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History - American — page 6
1,087 public-domain history - american books, summarised. Page 6 of 23.

Chronicles of border warfare
Alexander Scott Withers
Blood and hardwood smoke drift through the upper Ohio Valley, where two worlds clash for a continent. In these wilderness chronicles, settlement is bought one clearing, one stockade, and one reprisal at a time.

Society in America, Volume 1 (of 2)
Harriet Martineau
A sharp, perceptive traveler journeys through a young, bustling republic, dismantling European misconceptions while exposing the deep moral contradictions that threaten its democratic promise.

"And they thought we wouldn't fight"
Floyd Phillips Gibbons
A wounded American war correspondent witnesses the United States military transform from an untested, scattered arrival into an independent frontline force that helps break the German offensive in France.

Calvin Morgan McClung historical collection
Lawson McGhee Library, Knoxville, Tenn.
This compiled catalog records a vast, meticulous assembly of early Southern history, tracing the lands, lives, and documents that built Tennessee and its neighboring border states.

The journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, Vol. III, 1900
Various
This collection serves as a meticulous record of the early twentieth-century mission to codify the Irish contribution to the American narrative. It provides a window into the self-conception of an ethnic organization determined to ensure that its historical legacy remains visible, documented, and beyond the reach…

History of the Donner Party: A Tragedy of the Sierra
C. F. (Charles Fayette) McGlashan
This account chronicles the harrowing survival struggle of the Donner Party, whose ill-fated trek through the Sierra Nevada remains an indelible, cautionary monument in the history of the American West.

The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624
Hatch, Charles E., Jr.
The early history of Virginia is a story of fragile beginnings, where survival was never guaranteed and the path to stability was paved with both catastrophe and adaptation. This chronicle traces the transformation of an isolated, failing fort into an expanding network of colonial settlements.

A History of American Christianity
Leonard Woolsey Bacon
American religious life evolves from colonial transplant to a distinct, voluntary experiment, shaped by profound cultural shifts and the steady influence of its diverse denominations.

Historic Towns of the Western States
Unknown
This survey of the American frontier chronicles the rapid transformation of wilderness outposts into modern cities, tracing the gritty, ambitious origins of the Great West through the voices of those who shaped it.

American Merchant Ships and Sailors
Willis J. (Willis John) Abbot
The story of the American merchant marine is a chronicle of audacity, from the early days of wooden sailing ships to the rise of steel steamers and the conquest of the poles.

Leyte: The Return to the Philippines
M. Hamlin Cannon
The return to the Philippines marks the decisive turning point of the Pacific War, where the strategy of island-hopping gave way to a massive, full-scale campaign to liberate a nation.

Old Taverns of New York
W. Harrison (William Harrison) Bayles
These pages recover the lost world of colonial New York, where history was written in the froth of ale and the smoke of coffee houses.

The Bay State Monthly
Various
A historical and cultural window into post-Civil War New England, this collection preserves the aspirations, commerce, and internal debates of a rapidly industrializing society. It serves as a living record of how a region defined its own identity through local history, individual success stories, and intellectual…

The journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, Vol. VIII, 1909
Various
This chronicle captures a moment of early twentieth-century American civic life, documenting the aspirations and collective memory of a society dedicated to tracing the Irish influence on the American national fabric. It serves as a time capsule of cultural identity and professional achievement.

The Spirit Lake Massacre
Thomas Teakle
The Spirit Lake Massacre of 1857 stands as a harrowing turning point in the settlement of the American frontier, forever altering the landscape of Iowa and the lives of those caught in the collision of cultures.

New York Times Current History
Various
This collection of contemporary reports, official documents, and editorial commentary captures the immediate, fractured reality of the Great War as it unfolded in the spring and summer of 1915. It functions as a historical snapshot of a world struggling to comprehend the rapid shift toward industrialized, total…

The History of the Twenty-ninth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry: in the Late War of the Rebellion
William H. Osborne
This account documents the steady endurance of a Massachusetts infantry regiment throughout the American Civil War, tracing their path from raw volunteers to battle-hardened veterans.

The Battle with the Slum
Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis
The slum is not a permanent fixture of the city, but a battlefield where the weapons are light, law, and human kindness. Persistence is the only way to reclaim the lives trapped in the dark.

The Southern war poetry of the Civil War
Esther Parker Ellinger
This examination of Southern Civil War verse explores how poetry served as both a spontaneous cry of battle and an enduring record of a lost cause’s emotional landscape.

The art of music, Vol. 04 (of 14)
Unknown
This survey charts the evolution of American musical culture, tracing its development from early colonial psalmody to the rise of professional orchestras and the emergence of a distinct national voice.

America's Munitions 1917-1918
United States. War Department
An immense industrial engine awakens as a nation transforms its civil factories into a single, coordinated arsenal to equip millions of overseas combatants.

Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage: United States National Museum Bulletin 225, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology Paper 14, pages 61-91, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1961
Rodris Roth
In the 18th century, the shared cup was a cornerstone of American social life, binding families and strangers alike through a precise, ritualized performance of hospitality. This examination reveals the intricate etiquette and specialized objects that turned a simple beverage into a profound symbol of status and…

The I. W. W.: A Study of American Syndicalism
Paul F. (Paul Frederick) Brissenden
A meticulous, objective examination traces how radical American labor forged a distinct brand of industrial unionism, detailing the relentless internal ideological battles that split its ranks and defined its revolutionary path.

