Readers can download a single pdf of the volume, or they can click on links to individual chapters to read online. The online version also lets readers click on a callout number to link straight to its corresponding endnote. Perhaps in later editions the editors could add in-text links to relevant primary sources in the American Yawp primary source reader. If there are notable grammatical errors, typos, or misspellings, I did not find them.
Overall, the text is well-written and well-edited. The American Yawp, like most modern textbooks, aims to be inclusive in subject matter. Women appear fairly regularly as a collective enslaved women, white women, middle-class women, etc. Of the terms, only three are individual women. This is certainly not a unique problem, and it's nice to see that the editors are otherwise working to add more diverse voices to historical narratives.
The American Yawp primary source reader, for instance, includes materials from a wide range of peoples.
The American Yawp Reader, a collection of primary sources, is particularly handy. Each source has a brief introduction, and the selections include documents and images representing a range of individuals.
I do hope the editors add more maps to the next edition. Modern maps would be especially useful in sections on exploration, conquest, Indian removal, wars, and westward expansion. Charts and tables are also noticeably absent, and would be a helpful addition to clarify certain topics. The volume includes just about all of the topics that one expects in a comprehensive US history text. It begins with pre-Columbian America, then looks at Western Europe on the eve of colonization.
It treats Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and Of course some historians would make different choices about inclusion. I was surprised to find only passing mention of Northwest Ordinance of There is no index, which is a flaw. If the book contains any factual inaccuracies, I did not spot them.
It certainly has a point of view, one with which most faculty teaching US history courses today probably sympathize. It is frank in holding up the costs and horrors of colonization, and emphasizes the inhumanity, and centrality, of slavery in the United States before The authors achieve a nice balance in blending traditional themes, such as revolution, nationalism, and the Market Revolution, with recent scholarship. For example, the suggested readings in chapter 11, "The Cotton Revolution," include not only older works by John W.
The list of contributors runs over 4 double-columned pages. That makes the consistency of the work all the more impressive. No faults on this score. The chapters are of reasonable length and divided into sections of 3 or 4 pages. Occasionally the desire for "modularity" means that there is repetition. For example, the Missouri crisis of is discussed in two different chapters. The organization is mainly chronological, with some topical chapters: colonial society, religion and reform in the antebellum period, the Market Revolution.
These are typical of US history texts. The "great men" of US history are here, and the treatment of them is neither hagiographic nor iconoclastic. Doubtless it will too critical for traditionalists, not critical enough for critical theorists. Examples of individual experiences, male and female, of varied races and ethnicities, abound in each chapter.
This is a text thoroughly in the mainstream of US historical scholarship. Its arguments generally reflect views that the overwhelming majority of scholars would accept. When there are significant differences, they are acknowledged. It is also mainstream in including references to just about every major work of scholarship of the past 60 years on this period.
Overall the text is comprehensive in what it includes. It's meets the standard content that is called "The first half of the U. It could be improved by adding some political history especially in the Antebellum period. The text is accurate factually, and not particularly biased from an intellectual or political perspective. Unfortunately, the comprehensiveness of the content doesn't lift the overall narrative away from the perception of the American Revolution and the American Civil War were inevitable.
This assumption could be interrogated by including more political history. American Yawp, Vol. The chapters are also constructed broad enough for instructors to present the text thematically with multiple perspectives, all while keeping students engaged in the study of history. The writing is clear, concise, direct and to- the -point. It balances the narrative and the analysis quite well.
The textbook would benefit a lot by including timelines and especially maps. Maps that indicate geographical boundaries, especially in the colonial period, trade routes, transportation routes, battles, forts, migration and Native nations to name a few.
Linking out to these kinds of information visuals is not as useful as being able to view and refer to them while reading. Names, terms, and periodization are all consistent throughout the volume.
Students could easily read American Yawp, Vol. The textbook content is easily divisible into smaller chunks of information, both chronologically and thematically. Once the text is accessed, you will find a hierarchy of chapters along with an introduction and conclusion.
