Curricula and Learning Links - History
Recommended American History Textbooks
What is a good American history text that can be used as a spine with living books? The homeschooler asking this question was interested in something that did not represent Europeans as evil exploiters, but had a more balanced viewpoint. Several homeschooling parents offered these suggestions.
Antique texts tend to have a less politically correct presentation. The Nietz Old Textbook Collection has books that go up to the Civil War time.
This Country of Ours by H.A. Marshall has history up to about 1910. It is available free on Gutenberg.org. -- Briva
Edward Eggleston, an educator in the late 1800's, wrote history books for several levels that have been reprinted by Lost Classics. They make excellent spines with good facts and study questions. By adding in some Landmark books, these make a very thorough study. -- Martha R. Here is a free, downloadable version of A History of the United States and Its People by Edward Eggleston.
For honors high school or college-level American history, The American Pageant by Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy is highly recommended because it is detailed. Another possibility is Clarence Carson's A Basic History of the United States. The downside to this one is that it is pretty dry and there are no illustrations.
A non-textbook written for an upper high-school-and-above general audience is Paul Johnson's A History of the American People. Johnson is a British conservative, who, at least from the tone of the book, likes -maybe even loves - America. There are no illustrations in this one, either.
For upper elementary there is Daniel Boorstin's The Landmark History of the American People. This can be obtained as either two volumes or both volumes combined into a single book, so be careful if you decide to purchase it, that you're getting the whole thing. Like Johnson's book, this is almost more of a social history, albeit geared down for younger ages. It is Sonlight's spine for Core 3 and 4, I think.
Sonlight uses Joy Hakim's A History of the U.S. as their spine for their Core 100. I used it with a couple of kids, but only in conjunction with Sonlight's Instructor's Guide. Hakim is probably the most readable of the choices I've listed here, but she is also the most liberal; in fact, I probably shouldn't include this in a list of "conservative" textbooks. It is probably written at an upper-elementary to early-junior high school level. -- Caron
