Explore national history with this collection of study guides for fiction and non-fiction texts covering events, key figures, and viewpoints that have shaped the United States over the centuries. A sampling of topics within this collection includes the Puritans, Indigenous peoples, the successes and failures of the country's founders, U.S. presidents, war, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and more.
Publication year 2015
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness
Tags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, History: U.S., American Literature
Publication year 2008
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil
Tags History: U.S., American Civil War, Military / War, Grief / Death, History: World
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War is a nonfiction book published in 2008 by Drew Gilpin Faust, an American historian and the first woman to serve as president of Harvard University. A finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, This Republic of Suffering details how mass death affected the lives of survivors during and after the Civil War. Other works by Drew Gilpin Faust include Mothers of... Read This Republic of Suffering Summary
Publication year 1999
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Civil Rights / Jim Crow, History: U.S., Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Race / Racism, Bullying, Black Lives Matter, Education
Through My Eyes is the autobiography of Ruby Bridges. In 1960, Bridges became the first African American child to integrate an elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana following a court mandate for the state to desegregate its public school system. Louisiana trailed segregation effort in neighboring states, such as the nine Black high school students known as the “Little Rock Nine” who integrated a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.Bridges’s autobiography, published in... Read Through My Eyes Summary
Publication year 1998
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Fame, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Economics
Tags History: U.S., Business / Economics, Finance / Money / Wealth, Leadership/Organization/Management, History: World, Biography
Publication year 1964
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Class, Identity: Race, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Historical Fiction, History: U.S., Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, History: World
Publication year 1968
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Nation
Tags History: U.S., Race / Racism, Children's Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction, Biography
To Be a Slave is a nonfiction children’s book written by Julius Lester and published in 1968. In 1969, the book was named a John Newbery Honor Book in recognition of its important contribution to children’s literature.The book focuses on the history of enslavement in the United States. Julius Lester compiled slave narratives and wrote his own historical commentary to accompany them. Lester was writing in the context of the civil rights movement of the... Read To Be a Slave Summary
Publication year 1937
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Masculinity, Society: Class, Society: Economics
Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Class, Disability, Poverty, Great Depression, History: U.S., Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World
Ernest Hemingway’s best-selling yet poorly reviewed 1937 novel, To Have and Have Not, reflects his growing disillusionment with the world following his experiences in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Written in piecemeal format during his travels, the novel was originally published as two separate short stories and a novella, and this disjointed formation is apparent in the continuity of the plot. Featuring Hemingway’s classic minimalism, the novel offers both the story of Harry Morgan... Read To Have And Have Not Summary
Publication year 1997
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Tags History: U.S.
Published in 1997, Tera W. Hunter’s To ‘Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors after the Civil War is a history of working-class African-American women’s lives in Atlanta, Georgia, from Emancipation to World War I. The text examines the interplay between the racial repression African-American women faced during this time and the resistance they enacted as they sought to exercise their freedom as laborers. The book is winner of several awards, including: the... Read To 'Joy My Freedom Summary
Publication year 1976
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Society: War
Tags Children's Literature, Education, Education, History: U.S., History: World, Historical Fiction, American Revolution, Action / Adventure
Publication year 2020
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Fame
Tags Politics / Government, Psychology, History: U.S., History: World, Psychology, Biography
Publication year 2025
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War
Tags Biography, Politics / Government, History: U.S.
Publication year 1831
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Society: Community
Tags Social Justice, Race / Racism, History: U.S.
Publication year 2003
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Gender, Society: Class, Society: Economics, Society: Immigration, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags History: U.S., Politics / Government, Crime / Legal
Publication year 1992
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Society: Nation, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Politics / Government, History: U.S., WWII / World War II, Crime / Legal, History: World, Biography
Publication year 1947
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Economics, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil
Tags Politics / Government, History: U.S., Cold War
Publication year 1910
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Immigration, Identity: Gender, Society: Class, Society: Community
Tags Sociology, Poverty, Industrial Revolution, Social Justice, History: U.S., History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Biography
Publication year 2020
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Society: Nation, Society: Community
Tags Politics / Government, History: U.S., Sociology, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy
Publication year 2023
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Politics / Government, History: U.S., American Literature, Business / Economics, History: World, Social Justice
Publication year 1970
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Race, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Gender / Feminism, History: U.S., Politics / Government, Race / Racism
Publication year 1996
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Indigenous, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Natural World: Environment, Self Discovery, Society: Colonialism, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags History: U.S., American Literature, Travel Literature, Action / Adventure
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West is a landmark work of historical nonfiction by historian and author Stephen E. Ambrose, first published in 1996. A leading scholar of American military and political history, Ambrose was the author of numerous acclaimed books, including Band of Brothers and D-Day: June 6, 1944. In Undaunted Courage, Ambrose turns his attention to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, presenting it as both a... Read Undaunted Courage Summary