U.S. History Book List: Who Was... What Was... Where Was... : Half a Hundred Acre Wood

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For a number of years, I’ve stored several book lists in my Amazon astore for quick & easy reference. Because Amazon recently discontinued the outdated astore feature, I’ve been transferring those lists onto our website. The first of these lists is the popular Who Was… What Was… and Where Was… books written for early independent readers – or as read-alouds for families with young children. In addition to a biographical story, these books include factual insets that highlight events and people relating to the person’s life.

While I do not wholly endorse all the books in this series, it’s a good series overall. A couple of our favorites have been Who Was Harriet Tubman? and Who Was Ronald Reagan? A couple we would not recommend (due to what we feel is inappropriate content) are Who Was Thomas Jefferson? and Who Was Marie Curie? (I’ve placed a note below beside the ones we do not recommend due to inappropriate content.) We’ve also come across a few books with poor grammar – usually in the form of sentence fragments. Nevertheless, this series still stands as a good way for many families to learn about historical events, people, and places. *The books we’ve read that did not include inappropriate content are highlighted with an asterisk in the list below. I’ve also included a note if there was something that might be an issue.*

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The Who Was… American History Book List

Columbus
Who Was Christopher Columbus?

Colonial America
What Was the First Thanksgiving?
What Were the Salem Witch Trials?

American Revolution & Founding Fathers
What Was the Boston Tea Party?
Who Was Paul Revere?
What Is the Declaration of Independence?
Who Was Thomas Jefferson? (not recommended)
Who Was Ben Franklin?
What Is the Constitution?
Who Was George Washington?*
Who Was Alexander Hamilton?
What Is the Constitution?

Frontiersmen & Lewis & Clark Expedition
Who Was Daniel Boone?
Who Was Johnny Appleseed?
What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition?*
Who Was Sacagawea?
Who Was Davy Crockett?*
What Was the Alamo?

War of 1812
Who Was Betsy Ross?
Who Was Abigail Adams?

Native Americans, Westward Expansion & Pioneers
Who Was Sitting Bull?* (sad ending)
What Was the Gold Rush?*(several sentence fragments; many sentences begin with coordinating conjunctions)
What Was the Wild West?
Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder?

Slavery, Civil War, & Abraham Lincoln
What Was the Underground Railroad?*
Who Was Harriet Tubman?*
Who Was Frederick Douglass?
Who Was Booker T. Washington?
Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe?
Who Was Abraham Lincoln?*
What Was the Battle of Gettysburg?*
Who Was Ulysses S. Grant?*
Who Was Robert E. Lee? * (some historical errors)
Who Was Clara Barton?
Who Was George Washington Carver?