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American Studies Guide: Overview

Heading by Nicole Brown

John Green's Crash Course on U.S. History- Episode 1 of 49

Suggested Readings in American History from our Collection

Current news

PBS News
"A look at what's behind the efforts to reshape how American history is taught." July 1, 2025

Online Collections

National Museum of American History Digital Collection
Search over 1.7 million objects and thousands of archival documents in the Smithsonian's online collection.
U.S. History Primary Source Timeline
Explore important topics in U.S. history using primary sources available in the Library of Congress's online collection.

Maps

Native Land Digital
Navigate the globe using this interactive map that features Indigenous territories and names.
Indian land cessions in the United States
Explore maps of land cessions at the Library of Congress
The Thirteen Original Colonies Map
Ten Great Revolutionary War Maps
Explore maps from specific battles as well as a rough sketch of a plan for West Point.
Civil War Maps
Browse over 2,000 maps from the Civil War period in the Library of Congress's collection.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Map
An interactive map created by National Geographic Mapmaker to explore the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The Landscape of Civil War Commemoration
An automated map of the installations of Civil War monuments in the United States.
Maps from the American Revolution and Its Era
An extensive collection of American maps from 1750-1789 in the Library of Congress collection.

America: The Story of Us, Episode 5, "The Civil War Rages"

PBS Documentary: The Gilded Age