The rest of the text employs a similar hierarchy within each chapter, providing an introduction and conclusion of a few paragraphs, often set off from the rest of the text by an italicized heading or Roman numerals.
I like that this textbook was designed first as an Open Source textbook, and second as an Open Source textbook that looks like a published paper edition. You know what to expect right when you click on the first page. It makes navigation easier, especially when scrolling through the many pages that comprises standard printed textbooks. The format and style are consistent throughout and chapters are similarly organized. The textbook interface is the same whether your reading it on a laptop or a mobile device.
So convenient. Overall the grammar is excellent. A couple of minor style inconsistencies perhaps, but nothing that negatively impacts the text. As it stands, the text is carefully written and inclusive overall, but it's not balanced regarding Native Americans and not just the breadth of content, but also the depth.
The early chapters still discuss Native Americans in monolithic and oversimplified terms. This is an old complaint, I know. However, scholarship on Native Americans in early American history has exploded over the last twenty-five years. I can only hope future editions will address this oversight. I that this textbook was designed as an Open Source textbook. It makes early American history more accessible and affordable to a wider audience than ever before. I would like to have seen discussion questions added at the end of each chapter.
Students can learn how to think critically, and instructors don't have to develop the questions on their own. In fact, if faced with a choice between including a 'suggested reading list' or 'critical reading questions to consider' - go with the questions. In an increasingly digital world in which pedagogical trends are de-emphasizing rote learning and professors are increasingly turning toward active-learning exercises, scholars are fleeing traditional textbooks.
Yet for those that still yearn for the safe tether of a synthetic text, as either narrative backbone or occasional reference material, The American Yawp offers a free and online, collaboratively built, open American history textbook designed for college-level history courses. Unchecked by profit motives or business models, and free from for-profit educational organizations, The American Yawp is by scholars, for scholars.
All contributors—experienced college-level instructors—volunteer their expertise to help democratize the American past for twenty-first century classrooms. The American Yawp Vol. I: To 12 reviews Joseph L. Content Accuracy rating: 5 I found the content accurate and error-free. Clarity rating: 5 One of the things I really like about this textbook is that it provides shorter chapters, but also provides an expanded view on U.
Consistency rating: 5 The textbook keeps the same exact structure from the beginning to end. Modularity rating: 5 As I wrote above, one of the things I really like about this textbook is that it provides shorter chapters, but also provides an expanded view on U.
Interface rating: 5 I did not encounter any interface issues. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I have not yet found any grammatical errors. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 In addition to doing a good job covering the "usual topics", The American Yawp provides a much more balanced view of American history than many popular hardback textbooks.
Comments My first goal when looking at an OER text was to provide a class where students have easy access, and first day access, to the required materials.
The text covers a bit of American social history, political history and contains a few military events as well Content Accuracy rating: 5 The text covers most, but not all content.
Consistency rating: 5 Incredibly consistent. Modularity rating: 5 The divisibility is what makes this book worthwhile. Interface rating: 4 Very visually appealing to the reader Grammatical Errors rating: 5 None that I can see Cultural Relevance rating: 5 Very cultural relevant text. Comments As an adjunct instructor, I found the American Yawp text, along with the new teacher resources provided incredibly helpful to me.
Content Accuracy rating: 5 It is well-researched and largely error-free. Clarity rating: 4 The text is well-written and uses interesting examples frequently. Consistency rating: 4 consistent Modularity rating: 4 The American Yawp is a very usable open access textbook for college courses.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5 correct Cultural Relevance rating: 4 It is somewhat weak on race, but certainly up to date and not offensive. Comments The textbook does come with some additional resources for instructors, although far less than a commercial platform or other OER textbooks that come via school subscription. Content Accuracy rating: 5 Overall, I found the text to be accurate and carefully researched. Clarity rating: 4 In general, the text is straightforward and at a level appropriate to the college classroom, if sometimes a bit repetitive.
Consistency rating: 5 The text flows nicely and maintains a consistent voice, structure, and framing. Modularity rating: 5 The text is well-divided, and could easily be assigned as whole chapters or as subsections.
