Customer Reviews

A Documentary History of the United States: (Seventh Revised Edition)

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"A Documentary History of the Unites States," edited by
Richard D. Heffner, is an excellent anthology of historic texts. The
first edition of this essential book appeared in 1952, and new and
enlarged editions have gradually appeared over the decades. The texts
in this book include many key documents that have shaped United States
history.

There is an emphasis on political and legal documents: the
Declaration of Independence, several key Supreme Court decisions,
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Clinton's 1998 State of the Union
Address, and much more. There are also many texts from
non-governmental individuals and bodies: the first issue of the
anti-slavery periodical "The Liberator," William Faulkner's
1949 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, the 1966 Statement of Purpose of
the National Organization for Women, and much more.

As I said, this
book has "grown" considerably over the decades. A
particularly impressive enlargement marks the 6th edition, which adds
100 pages of new documents. Among these new additions are Booker
T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address, the Articles of
Impeachment against Richard M. Nixon, and the 1994 Republican
"Contract with America."

The book as the whole is more than
just a collection of documents. Rather, it feels like fragments from a
great epic story: the story of the United States. In this book you see
this nation and its citizens in all of our weakness and our strength,
our foolishness and our wisdom. We see the struggles to deal as a
nation with slavery, war, women's rights, economic injustice, and
other controversial issues. And we see the development of a United
States "tradition," a heritage of pivotal documents which
sometimes comment on earlier documents.

Yes, I'm sure most readers
could name worthy texts that they feel should have been included in
this book; maybe some of them will appear in future editions. After
all, this excellent anthology is truly a "living book." Not
just for teachers and students, this book should be in the library of
every serious citizen of the United States.

I'll start with the good: all of the material up through the end of World War I is superb. The national vs. state power issues in the emerging republic, as well as the pre-Civil War debate, are both well-represented. The high point is the pair of essays back to back, one by Theodore Roosevelt and the other by Woodrow Wilson, which describes in detail the nature how excessively concentrated business interests working in collusion were a detriment to the freedom of opportunity, and outlines some progressive proposals to reform the problem.

However, the treatment of the history that follows (at least on domestic issues) doesn't give an even-handed nature of the debate. Rather than reflecting a debate over the nature and degree of government intervention and regulation, the interruptions of and objections to progressivism (no matter how far it was taken) are treated as minor blips on the historical map. Calvin Coolidge is given scant little mention, the causes that turned the 1929 recession into a depression are not given their sufficient mention, and the New Deal is more glowingly presented than the actual results would indicate. If any one of these overgeneralizations were left out, it would be at least a little more fair in depicting the 20th century prior to World War II. But with all three of them together, it paints a picture of a population virtually uninterrupted in its desire for more government intervention, and it cuts off at the root any accurate portrayal of the opposition to the New Deal Revolution and beyond.

In particular, when mention is made of the Reagan Presidency, the author includes Mario Cuomo's "Tale of Two Cities Speech", which was little more than raw meat fed to the delegates at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. If there had been any mention of this kind of detail of the threat the New Deal was having on the balance of powers between the branches of government and to private enterprise, the tilt of the book would be lessened.

There is also the matter of typographical errors, of which there were several. I wouldn't bring this up were it not for page 339, which tells the reader that the "day of infamy", the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, was December 1, 1941(!).

As a reference, I would recommend the book. The choices (with the one exception noted above) are fine, and the overall structure of the book lends itself to being able to read one chapter without having to read other material, which makes it handy to thumb through any part and be able to pick out important speeches and materials without having to read the 50 pages preceding or following the material. As a straightforward depiction of American history, I can only give the book muted praise.

You can probably ignore "Teacher's" review. Heffner has, through seven editions, tried to maintain objectivity while including contemporary criticisms with the original documents. His book is neither Eurocentric, conservative or leftist. If you're tired of having Glen Beck spin the Constitution and other early founding documents for his own ends, get a copy of ADHOTUS and read the original, unaltered, unabridged documents for yourself and form you OWN opinions. This is essential reading for all Americans.

Read the words that shaped the character of our nation and changed the history of the world. From the rousing Declaration of Independence to the inspiring speeches of our modern presidents, this book has it all. Students and scholars alike will find this an excellent reference tool. This book should be in the hands and minds of every American who loves liberty.

The material presented here is both timely and important. The selection of documents related to the Revolutionary period are superb. In its updated edition, the book also contains the two speeches made by President George Bush following the events of 11 September. In terms of its scope, the book is certainly an excellent one-volume resource (the typographical error already related regarding _7_ December 1941 is disturbing, however).

However, the editor's insertion of essays deliberately crafted to reflect only one side of the many controversial issues in American history to which the documents relate is both intrusive and unfair. In particular, the author's discussion of the 2000 election results is poorly crafted and serves only to further the agenda of his obvious party affiliation.

Overall, the book is an excellent anthology of major American documents and speeches. The volume suffers, however, because of its editor's unwillingness to leave behind partisan politics in favor of a balanced approach to history. Because history and politics are both highly dependent on a balanced approach for any veracity, the book loses a great deal of credibility in its author's constant harangues against opinions he does not hold, but that are nonetheless valid.

Unfortuntately, the first words of this textbook encourage a Eurocentric view of American history. The textbook from here does a good job of boring the student to death and avoids any attempt at truth, especially until the 1930's. Also, I noticed another glowing error. The grapabo review and the textbook suggests that the Civil War was fought as a states issues. However, Abraham Lincoln and the everyone else in the 1860's on both sides would disagree. Another example of perpetuating the Confederate Myth. I would not recommend this book to any of my classes.