Full-Text Reference Books from Literati
Need more background information about American History but don't have time to go to the library? Sauk Valley Community College Library gives you access to these full-text electronic reference books through Literati. Click here for a short tutorial about what else is available through Literati.
Covers a wide spectrum of American history and culture, including political events, military history, sports, arts, entertainment, landmark legislation, and business. The book's concise entries, arranged from A to Z, bring the United States' past into sharp focus while also offering just plain useful facts about the well known and not so well known
Offers entries covering the critical events, issues and individuals that have shaped American History.
Brings together a wide range of disciplines related to the history and cultures of the United States, from pre-colonial days to the present.
Entries in this volume synthesize a great deal of information about the historical and contemporary meanings of many of the central terms that structure the fields of American studies and cultural studies; they provide contexts for the usage of those terms by discussing how their meanings have developed over time; and they may even unlock a few mysteries and break a few codes.
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Notable Figures
- Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506): Topic PageItalian explorer in the service of Spain who determined that the earth was round and attempted to reach Asia by sailing west from Europe, thereby reaching America (1492)
MORE - Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790): Topic Page
US scientist and statesman. MORE - George Washington (1732 - 1799): Topic Page
- Paul Revere (1735 - 1818): Topic PageAmerican silversmith and political leader in the American Revolution. MORE
- Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826): Topic Page
- Alexander Hamilton (1755 - 1804): Topic PageAmerican statesman. MORE
- Sojourner Truth (c.1797 - c.1883): Topic PageUS antislavery and women's-suffrage campaigner. A former slave, she ran away and became involved with religious groups. MORE
- Aaron Burr (1756 - 1836): Topic PageAmerican political leader. MORE
- Eli Whitney (1765 - 1825): Topic PageAmerican inventor of the cotton gin. MORE
- Jefferson Davis (1808 - 1889): Topic Page
American statesman, President of the Southern Confederacy. MORE - William Sherman (1820 - 1891): Topic Page
1820–91, Union general in the American Civil War; Sherman is said by many to be the greatest of the Civil War generals. MORE - Harriet Tubman (1821 - 1913): Topic Page
US abolitionist; Born a slave in Maryland, she escaped to Philadelphia (where slavery was outlawed) in 1849. She helped set up the Underground Railroad. MORE - John Rockefeller (1839 - 1937): Topic PageUS millionaire industrialist and philanthropist; He was the founder of Standard Oil in 1870, from which were descended four of the world's largest oil companies - Amoco, Chevron, Exxon, and Mobil. MORE
- Native Americans LibGuideThe original inhabitants of the American continent, who arrived during the last glacial period (according to some estimates, 14–40 000 years ago, but the issue is controversial) from Asia, crossing from Siberia over the Bering Strait, perhaps in three waves. MORE
- African-Americans: Topic PageAmericans descended from African forebears, usually those enslaved and brought to the USA before the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. MORE
1st President of the United States (1789–97) 
3rd President of the United States (1801–9).Events
- Plymouth Colony: Topic PageSettlement made by the Pilgrims on the coast of Massachusetts in 1620 MORE
- New England Confederation: Topic PageUnion for "mutual safety and welfare" formed in 1643 by representatives of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. MORE
- Mississippi Scheme: Topic PagePlan formulated by John Law for the colonization and commercial exploitation of the Mississippi valley and other French colonial areas. MORE
- French and Indian War: Topic PageBegun as colonial muscling for control of the Ohio River valley, the French and Indian War (1754-1760) ignited the worldwide conflict between the British and French known as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) and ended France’s North American empire. MORE
- Boston Tea Party: Topic PageAmerican patriots, disguised as Mohawks, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, in protest against the British Tea Act. MORE
- American Revolution: Topic Page
Struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. MORE - Thirteen Colonies: Topic PageOriginal North American colonies that signed the Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776. MORE
- Declaration of Independence: Topic PageFull and formal declaration adopted July 4, 1776, by representatives of the Thirteen Colonies in North America announcing the separation of those colonies from Great Britain and making them into the United States.
