Voices of the American Past

VOICES OF THE AMERICAN PAST is a two-volume reader that presents a variety of diverse perspectives through more than 230 primary sources. Excerpts from speeches, letters, journals, political cartoons, magazine articles, hearings and government documents raise issues from both public and private aspects of American life throughout history. A "Guide to Reading and Interpreting Documents" in the front matter explains how and why historians use primary source evidence, and outlines basic points to help students learn to analyze sources. Brief headnotes set each source into context. "Questions to Consider" precede each document, offering prompts for critical thinking and reflection. The volumes are organized chronologically into 31 chapters, with the Reconstruction chapter overlapping in both volumes -- corresponding to the splits of most survey texts. In this new Third Edition, the selection of new documents was guided by the editors' desire to provide greater diversity of voices while also offering readable selections that speak to larger issues. This edition offers well known primary sources such as Federalist 10 and President Eisenhower's farewell address, as well as Cotton Mather's admonitions on the evils of "self-pollution," a woman's description of the southern homefront during the Civil War, John Muir's essay on American forests, and recent East Asian immigrant's description of life in America. The most significant change, however, is the addition of visual images, taking the text beyond the use of documents traditionally found in other readers.