United States History Bibliography

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United States History
The following are only a few of the many sources that are available:


 * The Almanac of American History, This provides brief historical essays and chronological descriptions of thousands of key events in United States history.


 * Dictionary of American History, Revised ed This includes historical sketches on various topics in U.S. history, such as wars, people, laws, and organizations. A snippet view is available at Google books.


 * Webster's Guide to American History: A Chronological, Geographical, and Biographical Survey and Compendium  This includes a history, some maps, tables, and other historical information.


 * Writings on American History Has the full text available at Google Books

Local Histories
Some of the most valuable sources for family history research are local histories. Published histories of towns, counties, and states usually contain accounts of families. They describe the settlement of the area and the founding of churches, schools, and businesses. You can also find lists of pioneers, soldiers, and civil officials. Even if your ancestor is not listed, information on other relatives may be included that will provide important clues for locating your ancestor. A local history may also suggest other records to search.

Most county and town histories include separate sections or volumes containing biographical information. These may include information on as many as 50 percent or more of the families in the locality.

In addition, local histories should be studied and enjoyed for the background information they can provide about your family's life-style and the community and environment in which your family lived.

About 5,000 county histories have been published for over 80 percent of the counties in the United States. For many counties there is more than one history. In addition, tens of thousands of histories have been written about local towns and communities. Bibliographies that list these histories are available for nearly every state. See the search method below for Bibliographies.

Local histories are extensively collected by the Family History Library, public and university libraries, and state and local historical societies. Two useful guides are:


 * A Bibliography of American County Histories
 * United States Local Histories in the Library of Congress

You can find national, state, or local histories of the United States in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under one of the following:


 * UNITED STATES - HISTORY
 * [STATE] - HISTORY
 * [STATE], [COUNTY] - HISTORY
 * [STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - HISTORY
 * [STATE], BIBLIOGRAPHY
 * [STATE], HISTORY - BIBLIOGRAPHY