Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History

by Eric Foner (Editor), Kathleen DuVal, Lisa McGirr

Voices of Freedom is the only reader with a thematic focus on American freedom. The organization of this enormously popular, compact, and accessible primary source documents collection mirrors the best-selling Give Me Liberty! survey texts. Much more affordable than other readers of its kind, it is an exceptional value in print and ebook formats. The Sixth Edition features new selections that focus on issues of inclusion and exclusion and the question, "Who is an American?"

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Read For School, American History, College

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, where he earned his B.A. and Ph.D. In his teaching and scholarship, Foner focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and nineteenth-century America. His Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877, won the Bancroft, Parkman, and Los Angeles Times Book prizes and remains the standard history of the period. His latest book published in 2010 is The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.

In 2006 Foner received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching at Columbia University. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Society of American Historians.

Reviews

[Tamzen Van Horn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring ass textbook for a college US History class. It changes editions so many times that its impossible to have the right one and the sources change every edition.

[Jedi Ragas · Rating 3 out of 5]

i am just not rocking with history books. i read this for my class and i just found myself bored. many of the articles were cool and provided a more nuanced take on US history, so im not upset that i read it. i did learn a lot, but it was too plain for me. i also was not that interested in the topics explored. if you like US history then you will probably love this. i am just a bum.

[Chelsea Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on American history. It is history told through historical documents. Had to read it for American History 201 and it was but far the best text book ever issued for a history class. I read it and enjoyed it.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of documents is filled to give the reader a sense of America's History in an entertaining and enlightening way. Don't skip on this read!

[Trixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love primary sources, this is your book.

[Bethany Whetstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning more about American History.

[Sofia Terèse · Rating 4 out of 5]

this gets an extra star bc whenever i had to read these i would act them out and that was incredibly enjoyable

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story. I guessed the ending pretty far from the ending. The twist came a bit before the end of the book. I thought maybe something else would surprise me at the very end but it didn't.

[Emily Gunn · Rating 1 out of 5]

One sided view the whole way through. Not a real history book.

[Fatima!]

read this for my mom.

[A.J. Barlow]

*for school

[Nav · Rating 2 out of 5]

For whatever reason this site is treating Volume 1 and Volume 2 as different editions. They cover different time periods though so:
Vol 1 = It works as a collection of primary sources but if you are a high schooler using this for a class then the questions accompanying each source are fairly patronizing (instead of thought provoking).
Vol 2 = The questions for students are still more for reading comprehension than to provoke thought, but it’s a good collection for primary sources.

[Taylor Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all this is obviously a book for school so I’m not really doing this for fun.

“Resolved, that the practical question for an American Fourth of July is not between freedom and slavery, but between wealth and poverty. For if it is true laborers ought to have as little as possible of the wealth the produce, South Carolina slaveholders were right and the Massachusetts abolitionists were wrong.”—pages 36-37

That’s a really good line.

“But then, ignorance is like a disease that is contagious, bigotry, prejudice, and intolerance all down through the centuries have tried to crush intelligence with cruelty, reason with brutality, and spirituality with madness.”—page 202

I really loved this line.

So overall I would say this is a good book, if you want a good collection of things that happened in history with civil rights for a lot of minority groups. It’s a really interesting piece, even though I wasn’t able to read all of it.

[Walter De Gregoris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of primary resources- much needed.

[Pamela]

Final student presentations were 1 December 2020.