Covering political, social, and cultural history, the nearly 100 selections--including thirty-two visual documents--are intended to spark discussion in the classroom and give students a deeper understanding of America's history. A general introduction on how to read primary sources provides
students with guidance for working with documents. Headnotes and reading questions provide context and thinking prompts.
How to Read a Primary Source
Chapter 15. Ending the War and (Re)Constructing the Nation, 1863-1865
15.1 Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863)
15.2 Nancy Johnson, Testimony by a Georgia Freedwoman about How Union Troops Stole Her Property
(1873)
15.3 Excerpt from the Virginia Black Codes (1866)
15.4 Visual Source: Battleground Ruins in Charleston, SC (c. 1860-1865)
15.5 Visual Source: Thomas Nast, Pardon and Franchise (1865)
Chapter 16. The Promise and Limits of Reconstruction, 1865-1877
16.1 Thaddeus
Stevens, Speech to Congress (1867)
16.2 Testimony of Mervin Givens to Congress about Ku Klux Klan Activity in South Carolina (1871)
16.3 Visual Source: Distinguished Members, Reconstructed Constitution of Louisiana (1868)
16.4 Visual Source: Philadelphia Mayoral Election Poster on Racial
Segregation on Public Transit (1868)
16.5 Visual Source: Thomas Nast, Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner (1869)
Chapter 17. Capitalism Takes Hold, 1873-1890
17.1 Walt Whitman, "To A Locomotive in Winter" (1876)
17.2 Mrs. Spotted Horn Bull, Testimony on the Battle of the Greasy
Grass (Little Bighorn) (n.d.)
17.3 Frank Lloyd Wright, On Seeing His First American City (1887)
17.4 Visual Source: William Holbrook Beard, The Bulls and Bears in the Market, Wall Street (1879)
17.5 Visual Source: Solomon D. Butcher, Shores Family near Westerville, Custer County, NE
(1887)
17.6 Visual Source: The Destruction of the Buffalo (c. 1892)
Chapter 18. Caldrons of Protest, 1886-1896
18.1 Bob Hart, "The Eight-hour System" (n.d.)
18.2 Colored Farmers' Alliance on Violence against Black Farmers (1889)
18.3 Lucy Parsons, Speech to the Industrial
Workers of the World (1905)
18.4 Visual Source: Thomas Nast, Difficult Problems Solving Themselves (1879)
18.5 Visual Source: The Anarchist-labor Troubles in Chicago (1886)
Chapter 19. A Second Reconstruction, 1890-1914
19.1 Upton Sinclair, Excerpts from The Jungle
(1906)
19.2 Margaret Sanger, Excerpts from What Every Girl Should Know (1916)
19.3 Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Address at the First National Conference of Black Women's Clubs (1895)
19.4 Visual Source: Grant E. Hamilton, Out in the Cold (1884)
19.5 Visual Source: Ad for Horsford's
Acid Phosphate Brain Tonic for "Nervousness" (1888)
19.6 Visual Source: Rand McNally and Company, Bird's Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago (1893)
Chapter 20. A New Empire at Home and Abroad, 1890-1914
20.1 Citizens' Committee on the Annexation of Hawaii,
"Memorial to the President, the Congress, and the People of the United States of America" (1897)
20.2 Frederick Douglass, Letter to Ida B. Wells (1892)
20.3 Simon Pokagon, "The Red Man's Greeting" (1893)
20.4 Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, Letter to José Canalejas (1898)
20.5 Platt Amendment
(1903)
20.6 Visual Source: Grant E. Hamilton, I Rather Like That Imported Affair (1904)
20.7 Visual Source: Leaders of the Philippine Revolution (c. 1898)
Chapter 21. War, Revolution, and Reaction, 1910-1925
21.1 Woodrow Wilson, "Fourteen Points" (1918)
21.2 Alan Seegar, "I
Have a Rendezvous with Death" (1919)
21.3 Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin), "Editorial Comment" (1919)
21.4 Visual Source: 302nd and 92nd Regiments in Action in France (1918)
21.5 Visual Source: Ku Klux Klan Parade, Washington, DC (1926)
Chapter 22. Looking Into the Abyss,
1920-1934
22.1 Elliott Bell, "Crash" (1939)
22.2 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Banking Crisis Fireside Chat (1933)
22.3 "Defensa de los Norteños" (n.d.)
