires, and their Associates: 1772

Report of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations on the Petition of the Honourable Thomas Walpole, Benjamin Franklin, John Sargent, and Samuel Wharton, Esquires, and their Associates: 1772

Great Britain. Board of Trade

A clash of political will and economic ambition on the eve of the American Revolution, this 1772 imperial report captures the British government's desperate struggle to contain colonial expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains.

History - American7 min read
Cover of History of the United States

History of the United States

Charles A. (Charles Austin) Beard

A sweeping, structural reexamination of the American experiment, this text abandons superficial heroics to trace the deep economic drives, institutional conflicts, and social movements shaping a continent.

History - American11 min read
Cover of The General Historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles (Vol. I): Together with the True Travels, Adventures and Observations, and a Sea Grammar

The General Historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles (Vol. I): Together with the True Travels, Adventures and Observations, and a Sea Grammar

John Smith

A single hand at the helm transforms raw, uncharted wilderness into a precarious new world through sheer force of will, grit, and tireless obsession.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Jew and American Ideals

The Jew and American Ideals

John Spargo

When a sudden wave of conspiracy theories threatens to fracture a nation's social fabric, defending a targeted minority becomes the ultimate test of a republic's core values.

History - American5 min read
Cover of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life

The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life

Francis Parkman

Bound for the high plains and Rocky Mountains in 1846, a young Bostonian braves disease, wilderness, and erratic companions to record the vanishing wilderness of the American West.

History - American6 min read
Cover of History of the World War

History of the World War

March, Francis A., Jr.

Millions of young men died across Europe to teach militaristic nations that humanity will no longer tolerate the exploitation of free peoples.

History - American11 min read
Cover of North Dakota: A Guide to the Northern Prairie State

North Dakota: A Guide to the Northern Prairie State

Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of North Dakota

A land of sweeping horizons, ancient river valleys, and harsh winters comes vividly to life in this Depression-era portrait of the Northern Prairie State.

History - American8 min read
Cover of The Journal of Negro History, Volume 7, 1922

The Journal of Negro History, Volume 7, 1922

Various

A sweeping archival journey through three centuries, this collection restores African American statesmanship, early community building, and international struggles for freedom to their rightful place in human history.

History - American9 min read
Cover of The Journal of Negro History, Volume 1, January 1916

The Journal of Negro History, Volume 1, January 1916

Various

A century of hidden history unfolds through medieval Sudanese universities, revolutionary battlefields, and clandestine church meetings, revealing a relentless pursuit of intellectual and physical liberation.

History - American9 min read
Cover of The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England, to which is added A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches

The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England, to which is added A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches

Cotton Mather

A desperate religious settlement, convinced the forces of darkness are encircling its borders, turns its own righteous fear inward upon its neighbors.

History - American5 min read
Cover of Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965

Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965

Morris J. MacGregor

A massive administrative apparatus slowly discovers that racial segregation degrades military efficiency, sparking a quarter-century struggle to integrate America's armed forces.

History - American12 min read
Cover of Sparkling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Reading: A compendium of valuable information and wise suggestions that will inspire noble effort at the hands of every race-loving man, woman, and child

Sparkling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Reading: A compendium of valuable information and wise suggestions that will inspire noble effort at the hands of every race-loving man, woman, and child

Unknown

This collection gathers the voices, aspirations, and practical wisdom of late 19th-century Black intellectuals, offering a deliberate portrait of a race in the midst of urgent self-improvement and national progress.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Olden Time Series: Vol. 2: The Days of the Spinning-Wheel in New England: Gleanings Chiefly from old Newspapers of Boston and Salem, Massachusetts

The Olden Time Series: Vol. 2: The Days of the Spinning-Wheel in New England: Gleanings Chiefly from old Newspapers of Boston and Salem, Massachusetts

Henry M. (Henry Mason) Brooks

The past is not merely a collection of dates, but a living fabric woven from the humble threads of daily necessity and the rhythmic whir of the spinning-wheel.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Annals of Music in America: A Chronological Record of Significant Musical Events

Annals of Music in America: A Chronological Record of Significant Musical Events

Henry Charles Lahee

This meticulous chronicle maps the evolution of American musical life, tracing the transformation of a young nation’s scattered cultural outposts into a sophisticated landscape of orchestras, conservatories, and grand opera houses. It serves as an essential record of the first performances and foundational…

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917

The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917

Various

This foundational collection of scholarly essays and primary documents reconstructs the African American past with rigorous academic intent, challenging the prevailing historical myths of the early twentieth century. It serves as a vital archive of resistance against intellectual erasure.

