Reading the American Past, Volume II: From 1865: Selected Historical Documents

This two-volume primary-source collection provides a diverse selection of voices from the nation’s past while emphasizing the important social, political, and economic themes of a U.S. history survey course. Edited by one of the authors of The American Promise and designed to complement the textbook, Reading the American Past features over 150 documents, each accompanied by a headnote and questions for discussion to encourage students’ understanding of the sources.

This two-volume primary-source collection provides a diverse selection of voices from the nation’s past while emphasizing the important social, political, and economic themes of a U.S. history survey course. Edited by one of the authors of The American Promise and designed to complement the textbook, Reading the American Past features over 150 documents, each accompanied by a headnote and questions for discussion to encourage students’ understanding of the sources.

MICHAEL P. JOHNSON (Ph.D., Stanford University) is a professor of history at the Johns Hopkins University. He has written or edited six books, including No Chariot Let Down: Charleston’s Free People of Color on the Eve of the Civil War (1984) and The American Promise.