Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents, Volume 2: Since 1865 by Michael P. Johnson - Eighth Edition, 2020 from Macmillan Student Store
Coming Soon 09/06/2019

Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents, Volume 2: Since 1865

Eighth Edition ©2020 Michael P. Johnson

With five carefully selected documents per chapter, this popular two-volume primary source reader presents a wide range of documents representing political, social, and cultural history in an accessible way. Expertly edited by Michael Johnson, co-author of The American Promise, the readings...
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Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents, Volume 2: Since 1865 by Michael P. Johnson - Eighth Edition, 2020 from Macmillan Student Store

With five carefully selected documents per chapter, this popular two-volume primary source reader presents a wide range of documents representing political, social, and cultural history in an accessible way. Expertly edited by Michael Johnson, co-author of The American Promise, the readings can be used to spark discussion in any classroom and will fit into any syllabus.

Features

Documents in each chapter focus on themes and events related to the parent textbook. Each chapter of Reading the American Past contains five to six primary source documents focused on themes and events related to the corresponding chapter in The American Promise. Delving into unique perspectives, each source will connect the specific experiences of Americans throughout the past to the broader context of U.S. history.

A brief introduction provides just the right amount of context for each chapter. Every chapter in the reader begins with an introduction that provides context and primes students to engage productively with the sources that follow.

A headnote introduces students to each document and encourages them to draw their own conclusions. Brief introductions to each source provide the provenance of the document, orient the student to the historical context, and provide a starting place for their own interpretations. Plentiful gloss notes help students with unfamiliar vocabulary.

Questions for Reading and Discussion follow each document and encourage students to return to the source. The Questions for Reading and Discussion that follow each source are useful as in-class, essay, or study questions. They prompt students to enhance their own understanding by engaging critically with each document.

Comparative Questions concluding each chapter place documents in conversation. The Comparative Questions at the end of each chapter prompt students to consider the broader implications of individual sources on U.S. history.

New to This Edition

New visual sources  provide a window into the American past. One new visual source per chapter  gives students snapshots into U.S. history and provides them with opportunities to augment their analytical skills. Complete with new Questions for Reading and Discussion, these images connect students with the people who experienced America in the past and encourage students to consider U.S. history in a new way.

Focus on science and technology New sources and updated Questions for Reading and Discussion emphasize the role of science and technology in U.S. history. From ancient American tools and colonial medicine, to the development of railroads and the growing need to protect the environment, new and updated documents trace the role of innovation in the United States.

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Table of Contents

Michael P. Johnson

Michael P. Johnson (Ph.D., Stanford University) is professor of history at Johns Hopkins University. His publications include Toward a Patriarchal Republic: The Secession of Georgia; Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War: Selected Speeches and Writings; and Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents, the documents reader for The American Promise. He has also coedited No Chariot Let Down: Charleston’s Free People of Color on the Eve of the Civil War with James L. Roark.