MORE - Constitutional Convention: Topic PageThe 1787 meeting in which the Constitution of the United States was drawn up. MORE
- Ordinance of 1787: Topic PageAdopted by the Congress of Confederation for the government of the Western territories ceded to the United States by the states. MORE
- Articles of Confederation: Topic PageRatified in 1781 and superseded by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. MORE
- United States Bill of Rights: Topic PageFirst 10 amendments to the Constitution of the United States, adopted as a group in 1791. MORE
- Second Great Awakening: Topic PageUS religious evangelical revivalist movement, lasting from about 1800 to 1870.
MORE - War of 1812: Topic Page
Armed conflict between the United States and Great Britain, 1812–15. MORE - McCulloch v. Maryland: Topic PageCase decided in 1819 by the U.S. Supreme Court, dealing specifically with the constitutionality of a Congress-chartered corporation, and more generally with the dispersion of power between state and federal governments. MORE
- Trail of Tears: Topic Page
Forced march of Indian tribes from the eastern United States to Oklahoma. MORE - Oregon Trail: Topic PageMajor westward migration route in the USA used by pioneer settlers in the 19th century. MORE
- California Gold Rush: Topic PageThe influx of prospectors to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, following the discovery of gold in the American River by US surveyor James Marshall in January 1848. MORE
- Plains Wars: Topic PageSeries of conflicts between the Plains Indians and the US Army 1850-90, during the era of US westward expansion. MORE
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act: Topic PageBill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. MORE
- Lincoln-Douglas Debates: Topic PageA series of seven debates between the Democrat senator Stephen A Douglas and Republican Abraham Lincoln held August-October during the 1858 race for Illinois State senator. MORE
- Transcontinental Railroad: Topic Page
The largest civil engineering project in western history to that date, the railroad was over 4,800 km/3,000 mi long and crossed deserts, canyons, and mountains, requiring the development of new construction techniques.
MORE - American Civil War: Topic Page
Sometimes called ‘the War Between the States’ or ‘the Second American Revolution’, a conflict in the USA which resolved two great issues: the nature of the Federal Union and the relative power of the states and the central government; and the existence of black slavery. MORE - Sand Creek Massacre: Topic PageSlaughter of 450 Cheyenne and Arapaho by the 3rd Colorado Volunteers under Col John Chivington, during an unprovoked attack on Cheyenne peace chief Black Kettle's camp at Sand Creek, Colorado, on 29 November 1864. MORE
What's a Topic Page?
Topic Pages are a scholarly version of the articles that you find on Wikipedia. The difference is that Topic Pages only include information that's scholarly, citable and verified so you don't have to spend time determining if it is appropriate for use in your academic paper. Literati has nearly 10,000 topic pages so the odds are that you can find one that addresses your topic. Explore the topics on this LibGuide page or use this Literati search box to find others:
Movements, Issues, and Systems
Movements, Issues, and Systems
- Mercantilism: Topic PageEconomic system of the major trading nations during the 16th, 17th, and 18th cent., based on the premise that national wealth and power were best served by increasing exports and collecting precious metals in return. MORE
- Imperialism: Topic PageThe extension of rule or influence by one government, nation, or society over another.
MORE - Colonization: Topic PageExtension of political and economic control over an area by a state whose nationals have occupied the area and usually possess organizational or technological superiority over the native population.
MORE - Manifest Destiny: Topic PageIn US history, the belief that Americans had a providential mission to extend both their territory and their democratic processes westwards across the continent.
MORE - Taxation: Topic PageRaising of money from individuals and organizations by the state in order to pay for the goods and services it provides. MORE
- Slavery: Topic PageSlavery has been found among many groups of low material culture, as in the Malay Peninsula and among some Native Americans; it also has occurred in more highly developed societies, such as the southern United States. MORE
- Underground Railroad: Topic PageLoosely organized system for helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada or to areas of safety in free states. It was run by local groups of Northern abolitionists, both white and free blacks
MORE - Jim Crow Laws: Topic PageLegislation passed by southern US states in the late 19th century to enforce racial segregation. MORE
- Abolitionism: Topic PageA movement culminating in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that aimed first to end the slave trade, and then to abolish the institution of slavery and emancipate slaves.
MORE - Women's Suffrage: Topic PageThe right of women to vote; Throughout the latter part of the 19th cent. the issue of women's voting rights was an important phase of feminism. MORE
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