this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
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History

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I'm a 21-year-old guy and since they unfortunately didn't teach us about American history in school I wanna learn it all on my own from the beginning to the present.

I'm really looking forward to a deep dive to not only understand American history better but also to get a better grasp of the culture, people, economics, politics and social aspects that influenced America to become what it is now.

I was wondering what the best ways and resources are to do this. Maybe someone can recommend some good media resources. It doesn't matter what it is, it could be books, videos, podcasts, documentaries, documents, articles, movies and so on.

I'm open for everything :)

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Go to a library, ask the staff this question. They will help you more than we can.

The only advice I'll offer is start local. Focus on your State or Region first.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Saw this yesterday, and America being so huge, even if young, I had no idea how to answer.

But yeah, everywhere has a rich local history. I'm outside of Pensacola, FL, oldest European settlement. (OK, St. Augustine has been constantly inhabited. We got wiped off the map for a few years by a hurricane.)

It's the City of Five Flags. In order of our rulers: Spain, France, England, Confederacy, United States.

We've hosted conquistadors and pirates, serial killers from Judy Buenoano to Ted Bundy, and modern villains like Matt Gaetz.

See what I mean!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

If you get an interest in the Civil War, Sherman's memoirs are excellent.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

It’s not in any sort of order but if you like podcasts, there’s one I like called The Dollop. It’s two comedians, one does a researched deep dive into American history and then he writes a narrative for his friend and then they riff and make jokes which helps keep it entertaining. They cover big topics and people like presidents and also lesser known stories. It’s all over the place in terms of timeline but I think it does a good job of doing a deeper dive on topics that just get glossed over but you can also see the similar thought patterns between people hundreds of years ago and today that lead to the same stupid ideas and decisions.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hamilton the musical. And what the other commenters are saying.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

To the downvoter: I get it, musicals aren’t serious. But go watch it, preferably on stage. It’s an amazing telling of the origins of the US, the Founding Fathers - not just Alexander Hamilton. If you are looking for serious, it’s got plenty of years and dry facts intermingled.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago