Ordinary Americans: U.S. History Through the Eyes of Everyday People

by Linda R. Monk, Close Up Foundation Staff, Charles Sass (Editor)

An excellent book to bring history alive for all ages.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

489 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches 500 years of American history through the eyes of ordinary people who actually lived it: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Americans of European descent. The book uses autobiographical accounts, diaries, interviews, etc., to teach American history. Ken Burns said it best: "This is the way history should be told”. This should be required reading for high school or junior high school students.

[Mary Havens · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This is a nation of inconsistencies. The Puritans fleeing from oppression became in turn oppressors. We fought England for our liberty and put chains on 4 million blacks. We wiped out slavery and by our tariff laws and national banks began a system of white wage slavery worse than the first." ~Mary Lease

The book tells the story of American history from eyewitness encounters. 500 years, from the landing of Columbus (a priest who rode with him) to 9-11 (a GTE operator who took a call from the plane that was headed to the Pentagon).

I started this book almost two years ago but got mired in the "everyone is starving and dying" part of the early history of America. So I changed my approach and read one ancient account, one contemporary, and vowed to meet in the middle. The approach worked well because I learned something fascinating: human behavior doesn't change and war is HELL all the time.

Today, an elderly woman commented on how terrible our society is. Yes, it is terrible but it always has been. You just have 24 hour access to the atrocities, played on an endless loop. Nothing has changed. Everything has changed.

I thought about giving this book away but I want to keep it for my children, so they can see some primary sources from all points of history.

The quote from above: written by a badass lady in 1892. Nothing has changed. Everything has changed.

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a very thin overview of people who had something to say who may have not been listened to. I like to get my view of history from the people who were there and not just from the people at the top. You can jump off from this book and find out more about fascinating Americans that you find here.

[Mona Ohana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite American history text--the voices of women, minorities, and labor . Brava! Should be required reading for all high school students.