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American History
MORE THAN FIVE CENTURIES OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
K-12 Schools & Districts
K-12 Schools & Districts
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Universities & Colleges
Universities & CollegesAmerican History is a comprehensive resource that spans our nation’s history, with a user-friendly interface and award-winning content. The home page offers many ways to begin exploring the material, from the videos, slideshow overviews, and Topic Centers to the lists of key content handpicked by our editors to help users find a starting point for their research. By providing the most comprehensive range of information in one complete resource—subject entries, biographies, primary sources, videos and slideshows, images, timelines, and maps and graphs, plus full cross-searchability across all the Infobase history databases—American History offers a virtual library of American history for educators, students, and researchers.
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- Comprehensive Coverage: With American History, researchers can delve deep into their topics or examine different perspectives through event and topic entries, primary sources, images, videos, general and topic-specific timelines, biographies, original maps and charts, and more.
- Easy Access to Content: Featured content in American History is handpicked by our editors to inform research and provide guided entryways into the database, plus convenient links to key areas are at the top of every page.
- Editorially Curated Topic Centers: American History features specially selected content on different eras, themes, and milestone events of history—including articles, shareable slideshows, videos, primary sources, and more—that provides a starting point for research.
Topic Centers include:
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- America at War:
- Revolutionary War Battles
- War of 1812
- U.S.-Mexican War
- American Civil War
- Plains Indian Wars
- Spanish-American War
- World War I
- World War II in Europe and the Pacific
- Korean War
- Vietnam War
- Persian Gulf War
- Iraq War
- Afghanistan War
- Daily Life in America:
- Daily Life in the Colonial and Revolutionary Era
- Daily Life in the Early National Period
- Daily Life in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era
- Daily Life in the Gilded Age
- Daily Life in the Age of Reform
- Daily Life in the Roaring Twenties
- Daily Life in the Great Depression and World War II
- Daily Life in Postwar America
- Daily Life in Contemporary America
- Decades and Eras:
- The Twenties: 1920–1929
- The Thirties: 1930–1939
- The Forties: 1940–1949
- The Fifties: 1950–1959
- The Sixties: 1960–1969
- The Seventies: 1970–1979
- The Eighties: 1980–1989
- The Nineties: 1990–1999
- The 21st Century: 2000–Present
- Early America:
- Colonial Settlements
- Exploration of America
- Thirteen Colonies
- Salem Witch Trials
- Foreign Affairs and U.S. Government:
- Landmark Supreme Court Cases
- New Deal
- U.S. Government
- Multicultural America:
- African-American History
- Arab-American History
- Asian-American History
- Jewish-American History
- Latino-American History
- Native-American History
- Society and Social Issues:
- American Women’s History
- Civil Rights Movement
- Industrial Revolution
- Manifest Destiny
- Progressive Era
- America at War:
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- Suggested Research Topics: Each Topic Center in American History includes handpicked selections showcasing the best resources for each topic—including in-depth overview essays—and providing guidance for research.
- Primary Sources: American History includes more than 10,000 primary sources, many with introductions that provide context and background—perfect for strengthening critical-thinking skills.
- Videos, Images, Maps, and Slideshows: American History’s videos, images, original maps, and original, interactive whiteboard-friendly slideshows offer a fascinating visual introduction to key topics and themes, stimulating interest and providing convenient overviews and “lecture launcher” material.
- Biographies: Under “Featured People,” American History includes helpful lists of award-winning writers, U.S. presidents, U.S. vice presidents, early explorers, First Ladies, Chief Justices of the U.S., great military leaders, Supreme Court justices, and Founding Fathers. Each list includes dates of birth and death, a brief descriptor of the person’s achievements, and a link to relevant search results.
- Themes in U.S. History: American History‘s Themes in U.S. History section explores 26 major themes in American history century by century. Organized around such critical subjects as agriculture, demographics, economics, daily life, government, religion, science and technology, war, and women, the essays trace the progress of human history since the 1500s in what would become the United States, fostering critical conceptual thinking and allowing students to focus on a particular theme in one era and then examine that theme across the full reach of American history. Discussion questions for each theme encourage students to think critically.
- Controversies in History: Editorially selected pro/con articles on many high-interest controversies in U.S. history can be found in American History, enabling researchers to grasp the essence and importance of every conflict and the reasons Americans debated them.
- Overview Essays: American History includes substantial and thorough overview essays giving extensive background on relevant historical topics and eras.
- Book Chapters: Chapters from authoritative print titles written by noted historians complement the thousands of encyclopedia entries, biographies, definitions, and other resources American History provides. Book Chapters allow for original thinking and are ideal for an in-depth study of a topic.
- Authoritative Source List: American History features a complete inventory, by type, of the extraordinary amount of expertly researched and written content in the database, including articles from a wealth of award-winning proprietary and distinguished print titles (including the new edition of the award-winning Encyclopedia of American History), primary sources, images, videos, timelines, and a list of contributors to the database—information researchers can trust.
- Curriculum Tools: This section of American History features writing and research tips for students and educators, including:
- Advice on analyzing and understanding editorial cartoons, primary sources, and online sources
- Guides for presenting research, including avoiding plagiarism, citing sources, completing a primary source worksheet, summarizing articles, and writing research papers
- Educator tools, including advice on preventing plagiarism and using editorial cartoons in class.
- Full Cross-Searchability: American History is fully cross-searchable with any combination of the other Infobase History Research Center databases to which your institution subscribes.
- Election-Related Content: American History includes rich historical content ideal for election-related studies and lesson plans, allowing users to research past elections, political parties, key figures, and important terms through essays, primary source documents, images, videos, tables, charts, and maps that put the 2016 election into perspective.
- Convenient A-to-Z topic lists can be filtered by Topic Center
- Tag “clouds” for all content, linking to related material
- Searchable timelines, including a detailed general timeline, updated monthly, plus numerous subject-specific and era-specific timelines
- “National History Day” feature, with suggested searches in accordance with the theme of the NHD competition
- Maps and graphs with descriptions
- Real-time, searchable Reuters® newsfeed
- Save content directly to Google Drive
- Single sign-on with Google or Microsoft
- Google Sign-In allows users to easily access content with their Google credentials
- A variety of integration options and partners, including Canvas and D2L (Desire2Learn)
- Dynamic citations in MLA, Chicago, APA, and Harvard formats, with EasyBib and NoodleTools export functionality
- List of contributors to the database
- Read Aloud tool
- Ability for users to set preferences for default language, citation format, and number of search results
- Persistent record links
- Search Assist technology
- Searchable Support Center with valuable help materials, how-to tips, tutorials, and live help chat
- Google Translate for 100+ languages.
Defending Intellectual Freedom with Educational Opportunities
According to “Advocating for Intellectual Freedom: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights,” educating the American public, including library staff, on the value of intellectual freedom is fundamental to the mission of libraries of all types. When libraries guarantee physical access to information, they foster awareness of intellectual freedom rights within the context of educational programs and instruction in essential information skills (AASL, 2018, p. 243). In short, the answer to disinformation is education. I have implemented two research projects as both a classroom teacher and a school librarian to promote intellectual freedom awareness: banned books and the First Amendment. As you will see, it is possible to address these topics without fearing accusations of bias and indoctrination. Indeed, it is not inappropriate to teach others about the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment. Banned Books Research Project The first time I tried a banned books research project, I was brainstorming how I could end the year strong with a particularly challenging group of seniors. I knew I wanted to do something more practical with real-world context than a standard literature study. Since I was in the process of completing my Master’s in Library and Information Science at that […]
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Leveraging Supplemental Resources for K–12 Schools & Districts
Supplemental resources are such an invaluable tool for teachers. I’m talking about instructional materials that go beyond the regular required class materials, and for the most part, I’m talking about items that are not required. They are optional additional materials for students to extend their learning. Supplemental resources can include apps, websites, videos, software, or anything else you can find. Infobase has tons to offer in the realm of supplemental resources, and if you haven’t already tried some of them out, I recommend taking a free trial! Regardless of which supplemental resources you use, these amazing optional materials can: Engage students with the power of choice. Empower students to explore their interests. Elevate struggling students with additional support. Extend high-achieving students to new heights. Check out Infobase’s Instructional Strategies Toolkit for effective teaching strategies and resources! Table of Contents1 Engage Students with the Power of Choice1.1 Universal Design for Learning1.2 Giving Students Choice2 Empower Students to Explore Their Interests3 Elevate Struggling Students with Additional Support4 Extend High-Achieving Students to New Heights Engage Students with the Power of Choice Choice is a powerful instructional tool when wielded carefully. Instructional choice gives students the power to choose their own learning path, helping […]
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Distance Learning Database Added to Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center
Distance learning has been mainstream for many years, and demand for it has accelerated rapidly following the arrival of COVID-19. Distance learning can allow students to learn at their own pace on their own time from anywhere they can connect to the Internet. It is an absolute boon for 9-to-5 workers seeking night courses for professional development and students unable to relocate for specialized programs. But, where should someone seeking online learning opportunities start searching? The award-winning Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center now includes a new distance learning database that provides details on more than 1,300 distance learning programs at two- and four-year colleges and graduate schools in a wide range of disciplines. This database highlights distance learning options at institutions with in-person campuses and programs as well as those available only online. It is fully integrated with Ferguson’s undergraduate, graduate, and financial aid databases, allowing users to gather all the information they need to plan their education. Ferguson’s new distance learning database provides a perfect resource for anyone who needs to balance work, life, and school; users seeking professional development; and students unable to relocate for popular programs in their area of study. Ferguson’s Graduate School Search Is Better Than […]
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