Ordinary Americans: U.S. History Through the Eyes of Everyday People

Most Americans are not rich and famous, yet it is the stories of the rich and famous that fill our history books. Ordinary Americans is different; it tells history as the average American actually lived it. A fascinating collection of nearly 200 first-person accounts by real everyday people. Ordinary Americans covers 500 years of U.S. history from a bottom -up rather than top-down perspective. Drawn from letters, diaries, autobiograhical accounts, often inspiring. They're not just about what happened, but how real people feel about what happened. Featured are Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, as well as women and men of European ancestry. These multicultural everyday perspectives help citizens of all ethnicities discover shared experiences that define us as Americans.