Interface rating: 5 No issues that I noticed. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I noticed no grammatical errors in the text. Cultural Relevance rating: 4 The authors have worked hard to include a wide range of perspectives, but at the same time, this is still a very traditional narrative of US History. Content Accuracy rating: 5 I found no issues with accuracy, and the content is well footnoted.
Clarity rating: 5 The organization and layout of the text is easy to follow. Consistency rating: 4 The organizational framework is consistent throughout. Modularity rating: 5 The text is very easily divisible into smaller reading assignments. Interface rating: 5 The interface is very simple and easy to navigate. The book does a good job of presenting diverse cultural viewpoints on the American experience. The primary sources included at the end of each chapter are similarly diverse, expressing the viewpoints of women, the indigenous population, immigrants, and people of color.
Overall this is an excellent example of the best work in open source textbooks. The minor flaws in the text can be addressed with supplemental items from any instructor who adopts, allowing them to customize the experience for their students and save them a great deal of money in the process.
In an increasingly digital world in which pedagogical trends are de-emphasizing rote learning and professors are increasingly turning toward active-learning exercises, scholars are fleeing traditional textbooks. Yet for those that still yearn for the safe tether of a synthetic text, as either narrative backbone or occasional reference material, The American Yawp offers a free and online, collaboratively built, open American history textbook designed for college-level history courses.
Unchecked by profit motives or business models, and free from for-profit educational organizations, The American Yawp is by scholars, for scholars. All contributors—experienced college-level instructors—volunteer their expertise to help democratize the American past for twenty-first century classrooms.
The American Yawp Vol. II: Since 8 reviews Joseph L. Content Accuracy rating: 5 I did not notice any errors or inaccuracies and the authors provide a balanced approach to American history. Clarity rating: 4 The text is written in clear prose that will be easily accessible to a general undergraduate student population. Consistency rating: 5 Given the number of contributors and editors, the textbook shows an excellent consistency in terms of its terminology, framework, and narrative voice.
Modularity rating: 5 Each chapter is well-organized with sub-headings and should be easy to reorganize with as necessary. Interface rating: 5 I did not notice any interface problems with the online edition. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 The text is well-written and edited. I did not notice any grammatical errors. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 I did not notice anything in the text which could be considered culturally insensitive or offensive.
Comments I would recommend this textbook and its companion reader, to instructors looking for an alternative to traditional for-profit textbooks for their American history introductory courses. Clarity rating: 5 Yes, the writing is simultaneously clear and sophisticated.
Consistency rating: 5 Yes, I never found matters of inconsistency that would interfere with reading. Modularity rating: 5 Yes, the modularity is a strong quality of this textbook.
Interface rating: 5 I found no such issues in either volume of the textbook a total of 30 chapters. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I found no such mistakes.
The writing is a model for clear and straightforward writing. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 Yes, inclusivity is a major strength of this textbook. Content Accuracy rating: 3 This is the area where the American Yawp really falls down. Clarity rating: 5 The Amerian Yawp is well-written and compares favorably with texts from established publishers.
Consistency rating: 5 There are no issues with the text's consistency or its use of terminology. Modularity rating: 3 The chapters are easy to assign as individual sections, but I was not impressed with how easily individual subsections could be divided. Interface rating: 5 The interface is very well done. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 No errors that I saw, but I'm not the best editor myself.
Cultural Relevance rating: 3 It's fine but there were spots where I thought it could include more details and could better integrate peoples of color into the wider narrative. Comments The American Yawp includes a very well-thought-out selection of illustrations. Content Accuracy rating: 5 I found the book to be quite accurate in its depiction of events, though some events, like Women's Suffrage, and gun violence in the West, needed more treatment.
