Favorite Pre-Gilded Age American History Books

 

Below is a list of my favorite books that covered the history of the United States from the late British Colonial period to the end of the U.S. Civil War:



FAVORITE PRE-GILDED AGE AMERICAN HISTORY BOOKS



1. "The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism" (2014) by Edward E. Baptist - This book centers on how slavery and the cotton industry helped develop the rise of U.S. capitalism.





2. "1861: The Civil War Awakening" (2011) by Adam Goodheart - This book depicts the last months of the United States' Antebellum period and the first months of the U.S. Civil War.





3. "1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and the War They Failed to See" (2008) by Bruce Chadwick - The book focuses on the historical events in the United States during the year, 1858.





4. "Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings: An American Controversy" (1997) by Annette Gordon-Reed - This book won the Pulitzer Prize for its in-depth exploration of President Thomas Jefferson and one of slaves, Sally Hemings.





5. "The Town That Started the Civil War" (1990) by Nat Brandt - This book is an in-depth study of Oberlin, Ohio during the 19th century and its role in one of the most famous slave rescues in U.S. history.





6. "Slavery and the Making of America" (2004) by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton - This book is a detailed account of the history of slavery in the U.S. from the Colonial period to the end of the Civil War.





7. "The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience" (1981) by J.S. Holliday - This book is an in-depth study of the California Gold Rush between 1848 and 1855.





8. "The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War" (2018) by Andrew Delbanco - This book focuses on slavery and especially the abolition movement from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War.





9. "John Adams" (2001) by David McCullough - This book is a biography of President John Adams and won a Pulitzer Prize.





10. "Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad" (2015) by Eric Foner - This book is a detailed account on the history of the Underground Railroad and the abolition movement in New York City.





11. "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" (2005) by Doris Kearns Goodwin - This biography is about the life of President Abraham Lincoln and the more prominent members of his Cabinet before and during the Civil War. It won both the Lincoln Prize and the inaugural Book Prize for American History of the New-York Historical Society.





12. "A Southern Odyssey: Travelers in the Antebellum North" (1976) by John Hope Franklin - This book is an account of the experiences of Southern travelers in the Northern states during the years before the Civil War.