22.4 The Carter Family, "No Depression in Heaven" (1936)
22.5 Visual Source: Dorothea Lange, Family Who Traveled by Freight Train
(1939)
Chapter 23. Birth Pangs of Social Democracy, 1933-1940
23.1 Caroline Henderson, Letter to a Friend in Maryland "from the Dust Bowl" (1935)
23.2 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Campaign Address at Madison Square Garden (1936)
23.3 Visual Source: Peter Stackpole, Bay Bridge
Workers at Quitting Time (1935)
23.4 Visual Source: Russell Lee, Front of Spanish Language Movie Theater, San Antonio, TX (1939)
23.5 Visual Source: Boris Deutsch, Cultural Contributions of North, South and Central America (1939-1944)
Chapter 24. Flames of Global War, Visions of
Global Peace, 1940-1945
24.1 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Annual Message to Congress and "Four Freedoms" (1941)
24.2 A. Philip Randolph, Program of the March on Washington Movement (1941)
24.3 Janet Matsuda, "Hope Out of Gloom" (1944/45)
24.4 Visual Source: Russell Lee, Child Waiting
at Los Angeles Evacuation Center (1942)
24.5 Visual Source: This Man Is Your Friend: Chinese--He Fights for Freedom (1942)
Chapter 25. Cold-War America, 1945-1957
25.1 Senate Resolution 301: Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954)
25.2 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC), Statement of Purpose (1960, revised 1962)
25.3 US Government Amicus Curiae Brief for Brown v. Board of Education (1952)
25.4 Visual Source: Linda Christian as "Anatomic Bomb" (1945)
25.5 Visual Source: U.S. Steel's "Bride's House" Advertisement (1956)
Chapter 26.
Rebellion on the Left, Resurgence on the Right, 1957-1968
26.1 John Lewis, "Wake Up America" (1963)
26.2 Barry Goldwater, Speech to Congress Explaining Vote against 1964 Civil Rights Act (1964)
26.3 Lyndon B. Johnson, Special Message to Congress (1965)
26.4 Paul Potter, On the
Vietnam War (1965)
26.5 Visual Source: Police Arresting Black Men During the Watts Uprising, Los Angeles (1965)
Chapter 27. Destabilizations, 1968-1979
27.1 Black Panther Party for Self Defense, "Ten-Point Program" (1966)
27.2 Third World Gay Revolution, "Sixteen Point Platform
and Program" (1970)
27.3 Young Lords Party, "Thirteen Points Program and Platform" (1969)
27.4 Visual Source: Cover of Ms. Magazine (1972)
27.5 Visual Source: Herblock, Hostage (1979)
Chapter 28. New Conservatism and Its Discontents, 1980-1989
28.1 Ronald Reagan, Campaign
Speech at the Cow Palace in San Francisco (1966)
28.2 Phyllis Schlafly, "What's Wrong With 'Equal Rights' for Women?" (1972)
28.3 Jerry Falwell, "The Five Major Problems Moral Americans Need to Be Ready to Face" (1980)
28.4 National Security Council, Directive No. 75 on US Relations with
the USSR (1983)
28.5 Visual Source: Herblock, Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick (1986)
Chapter 29. After the Wall Fell: America and the Twenty-First Century, 1989-2004
29.1 George H. W. Bush, "New World Order" Address before Congress (1990)
29.2 George W. Bush, "War on
Terror" Address before Congress (2001)
29.3 Moustafa Bayoumi, Excerpts from "How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?" (2001)
29.4 NAACP on Voter Irregularities in Florida (2000)
29.5 Visual Source: Ann Telnaes, The Bush Decision (2000)
Chapter 30. Destinies, 2005-present
30.1
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Excerpt from "Fear of a Black President" (2012)
30.2 Greta Thunberg, Speech at the UN Climate Action Summit (2019)
30.3 Nicholas Fandos and Emily Cochrane, "After Pro-Trump Mob Storms Capitol, Congress Confirms Biden's Win" (2021)
30.4 Visual Source: Michael Williamson,
Rainbow White House after Gay Marriage Supreme Court Decision (2015)
30.5 Visual Source: Dave Granlund, March Madness (2016)
There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.
Felicia Angeja Viator is Associate Professor of History at San Francisco State University.
Stefan Lund is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia.
