Monthly Themes

OK, now we're looking good! Alicia Dimmitt of Blogs and Blings did me a huge favor and designed this background for me. I think I owe her cookies.

A few people have suggested to me that it might be nice to have monthly themes, to give us some direction and make it easier to discuss what we read. I had a difficult time dividing things up into 12 units, and I'm probably the wrong person to do that since the whole point of this project is that I need to learn more about American history. But here are my divisions, and if you hate them, please suggest improvements. Or weigh in on the whole theme idea.

Colonial period: pre-1770
Revolutionary era: 1750-1789
Federalist period: 1789-1815
Jacksonian era: 1815-1850
Civil war era: 1850-1865
Reconstruction
Westward Expansion
Gilded Age/Immigration
World War I/Prohibition era: 1914-1929
The Great Depression: 1930's
World War II
Cold War/post-1950

I could spend a little time gathering reading suggestions for each month, if that would prove helpful.