Clarity rating: 5 I found the text very clear; descriptions are straightforward, jargon is avoided, events move smoothly. Consistency rating: 5 Given the book's focus on economic and political history, there is consistency; that focus is carried forward through the entire work. Modularity rating: 4 The book provides easy to digest sections of text for students, who will not be overwhelmed by the length of sub sections. Interface rating: 5 The book does a very good job of presenting images and charts in a way which blend seamlessly into the text.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I found no grammatical problems with the text. Cultural Relevance rating: 4 The featured movers and shakers of American history in the book are familiar and important, but they need to be pushed a bit to the side to include the voices of more women, more Indigenous people and other Americans of color, more immigrants some of whose stories are a badly needed balance to the "titans of industry" narrative, more poets and artists--in short, more diverse backgrounds.
Comments While volume 2 of "The American Yawp" provides a traditional introduction modern American history, it needs some work to truly speak to our students in a time of promising and rapid change. Content Accuracy rating: 5 Textbook is factually accurate.
The information offered is complete and unbiased. Clarity rating: 5 The text is very approachable, even for non-majors. Consistency rating: 5 The book follows a set pattern in terms of how each chapter is framed and its dedication to looking at specific cultural groups as events and policies have impacted these demographics. Modularity rating: 5 I think the division of each chapter is well done. Interface rating: 4 What struck me about the PDF version is how clear the images are.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5 This is extremely well-written, without any noticeable errors. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 I think the book does an excellent job providing a multifaceted view of American history. Comments Overall, this is a very good textbook that compares favorably with those currently available for purchase.
Content Accuracy rating: 5 The content is accurate and uses reliable and tested sources from known historians in the field. Clarity rating: 4 The text is written very well and does not use obscure or "insider" language. Consistency rating: 5 The text does a great job with internal consistency, both narratively and organizationally. Modularity rating: 5 This text would work well with a modular course model that takes sections individually.
Interface rating: 5 The interface of this textbook is very easy to use and contains large, gorgeous, and relevant images for each topic and sub topic that will interest the reader. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I found no grammatical or spelling errors Cultural Relevance rating: 5 Though never editorializing, the textbook does a great job of organizing material to create a picture of how historical events and trends impacted diverse American populations.
Comments There are some aspects to this textbook that are unlike traditional texts that may require some supplemental material from instructors. Content Accuracy rating: 5 The volume presents an accurate accounting of its subject matter and avoids bias while adopting a definite perspective.
Consistency rating: 5 Chapters are edited across the volume to present a consistent voice. Modularity rating: 5 Divided between fifteen chapters, the volume easily maps onto a traditional semester academic calendar.
Interface rating: 4 The text can be accessed at no cost in an HTML format that includes hyperlinked chapters and references; as a PDF document without hyperlinked apparatus; or in print, available from Stanford University Press for a list price of 25 USD. Content Accuracy rating: 5 The content covered is accurate with little noticeable bias. Clarity rating: 3 The text is free of jargon, making it readable and easily accessible to the average college student.
Consistency rating: 5 The text is consistent throughout each chapter, indicative of the high quality of editing to bring consistency to the work of more than contributors. Modularity rating: 5 This book is very modular and easy to break up. Interface rating: 5 The interface is easy to use and navigate. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 There were no glaring grammatical errors that would have detracted from the overall presentation.
Cultural Relevance rating: 5 The book does a good job of presenting diverse cultural viewpoints on the American experience. Comments Overall this is an excellent example of the best work in open source textbooks. Table of Contents Capital and Labor Conquering the West Life in Industrial America American Empire The Progressive Era World War I and Its Aftermath The New Era The Great Depression World War II The Cold War The Affluent Society We have uploaded unlocked pdfs which are currently linked on the front page.
Minor Adjustments, primarily based on helpful feedback offered by scholars and instructors through our CommentPress open review platform. As always, we are eager to draw upon the whole of the historical profession for this project.
In particular, we welcome your input on our main text through our feedback platform, available here. We will be engaging feedback and plan to substantially rework additional material in If you would like to help make substantial revisions, please contact the editors.
We have made three major improvements:. We have partnered with Stanford University Press to provide the project with a formal peer-review, copyediting services, and print editions. The editorial team has spent the past 18 months reworking the text based on feedback from the Stanford editorial team, anonymous readers, and our open feedback platform.
