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From These Beginnings, Volume 1
From These Beginnings looks at history through engaging biographical portraits of well-known men and women whose contributions helped to create the nation and society. Each biography offers a uniquely personal and provocative glimpse into the lives of these Americans and shows how their experiences are linked to historical events, covering everything from the environment to popular culture. From These Beginnings can be used as a stand-alone core text, or as a wonderful supplement to any U.S. History survey course, inviting students to see history not as a collection of names and dates, but as an evolving tale about people like themselves.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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About the author
Roderick Nash
32 books18 followersFrazier Nash, Roderick
Nash, Roderic Frazier
Nash, Roderick F.
Nash, Roderick Frazier
Roderick Frazier Nash is a professor emeritus of history and environmental studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. He was the first person to descend the Tuolumne River (using a raft) [from: en.wikipedia.org]
Nash, Roderic Frazier
Nash, Roderick F.
Nash, Roderick Frazier
Roderick Frazier Nash is a professor emeritus of history and environmental studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. He was the first person to descend the Tuolumne River (using a raft) [from: en.wikipedia.org]
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 15, 2016
This is definitely a nice, new approach to a textbook for learning history. Instead of writing down facts and dates and impersonal stories of conquest and death, Roderick Nash and Gregory Graves have set out to accomplish a new style of history told through biography. Each chapter is immensely researched and carefully selected to show a period of the United States's past.
In the first volume, the one in question, it is not a surprise that the chapters are dominated by white males. However, the authors are kind enough to include Abigail Adams, Tecumsuh, and Frederick Douglass to the line-up to engage readers in the subordination of all three groups: women, Native Americans, and African Americans, respectively.
It is also not a general surprise that many of the chapters overlap their history dates as there were many people acting at the same time in influential ways across the beginning years of the United States. It's often hard, at least for me, to keep the dates in an orderly fashion due to the way it is written and the ovrelap, but the authors are skilled enough to remind you appropriately of when an overlap is occurring.
This is such a well-written text that it could be read from cover-to-cover or it can be read piecemeal depending on who you are interested in. Due to the biographical nature, it helps make the stories more memorable and we also get the background before birth of the important person in question and then their death. It's often unknown to us how, say, Christopher Columbus died or his other exploits across the ocean due to the fact that history textbooks usually just mention his major accomplishments and move on. This text encompasses the person and their relationships, their actions, and their faults in order to exemplify the American or non-American individuals that stood out from the rest and shaped a nation.
In the first volume, the one in question, it is not a surprise that the chapters are dominated by white males. However, the authors are kind enough to include Abigail Adams, Tecumsuh, and Frederick Douglass to the line-up to engage readers in the subordination of all three groups: women, Native Americans, and African Americans, respectively.
It is also not a general surprise that many of the chapters overlap their history dates as there were many people acting at the same time in influential ways across the beginning years of the United States. It's often hard, at least for me, to keep the dates in an orderly fashion due to the way it is written and the ovrelap, but the authors are skilled enough to remind you appropriately of when an overlap is occurring.
This is such a well-written text that it could be read from cover-to-cover or it can be read piecemeal depending on who you are interested in. Due to the biographical nature, it helps make the stories more memorable and we also get the background before birth of the important person in question and then their death. It's often unknown to us how, say, Christopher Columbus died or his other exploits across the ocean due to the fact that history textbooks usually just mention his major accomplishments and move on. This text encompasses the person and their relationships, their actions, and their faults in order to exemplify the American or non-American individuals that stood out from the rest and shaped a nation.
May 16, 2016
I read this for U.S. History to 1877 at Brigham Young University. The ten biographies in this book have made me better understand the importance of our American heritage. I came to like John Winthrop and appreciated his ability to lead a people seeking religious liberty from monarchical oppression. Reading about Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson also gave me an appreciation of the foundation of the United States of America.
Women like Abigail Adams are important figures in American History. Women were important figures during the American Revolution. I wish more could have been written about women in American history. I would've like to have read about Dolly Madison, the wife of President James Madison, and what a great figure she is to our Nation.
Reading about Fredrick Douglass was pretty insightful. I wish to learn more about this man from his own writings.
Women like Abigail Adams are important figures in American History. Women were important figures during the American Revolution. I wish more could have been written about women in American history. I would've like to have read about Dolly Madison, the wife of President James Madison, and what a great figure she is to our Nation.
Reading about Fredrick Douglass was pretty insightful. I wish to learn more about this man from his own writings.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews