THE EVERYTHING AMERICAN HISTORY BOOK 2nd Edition
People, places, and events that shaped our nation
John R. McGeehan, M.A.
Copyright 2001, 2007 by F+W Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
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Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A. www.adamsmedia.com
ISBN 10: 1-59869-261-5
ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-261-7 (paperback)
ISBN 13: 978-1-60550-265-6 (EPUB)
Printed in the United States of America.
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The Series
Editorial
Publisher | Gary M. Krebs |
Director of Product Development | Paula Munier |
Managing Editor | Laura M. Daly |
Associate Copy Chief | Sheila Zwiebel |
Acquisitions Editor | Lisa Laing |
Development Editors Associate | Jessica LaPointe Brett Palana-Shanahan |
Production Editor | Casey Ebert |
Production
Director of Manufacturing | Susan Beale |
Production Project Manager | Michelle Roy Kelly |
Prepress | Erick DaCosta |
Matt LeBlanc |
Interior Layout | Heather Barrett |
Brewster Brownville |
Colleen Cunningham |
Jennifer Oliveira |
Cover Design | Erin Alexander |
Stephanie Chrusz |
Frank Rivera |
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THE American History Book 2nd Edition
Dear Reader,
In 1968, I enrolled as an undergraduate student at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. My strengths coming out of high school were in the area of mathematics and to a lesser degree, the sciences. Somewhere around the end of my sophomore year, I found not only my success in those areas beginning to wane, but my interest in the recorded stories of history becoming more keen. Needless to say, I graduated with a degree in history and education, and went on to teach American Studies for many years. The Everything American History Book, 2nd Edition is my fourth publication.
I do not know where I was sidetracked from the studies of math and science, but perhaps it was one day picking up a book like the one you are reading and realizing that the story of history is fascinating! Be an active participant as you read! Let this book simply whet your appetite to look further, dig deeper, and enjoy the ride as you travel through the past and therefore, hopefully, better understand the present!
To Randy Stafford, a friend, mentor, and kindred educator. We've had our ups and downs, but we're still playing together.
Welcome to the EVERYTHING Series!
These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.
Important sound bytes of information
You can read an EVERYTHING book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-facts, e-ssentials, e-stats, and e-questions. We literally give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too.
Quick handy tips
We now have well over 300 EVERYTHING books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When you're done reading them all, you can finally say you know EVERYTHING!
Facts and figures by the numbers
Solutions to common problems
Acknowledgments
When asked to contribute to this project, I had just retired from teaching high school for over twenty years. To say that I missed, and continue to do so, the stimulation, challenge, responsibility of accountability, discussion, debate and fun of meeting with my students every day is quite an understatement. For over twenty years they demanded the best, and although I did not always live up to their expectations, I learned the wonderful art of research, preparation, and delivery to try to give a show each class. If I have brought even part of that enthusiasm into the work of this text, I know my efforts have had a far greater chance of being successful. For this an enormous debt of gratitude goes to all of those wonderful students at Hampton Bays Secondary School, Hampton Bays, New York.
Top Ten Fun Facts about America
- Technically there are only forty-six states; Massachusetts, Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania are Commonwealths.
- Ulysses S. Grant was once fined twenty dollars for speeding with his horse and carriage.
- In 1916, Jeanette Rankin was the first woman ever elected to the House of Representatives. But though she could vote in Congress, woman's suffrage had not passed in the United States at that time.
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