The Lenapes organized their communities to take advantage of growing seasons and the migration patterns of animals and fowl that were a part of their diet. During planting and harvesting seasons, Lenapes gathered in larger groups to coordinate their labor and take advantage of local abundance.
As proficient fishers, they organized seasonal fish camps to net shellfish and catch shad. Lenapes wove nets, baskets, mats, and a variety of household materials from the rushes found along the streams, rivers, and coasts. They made their homes in some of the most fertile and abundant lands in the Eastern Woodlands and used their skills to create a stable and prosperous civilization.
The first Dutch and Swedish settlers who encountered the Lenapes in the seventeenth century recognized Lenape prosperity and quickly sought their friendship. Their lives came to depend on it. The peoples of this region depended on salmon for survival and valued it accordingly. Images of salmon decorated totem poles, baskets, canoes, oars, and other tools. The fish was treated with spiritual respect and its image represented prosperity, life, and renewal.
Sustainable harvesting practices ensured the survival of salmon populations. The Coast Salish people and several others celebrated the First Salmon Ceremony when the first migrating salmon was spotted each season. Elders closely observed the size of the salmon run and delayed harvesting to ensure that a sufficient number survived to spawn and return in the future.
Massive cedar canoes, as long as fifty feet and carrying as many as twenty men, also enabled extensive fishing expeditions in the Pacific Ocean, where skilled fishermen caught halibut, sturgeon, and other fish, sometimes hauling thousands of pounds in a single canoe.
Food surpluses enabled significant population growth, and the Pacific Northwest became one of the most densely populated regions of North America. The combination of population density and surplus food created a unique social organization centered on elaborate feasts, called potlatches.
These potlatches celebrated births and weddings and determined social status. The party lasted for days and hosts demonstrated their wealth and power by entertaining guests with food, artwork, and performances. The more the hosts gave away, the more prestige and power they had within the group. Some men saved for decades to host an extravagant potlatch that would in turn give him greater respect and power within the community.
Intricately carved masks, like the Crooked Beak of Heaven Mask, used natural elements such as animals to represent supernatural forces during ceremonial dances and festivals.
Creative Commons Attribution 3. Despite commonalities, Native cultures varied greatly. The New World was marked by diversity and contrast. Some lived in cities, others in small bands. Some migrated seasonally; others settled permanently. All Native peoples had long histories and well-formed, unique cultures that developed over millennia.
But the arrival of Europeans changed everything. Scandinavian seafarers reached the New World long before Columbus. At their peak they sailed as far east as Constantinople and raided settlements as far south as North Africa. They established limited colonies in Iceland and Greenland and, around the year , Leif Erikson reached Newfoundland in present-day Canada.
But the Norse colony failed. Culturally and geographically isolated, the Norse were driven back to the sea by some combination of limited resources, inhospitable weather, food shortages, and Native resistance. Then, centuries before Columbus, the Crusades linked Europe with the wealth, power, and knowledge of Asia. Europeans rediscovered or adopted Greek, Roman, and Muslim knowledge. The hemispheric dissemination of goods and knowledge not only sparked the Renaissance but fueled long-term European expansion.
Asian goods flooded European markets, creating a demand for new commodities. This trade created vast new wealth, and Europeans battled one another for trade supremacy. European nation-states consolidated under the authority of powerful kings. In Spain, the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile consolidated the two most powerful kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula.
The Crusades had never ended in Iberia: the Spanish crown concluded centuries of intermittent warfare—the Reconquista—by expelling Muslim Moors and Iberian Jews from the Iberian peninsula in , just as Christopher Columbus sailed west. With new power, these new nations—and their newly empowered monarchs—yearned to access the wealth of Asia. Seafaring Italian traders commanded the Mediterranean and controlled trade with Asia.
Spain and Portugal, at the edges of Europe, relied on middlemen and paid higher prices for Asian goods. They sought a more direct route. And so they looked to the Atlantic. Portugal invested heavily in exploration. From his estate on the Sagres Peninsula of Portugal, a rich sailing port, Prince Henry the Navigator Infante Henry, Duke of Viseu invested in research and technology and underwrote many technological breakthroughs.
