Reviews for American Passages: History of the United States, since 1863 - Volume II

The average rating for American Passages: History of the United States, since 1863 - Volume II based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-11-07 00:00:00 Adam Nusret I don't generally review textbooks, but I feel like I have to with this one. In general, I like history, and I enjoyed it in elementary school and somewhat in middle school. However, there are a lot of bad ways it can be taught, especially when it focuses on white men and treats the past as inconsequential. I also wasn't looking forward to another American history class after I left high school behind, but it was a course I needed and is what fit in my schedule. All that said, I was pleasantly surprised that we were using a book with detailed firsthand accounts and focused essays from different viewpoints rather than a textbook that places history firmly in the past with little to no impact on the present day. Not to mention the course was "US History Since 1877," so that approach just doesn't work when looking at events as recent and modern as this course does. In that regard, a comprehensive and multi-faceted look at history is exactly what this course needed. The usage of personal anecdotes and copies of historical documents has always been important to me because it illustrates what was said or what happened, as well as how people reacted. The fact that I did have a teacher and a textbook who promoted the importance of this in education. The most significant issues in this book included various people's perspectives on topics such as post-Civil War western settlement, the labor movement, Japanese internment, and the Vietnam War. I appreciated that so much of this is firsthand history and serves as a reminder that history, especially over the last century in the United States, is a living thing and has major influences on where we are today.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-09-18 00:00:00 William Bartlett This was my history textbook from a class I took four years ago. I just couldn’t sell it back because the essays looked interesting. I finally had the time to pick it up and read it. It has given me a little insight as to where we are as a nation/ world and how we got here.