The Glory of the Coming: What Mine Eyes Have Seen of Americans in Action in This Year of Grace and Allied Endeavor
Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb
An American journalist crosses the Atlantic in 1918 to report on the Allied war effort, recording first-hand accounts of soldiers, civilians, and rear-echelon operations across France and England.

The loyalists of America and their times
Egerton Ryerson
Driven from their ancestral homes by revolutionary violence, tens of thousands of American Loyalists remade their lives in the northern wilderness, forging the political and social foundations of modern Canada.

Is Slavery Sanctioned by the Bible?
Isaac Allen
A rigorous textual dismantling of the pro-slavery biblical argument reveals how scripture, properly translated and contextualized, systematically rejects chattelism in favor of human dignity and universal liberty.

The Chignecto Isthmus and Its First Settlers
Howard Trueman
A narrow, marshy strip of land links New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, holding the quiet history of a continent's reshaping. Howard Trueman gathers the paper trails and oral memories of this borderland, creating a meticulous, affectionate portrait of its first British and Yorkshire settlers.

The Civil War Centennial Handbook
William H. Price
An intricate web of technological breakthroughs and human contradictions defined a conflict where brothers fought across deeply entrenched lines.

Trinity Site
National Atomic Museum (U.S.)
In the remote desert of New Mexico, a top-secret wartime project culminates in an explosion that forever alters human history and technology.

The Red Conspiracy
Joseph J. Mereto
A fiery polemic uncovers the global rise of radical Marxism, portraying every labor strike and left-wing faction as an existential threat. It urges citizens and governments to crush revolutionary subversion before democratic order falls.

The Secret Service, the Field, the Dungeon, and the Escape
Albert D. (Albert Deane) Richardson
Eyewitness reporting meets the harrowing reality of Civil War captivity and escape in this gripping, first-person narrative of resilience and survival across a divided nation.

The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future
A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan
Isolation is a dangerous delusion for a growing nation that relies upon world commerce.

The Negro and the Nation: A History of American Slavery and Enfranchisement
George Spring Merriam
A sweeping chronicle reveals how the moral compromise of American slavery fractured the republic, ignited war, and shaped the ongoing struggle for black equality.

Warren Commission (03 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
In the transcripts of the Warren Commission, a democracy attempts to reconstruct a single, cataclysmic afternoon through the meticulous, often mundane testimony of those who stood nearby.

Across America
James Fowler Rusling
An inspection trip through the post-Civil War American West turns into an expansive portrait of a rapidly transforming frontier.

The Winning of the West, Volume 1: From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1769-1776
Theodore Roosevelt
Before the American Republic takes firm root, a hardy border population carves a new civilization out of the dense wilderness beyond the Alleghanies.

The Colored Regulars in the United States Army
T. G. (Theophilus Gould) Steward
African American regular soldiers fight two battles at once: defeating Spanish troops on Cuban hills and disproving systemic doubts about their courage and capacity for leadership.

Blue Shirt and Khaki: A Comparison
James F. J. (James Francis Jewell) Archibald
In two distinct theaters of modern conflict, a seasoned American observer weighs the efficiency, comfort, and tactical adaptability of the world’s leading military forces.

Colored girls and boys' inspiring United States history: and a heart to heart talk about white folks
William Henry Harrison
A passionate survey of Black history, achievement, and civic potential written to instill racial pride in youth while offering a direct blueprint for inter-racial cooperation.

New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 2, No. 1, April, 1915: April-September, 1915
Various
Tensions flare across land, sea, and air as a world at war reshapes its borders, economies, and international laws.

North America
Anthony Trollope
Crossing the Atlantic at the height of the American Civil War, an observant English novelist sets out to measure the social, political, and daily realities of a nation torn in two.

The Road to Independence: Virginia 1763-1783
Virginia. History, Government, and Geography Service
Driven by financial pressures after the French and Indian War, imperial ministers attempt to tax the American colonies, sparking a long political crisis. Virginia's political leaders unite to defend their self-governance, eventually forging a new nation through revolutionary war.

The History of the First West India Regiment
A. B. (Alfred Burdon) Ellis
Across decades of fierce colonial conflicts, black soldiers in the British military serve as crucial frontline fighters, enduring harsh terrain, brutal ambushes, and strict imperial discipline.

Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy.: 1866. Fourth edition
United States. Navy Department. Bureau of Ordnance
This manual serves as the technical backbone of a nineteenth-century man-of-war, codifying the precise movements and protocols required to keep a naval vessel combat-ready. It is a rigorous record of how a nation organized its maritime force through strict standardization of human and mechanical labor.

The Battle of Gettysburg
Franklin Aretas Haskell
This is a visceral, eyewitness account of the three days that defined the American Civil War. It captures the frantic movement, the suffocating tension, and the final, bloody resolution of the conflict from the perspective of an officer in the thick of the action.

The comic history of the United States, from a period prior to the discovery of America to times long subsequent to the present
John D. Sherwood
A irreverent, satirical romp through American history, this narrative reframes the serious business of nation-building as a series of absurd, often chaotic, and uniquely American theatrical performances.

Greenwich Village
Anna Alice Chapin
Greenwich Village is a portrait of a neighborhood that functions as both a physical location and a state of mind. It invites readers into the idiosyncratic, historic, and creative heart of early twentieth-century New York.

The Hudson: Three Centuries of History, Romance and Invention
Wallace Bruce
This guide captures the majestic course of the Hudson River, weaving together natural wonders, Revolutionary lore, and the progress of nineteenth-century engineering. It serves as a comprehensive companion for those tracing the river from its mountain springs to the sea.