His investments bore fruit. In the fifteenth century, Portuguese sailors perfected the astrolabe, a tool to calculate latitude, and the caravel, a ship well suited for ocean exploration. Both were technological breakthroughs.
The astrolabe allowed for precise navigation, and the caravel, unlike more common vessels designed for trading on the relatively placid Mediterranean, was a rugged ship with a deep draft capable of making lengthy voyages on the open ocean and, equally important, carrying large amounts of cargo while doing so. Georg Braun Cologne: Blending economic and religious motivations, the Portuguese established forts along the Atlantic coast of Africa during the fifteenth century, inaugurating centuries of European colonization there.
Portuguese trading posts generated new profits that funded further trade and further colonization. Trading posts spread across the vast coastline of Africa, and by the end of the fifteenth century, Vasco da Gama leapfrogged his way around the coasts of Africa to reach India and other lucrative Asian markets.
The vagaries of ocean currents and the limits of contemporary technology forced Iberian sailors to sail west into the open sea before cutting back east to Africa.
They became training grounds for the later colonization of the Americas and saw the first large-scale cultivation of sugar by enslaved laborers. Sugar was originally grown in Asia but became a popular, widely profitable luxury item consumed by the nobility of Europe. The Portuguese learned the sugar-growing process from Mediterranean plantations started by Muslims, using imported enslaved labor from southern Russia and Islamic countries. Sugar was a difficult crop. It required tropical temperatures, daily rainfall, unique soil conditions, and a fourteen-month growing season.
But on the newly discovered, mostly uninhabited Atlantic islands, the Portuguese had found new, defensible land to support sugar production. New patterns of human and ecological destruction followed. Isolated from the mainlands of Europe and Africa for millennia, Canary Island natives—known as the Guanches—were enslaved or perished soon after Europeans arrived.
This demographic disaster presaged the demographic results for the Native American populations upon the arrival of the Spanish. They first turned to the trade relationships that Portuguese merchants established with African city-states in Senegambia, along the Gold Coast, as well as the kingdoms of Benin, Kongo, and Ndongo.
At the beginning of this Euroafrican slave-trading system, African leaders traded war captives—who by custom forfeited their freedom if captured during battle—for Portuguese guns, iron, and manufactured goods. It is important to note that slaving in Africa, like slaving among Indigenous Americans, bore little resemblance to the chattel slavery of the antebellum United States.
From bases along the Atlantic coast, the Portuguese began purchasing enslaved people for export to the Atlantic islands of Madeira, the Canaries, and the Cape Verdes to work the sugar fields. Thus, were born the first great Atlantic plantations.
By the fifteenth century, the Portuguese had established forts and colonies on islands and along the rim of the Atlantic Ocean; other major European countries soon followed in step.
An anonymous cartographer created this map known as the Cantino Map, the earliest known map of European exploration in the New World, to depict these holdings and argue for the greatness of his native Portugal. Cantino planisphere , Biblioteca Estense, Modena, Italy. Spain, too, stood on the cutting edge of maritime technology. Spanish sailors had become masters of the caravels. As Portugal consolidated control over African trading networks and the circuitous eastbound sea route to Asia, Spain yearned for its own path to empire.
Christopher Columbus, a skilled Italian-born sailor who had studied under Portuguese navigators, promised just that opportunity. Educated Asians and Europeans of the fifteenth century knew the world was round. But Columbus underestimated the size of the globe by a full two thirds and therefore believed it was possible.
After unsuccessfully shopping his proposed expedition in several European courts, he convinced Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to provide him three small ships, which set sail in Columbus was both confoundingly wrong about the size of the earth and spectacularly lucky that two large continents lurked in his path. They fished and grew corn, yams, and cassava. Columbus described them as innocents. They love their neighbors as themselves, and their speech is the sweetest and gentlest in the world, and always with a smile.
The Arawaks, however, wore small gold ornaments.
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