Academic American History is designed for use by undergraduate college, community college and high school teachers and students in delivering and taking online American history courses. All materials necessary for delivery of online American history courses except exams are available on this site. The course materials may be used without charge by any academic institution or individual as long as copyrights are respected. Users should be aware that the course modules are not an objective text, but rather a detailed description of historic events as interepreted by a teaching historian who has been delivering classroom lectures for over 35 years. Thus you will find opinions, conclusions, anecdotes, comparisons and other such components designed to challenge your imagination and your own knowledge. The summaries are based on the writings of distinguished historians as well as original document sources.

The author believes that no historic events described here have been distorted or deliberately misinterpreted, but are presented through the eyes of a historian who realizes that most students will take only one or two courses in history; thus history must be made interesting. He also believes that education is what we have left over after we have forgotten everything that we have learned. Students are strongly discouraged from taking both courses at the same time.

Site Organization

Academic American is divided into chronological sections starting with the colonial era in 1607.

• Colonial Period 1607-1763
• Revolutionary War Era 1763-1800
• The Jefferson-Jackson Era 1800-1840
• The Ante Bellum, Expansion, Civil War Era 1840-1865
• The Gilded Age and Reconstruction 1865-1900
• Progressivism & America's Rise to World Power 1896-1920
• The Twenties, Depression & New Deal 1920-1938
• The World War II Era 1920-1945
• The Post-World War II, Cold War Era 1945-2000

Additional site elements:

• Introduction to American History
• Resources and links to Historic Sites
• Recommended Readings
• Suggested Projects
• Recommended history textbooks
• Conspiracy Theories and History

Sage American History Site

Copyright © Henry J. Sage 1996-2008
Comments welcome: Email me.
About the Author

Updated August 19, 2012 9:22 PM