Are you looking for original sources for your study of American History? The Patriot’s History Reader is full of them! We found this great resource when my daughter was in middle school. This book enhanced her US History studies so much by making each historical event come to life. The original documents are at hand, all compiled in this valuable resource.
The Patriot’s History Reader goes back to the original sources, including the documents, speeches and legal decisions that helped shape our country into what it is today. It is written by the authors of the A Patriot’s History of the United States.
The authors explore all of the important oft-cited documents, including:
- The Mayflower Compact
- George Washington’s First Inaugural Address
- The Monroe Doctrine
- The Constitution of the United States
- The Emancipation Proclamation
- Roe v. Wade, and many more…
They also include some less famous documents as well, such as George Washington’s letter to Alexander Hamilton, which essentially defined America’s military strategy for the next 150 years.
Each document is written in its original language, and is accompanied by a discussion of the related historical facts and why it is important to our country’s history. (Note – The older documents that are written in Old English have been adapted.)
It was so valuable to have this resource at hand. There were all the essential American History documents that we needed, so we had everything at hand as different topics in our US history studies came up.
The Patriot’s History Reader is divided into the following seven Sections:
- The Formation of the Nation
- Growing Pains in the New Nation
- Slavery, Civil Rights, and the Civil War
- The Progressive Era, Radicals, Jim Crow, and World War I
- The Roaring Twenties, New Deal, and World War II
- Human Rights and Domestic Issues
- Rise of the New World Order
By helping readers explore these original documents, the authors shed new light on the principles and personalities that have made America great.
If you are looking for a resource on US History’s important documents, our family recommends The Patriot’s History Reader. For more information, or to purchase this resource, please click here. It is frugally priced as either a Kindle or in paperback.
You might also like:
- Homeschool Presidential Studies
- Homeschool History and Geography Curriculum reviews
- Compass Classroom American History Review
- Constitutional Literacy Review
Betsy blogs at BJ’s Homeschool about high school and college and all the fun of homeschooling the early years too. As a veteran homeschooler and the mom of a college student and homeschool grad, Betsy also offers free help to homeschool families, She is the author of Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.
-originally published March 2016
My favorite resource for studying American history is field trips. There is nothing like seeing the place where a historical figure lived.
I totally agree, Holly G! In our area we got to learn about native americans, the gold rush, pioneers, etc, all through field tips. Wishing you fun on yours…
Our favorite resource would be field trips to places where we can see where history happened.
Me, too, Katrina! We also loved doing hands-on projects as we studied a particular time in history, and nothing like making your own butter, for the pioneer period!
For American History we like to us historical fiction and memory work
Thanks for stopping by, Liz R, and we also loved reading historical fiction, especially when we studied US History in the elementary years. My daughter so enjoyed the whole Little House series, reading every one of them!
Living Books! We love reading and anytime we can visit somewhere to make the idea stick – the better!
Thanks for stopping by, Alexis! My daughter loved the American Girl series when she was very young, and then she was all about the LIttle House series. After that, she took off! WIshing you a lot of fun in your history studies,
We haven’t started studying US History yet but when we do I think field trips and good historical books fiction or not would be a fun way .
Oh, Stacy, when your kids are ready to study history, they will love it! Wishing you joy in your journey,
Fieldtrips and living history books!
I so agree, and we especially loved the field trips, Audrey! Thanks for stopping by,
What a terrific resource! Studying original documents is invaluable when studying history….too often text books take snippets of original documents out of context or simply summarize and don’t provide the original document at all. We’re in the middle of studying US history with my 2 teenage girls and this would be a fabulous addition to our curriculum! Thanks for hosting the give away!
I so agree, Brandy, and thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments! I wish you the best in your US History studies with your two girls. MIne especially liked studying Civics, when we were busy with our American History studies, and she is now minoring in Politics in college, and hopes to serve in some way in that field in the future. We will see where God leads her. Have a good day!
We love field trips!
Us, too, Sandy! My daughter loved going to our local Washington State History museum, and we loved going to all the field trips that our homeschool group organized each year. I love the hands-on learning on field trips. Have a good day, Sandy!
We use living books for studying history. I have some text books that are used as a “spine” and then find living books, field trips, and media to bring the subjects areas to life.
Thanks for sharing how you are planning your history studies, as that can be an encouragement to others, Jody!
— A People’s History of the United States, 1492-the Present, by Howard Zinn
— American Girl series
Oh, we so loved the American GIrl series, Carla! I got my daughter one of the dolls, that looked like her. This was special, as she is Chinese, and adopted as an infant, and I wanted her to be proud of her heritage. Then we went on and used the books, as we continued in our history studies. One year, we even got to do an American Girl class at co-op. When you do your history studies, you truly are making memories! Enjoy yours!
With the littles, watching Liberty’s Kids has helped them get a great understanding of the formation of the nation. They are familiar with the prominent people of the time. Once we dive off into more serious study, this book would be a fantastic resource.
Thanks for sharing that, Jen, as it could help lots of families with their history studies, and planning for next year. I had not heard of Liberty’s Kids before. Thanks again,
We enjoy reading historical fiction and going to historical re-enactments and museums.
Aren’t those just the best! My friend’s daughter volunteers for an historical re-enactment event each year, and we love going to see what all they will be doing there. Thanks for your comment, Anna!
We love field trips and books!
Field Trips and books, don’t they go together so nicely! One of our favorite field trips was to the Pioneer Museum, which had so much to look at, and learn about. My daughter enjoyed going with her friends from co-op. Enjoy your field trips and history studies, Jamie
To learn American history, we love field trips and interesting biographies, autobiographies and historical fiction. Liberty’s Kids videos fascinated my children when they were younger.
My daughter loved learning about the people of history, through easy to read biographies, when she was a young one. Then she got interested in the Presidents and learned about them, also through their biographies. . Thanks for sharing, Celia! Enjoy your history studies! We have a group post on US History coming up soon,
I am just getting started with a first grader, but I love history! I think my favorite thing will be field trips and living books. Also, re-creating or re-enacting special events in our home (ex. first Thanksgiving made with foods that the first attendees would have eaten). I hope my kiddos enjoy history just as much as I do!
Oh, I remember making butter, the old fashioned way, doing lots of crafts from the Little House series, making a diorama of Jamestown, and all of these projects made our history learning fun! I am sure your first grader will love it!! Thanks for stopping by, Brianna!
My favorite way to teach American history is with living books.
Thanks for stopping by, Theresa, and I wish you lots of joy in your history studies with your kids!
We’ve just started homeschooling but our favorite way to teach history right now is by reading biographies.
Thanks for stopping by, Annie, and I wish you lots of fun studying history with your kids!
Living books.
There is nothing like reading literature while studying history, and diving deeply into the historical events that way! Thanks for stopping by, Karen!
Books are our favorite resource for History. Thank you for this giveaway.
Thanks for entering, Brandy @ Our Thifty Home! We enjoyed our time together, studying history, using primary resources to add to our learning.