Summaries of American History

American Yawp (A Free and Online, Collaboratively Built American History Textbook) — 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.

American History On-Line Textbook — The mission of Independence Hall Association, owner of ushistory.org, is to provide a forum for learning and discussing American history and values. Toward that end we offer these three courses written by a former Pennsylvania history teacher of the year as well as other historians as a resource to our visitors.

KHAN ACADEMY: The historian's toolkit — How to think like a historian: Historians approach the past with a mindset of hypothesis and discovery. Learn about reading primary documents and interpreting sources. AP US history exam practice: Learn how to tackle the AP US history exam, including examples of the multiple choice questions, short answer questions, document-based questions (DBQ), and free-response questions (FRQ).