History - American7 min read
Cover of The new freedom

The new freedom

Woodrow Wilson

This collection of political reflections captures the spirit of a nation at a crossroads, arguing that the true measure of a government is its ability to ensure opportunity for all rather than prosperity for the few. It serves as a stirring call to reclaim American democracy from the influence of concentrated…

History - American7 min read
Cover of Horton Genealogy: or Chronicles of the Descendants of Barnabas Horton, of Southold, L. I., 1640

Horton Genealogy: or Chronicles of the Descendants of Barnabas Horton, of Southold, L. I., 1640

Geo. F. (George Firman) Horton

This sprawling archival work tracks the migration, labor, and faith of a single American lineage over two centuries. It serves as a testament to the quiet, persistent expansion of families across the frontier.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Story of the Sun: New York, 1833-1918

The Story of the Sun: New York, 1833-1918

Frank Michael O'Brien

This history chronicles the rise of the New York Sun, from its 1833 debut as a radical penny paper to its transformation into a pillar of American journalism by the early twentieth century.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Brief History of English and American Literature

Brief History of English and American Literature

Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers

This survey offers a panoramic view of the English literary tradition and its transatlantic evolution, mapping the development of language and thought from early chronicles to the late nineteenth century.

History - American7 min read
Cover of The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503

The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503

Unknown

These primary narratives gather the firsthand accounts and foundational documents detailing the earliest European contacts with the Americas, spanning from the Norse sagas to the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. By curating the words of the explorers themselves, the collection preserves the raw,…

History - American8 min read
Cover of The Campaign of Trenton 1776-77

The Campaign of Trenton 1776-77

Samuel Adams Drake

A harrowing account of the Continental Army’s darkest hour, where a desperate commander-in-chief transforms a retreating, fractured remnant of men into a force capable of turning the tide of the American Revolution.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The New York and Albany Post Road: From Kings Bridge to "The Ferry at Crawlier, over against Albany," Being an Account of a Jaunt on Foot Made at Sundry Convenient Times between May and November, Nineteen Hundred and Five

The New York and Albany Post Road: From Kings Bridge to "The Ferry at Crawlier, over against Albany," Being an Account of a Jaunt on Foot Made at Sundry Convenient Times between May and November, Nineteen Hundred and Five

C. G. (Charles Gilbert) Hine

The Old Post Road is a storied spine of American history, and this account follows the winding, scenic path from Manhattan’s northern edge all the way to the capital.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America: 1638-1870

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America: 1638-1870

W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

This scholarly work provides a definitive, sobering account of how the African slave trade persisted in the United States long after it was ostensibly outlawed. It traces the tangled history of American law, commerce, and moral failure from the colonial era through the outbreak of the Civil War.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply

Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply

Charles Wentworth Upham

The Salem trials serve as a grim warning of how unchecked institutional power and superstition can destroy a society. This historical defense meticulously untangles the culpability of those who orchestrated the 1692 tragedy.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Goose-step: A Study of American Education

The Goose-step: A Study of American Education

Upton Sinclair

The American university, once a sanctuary for open inquiry, has been transformed into a corporate instrument designed to produce obedient citizens and protect the interests of industrial wealth.

History - American8 min read
Cover of The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 1, January 1886: Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, January, 1886

The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 1, January 1886: Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, January, 1886

Various

New England’s history and character are distilled here through a meticulous blend of biographical sketches, regional travelogues, and nineteenth-century social commentary. It serves as both a cultural archive and a mirror of its era’s intellectual preoccupations.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom: A comprehensive history

The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom: A comprehensive history

Wilbur Henry Siebert

A secretive, unwritten network spans thousands of miles, quietly defying federal laws to shepherd desperate men, women, and children out of bondage into the freezing promise of the North.

History - American8 min read
Cover of Peculiarities of American Cities

Peculiarities of American Cities

Willard W. Glazier

A traveler steps into dozens of nineteenth-century towns, mapping their distinctive atmospheres, monuments, and daily habits with an observer's steady eye.

History - American10 min read
Cover of History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia

History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia

Charles Campbell

A colony forged in swamp and fire evolves through two centuries of blood, political friction, and frontier ambition into the backbone of a new republic.

