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Any recommendations on sources for early American history? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm interested in learning more about early American history (post 1776 but pre 1860s) are there any sources you've enjoyed on that topic? Preferably in an accessible medium like a YouTube channel dedicated to the period or anything someone can casually listen to while performing other tasks. But recommendations of all mediums are welcome.

Of particular interest to me is anything related to governance, law, or conflict with native Americans. It seems pop history covers a few events from this period like the War of 1812 well but I'm especially interested in the stories that didn't make the highschool textbooks. Also I'm interested in any thing that conveys the nuisances of the time (for example talking about individual tribas rather than clumping them all together.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I'd recommend A Country of Vast Designs, which you can find as an audio book. It's about the Polk administration. Most people don't know anything about Polk, even though the US tripled in size and had a war during his four years.

It's also a peek into the politics leading up to the Civil War.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I'll definitely take a look into that the extent of my Polk knowledge begins and ends at he did the Gadsen Purchase.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

A lot of interesting stuff happened during his four years. The Mexican-American war, the US and UK coming to a settlement over Oregon Territory, Texas joining the union, the forced purchase of New Mexico and California, the political unrest between the north and south... The guy wore himself out and died shortly after returning to Tennessee.

I'm really surprised he wasn't more prominent in the history books I read in school.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Based on that maybe it due to a combination of these:

Unlike Jefferson's Louisiana purchase Polk's acquisitions where composed of many events making it harder to tell the full story
It seems like schools teach about the Westward expansion focusing on the people on the Oregon trail rather than the actual government's actions
Some of the worst pre Civil War things like bleeding Kansas and the fugitive slave act came in after his time so the earliest unrest might get overlooked some