History - American11 min read
Cover of Hardtack and coffee

Hardtack and coffee

John Davis Billings

A single wooden box of salt pork or a kettle of rye-coffee told the true history of the Union soldier far better than any official report of generals and battlefields ever could.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The settlement of Illinois, 1778-1830

The settlement of Illinois, 1778-1830

Arthur Clinton Boggess

From untamed wilderness and administrative failure to orderly statehood, the transformation of the American frontier unfolds as a concrete, hard-fought structural victory.

History - American6 min read
Cover of San Francisco Relief Survey

San Francisco Relief Survey

Unknown

When fire and earthquake leveled a prosperous metropolis in a single morning, an unprecedented social experiment arose to feed, house, and rebuild a displaced population.

History - American10 min read
Cover of The Story of Chautauqua

The Story of Chautauqua

Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

The Chautauqua Institution began as a summer experiment in teacher training and evolved into a national movement for lifelong learning, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of American adult education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Winning of the West, Volume 2: From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1777-1783

The Winning of the West, Volume 2: From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1777-1783

Theodore Roosevelt

In the shadow of the American Revolution, a restless tide of settlers pushes past the Appalachian Mountains, carving a new nation out of a wilderness defined by peril, persistence, and the clash of civilizations. This is the story of how a rugged, self-reliant people secured the American heartland through a brutal…

History - American7 min read
Cover of Heroes of the Middle West: The French

Heroes of the Middle West: The French

Mary Hartwell Catherwood

HOOK This narrative traces the bold French explorers and missionaries who braved the vast, silent Mississippi River Valley to claim a new world for their king.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki: Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919

The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki: Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919

Joel R. (Joel Roscoe) Moore

Soldiers of the 339th Infantry face a forgotten, freezing war in North Russia, fighting the Bolsheviks in a campaign that leaves a small army stranded in the Arctic while the rest of the world moves on.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Tobacco in Colonial Virginia: "The Sovereign Remedy"

Tobacco in Colonial Virginia: "The Sovereign Remedy"

G. Melvin Herndon

This scholarly study traces how a single, labor-intensive crop transformed a struggling outpost into the economic heart of a colony, shaping the social and physical landscape of early Virginia. It is an essential account of the "golden weed" that dictated the rhythm of colonial life.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The History of Tammany Hall: Second Edition

The History of Tammany Hall: Second Edition

Gustavus Myers

This chronicle of New York’s most notorious political machine reveals how an ostensibly patriotic society transformed into a sophisticated engine of graft and power. It offers a cold, rigorous autopsy of urban corruption spanning over a century.

History - American6 min read
Cover of Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States

Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States

James Croil

The transformation of the Atlantic and the Great Lakes from wild, impassable frontiers into organized arteries of global trade stands as a testament to human ingenuity, mechanical ambition, and the relentless drive for industrial progress.

History - American6 min read
Cover of American Institutions and Their Influence

American Institutions and Their Influence

Alexis de Tocqueville

American political life is a vast laboratory of self-governance, where the habits of a free people shape the machinery of law and the survival of the republic.

History - American9 min read
Cover of Old Quebec: The Fortress of New France

Old Quebec: The Fortress of New France

Gilbert Parker

The history of Quebec is the story of a fortress that shaped a continent, witnessing the collision of empires and the birth of a nation. This account chronicles the city’s transformation from a daring French outpost into the anchor of British North America.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 1: Acadia, 1610-1613

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 1: Acadia, 1610-1613

Unknown

These documents capture the raw, early collision between European religious zeal and the indigenous cultures of North America, preserved through the meticulous records of Jesuit missionaries.

History - American6 min read
Cover of The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843-1869

The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843-1869

Arthur H. Clark

The wind-whipped era of the great wooden sailing ships represents a fleeting, singular moment when human ingenuity perfectly harnessed the elements, creating vessels of unmatched grace and terrifying speed. This chronicle preserves the memory of that brief, brilliant mastery before the inexorable rise of steam…

History - American6 min read
Cover of The Naval War of 1812: Or the History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of the Battle of New Orleans

The Naval War of 1812: Or the History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of the Battle of New Orleans

Theodore Roosevelt

This rigorous account reconstructs the naval combat of the War of 1812, stripping away myth to analyze the tactical precision and hard-won discipline that defined a formative era of American maritime history.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906]

Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906]

New York State Historical Association. Meeting

The records of a regional historical meeting reveal the meticulous, often overlooked labor required to preserve the vanishing nomenclature and military narratives of colonial New York.

History - American7 min read
Cover of The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen

The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen

Simon Wolf

Patriotism is not a matter of creed, but a testament to shared sacrifice, as demonstrated by the long, often overlooked history of Jewish service in the building of the American nation.

History - American8 min read
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