# What is your favorite part about U.S.History?



## random3434

My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!

Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.


What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?


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## Mad Scientist

World War II.


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## Annie

Colonial and Constitutional Era. The Civil War is probably one of the most interesting in AP though.


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## Sunni Man

The battle for the Alamo in Texas


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## dblack

The best part of US history, in my view, is the extent to which ideas and principles have overcome self-interest and lust for power. It's not a perfect record, not even close, but there are shining examples. One I find particularly inspiring is something that is often used to discredit the formation of our nation, and that is the history of slavery.

It's often pointed out that many of the founders were in fact slave owners. To me, the remarkable aspect of this observation is not the hypocrisy or personal weakness of men who espoused principles of freedom and equality, while actively violating them. What was remarkable was the transcendent strength of the ideas they espoused, eventually overturning the status quo and upending a system that many of the founders and their heirs depended on for their wealth and privilege.

To me that's a beautiful and powerful thing. Our ideals can raise us up and make us better as people.


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## C_Clayton_Jones

I find the Reconstruction Era the most interesting, as the Nation struggled with various conflicts and issues in an effort to re-unite.


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## Luissa

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



I took US History a few years ago in college. My favorite part was the civil war.


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## Trajan

I agree with Annie..the 10 years leading up to, then the war, then the 5 years there after.


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## rightwinger

Civil War
WWII
Civil Rights Era
60s


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## American Legacy

The Founding Era.  Understanding everything else rests on and stems from that.


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## xsited1

Echo Zulu said:


> ...
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



I like checking out the hot women from the Civil War era.  

Women of the American Civil War Era

Check out this hottie:


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## Flopper

WWII
Civil War
50's & 60"s


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## JBeukema

Sunni Man said:


> The battle for the Alamo in Texas


That's not American history.


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## Two Thumbs

I don't have a specific era that I love over the others.

It's hearing about the hero's.  The men and women that put it all on the line, day in and day out to do what they felt was just.

Nathan Hale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On the Gallows; "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

Now that takes some brass


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## Sunni Man

JBeukema said:


> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> The battle for the Alamo in Texas
> 
> 
> 
> That's not American history.
Click to expand...


 Really??

 Seems like it was in my American history books in both high school and college.


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## JBeukema

In the 1920's and -30's, America encouraged the propagation of the fittest members of its population and discouraged the reproduction of the less fit.

20-30 years later, when the generation(s) resulting from these efforts constituted the bulk of the working population (when they were in their 20's and 30's), we experienced a golden age. This was the same generation (19-34 years of age during the war) that constituted the bulk of our fighting force in WWII. They are the children of the Greatest Generation, which survived the Great Depression.

America was arguable at its peak when this generation thrived.


In the 1960's and -70's, 'free love' was encouraged and the devaluation of life and spread of sexual irresponsibility that came with the widespread adoption of abortion led a significant increase in out-of-wedlock marriage. Meanwhile, we've grown lax with our borders and no longer enforce strict immigration controls. The result of this degeneration of social norms the American stock? Large swathes of the population on the gov't teat, increased crime and STD rates, the decline of America compared to other powers in terms of average IQ and standardized test scores, manufacturing, and just about all other measures beyond raw military might.

History has many lessons to teach us. It's a shame we never seem to learn.


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## Cecilie1200

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



I've always found US History to be more exciting and interesting than European History.  We're such a robust, rambunctious, ornery group of people!  Find me any other nation that has gone from non-existent to THE world power in just two centuries.

Granted, teachers have a tendency to leach all of the juice out of American history (or any history, nine times out of ten) by making it all about dry, dusty dates and names.  What makes history interesting is the people, the personalities, the STORIES.  I have a book at home that tells the unknown stories of American history, which I will give you the name of as soon as I get home.  If she can't find anything in there to fascinate her and make her want to learn more, she's just not trying.

Some of my favorites are the Great Molasses Flood in Boston, the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, and the fistfight that broke out in the House of Representatives in 1857.  It always amuses me to hear people talk about how "uncivil" partisan politics has become, since I know how many times in the past US politicians have attacked each other physically, as opposed to with just words.


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## Mr_Rockhead

Revolutionary War

Civil War


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## JBeukema

Mr_Rockhead said:


> Revolutionary War
> 
> Civil War


No such things exist. America has never experienced a revolution _or_ a civil war


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## Epsilon Delta

Almost all US history is fascinating, even up to today. It's full of war, unrest, intrigue, panics and power. Makes for some great reading. My favorites might be the beginning of Imperial America (1898-1917) or WWII/Early Cold War. 

Costa Rica, not so much. There's some interesting points (1820s-1840s, 1940s-50s, 1970s-80s), but most of it is pretty boring. But hey, I'm not complaining, like Tom Jefferson said:

_Blest is that nation whose silent course of happiness furnishes nothing for history to say._


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## random3434

I think we are going to stop by Williamsburg, etc. on our way to the Keys in July. My dad always took us to "Civil War Era' places as a kid and I LOVED it. He was a real history buff too. I think once she sees 'real' American History she'll love it as much as I do! 

Thanks to you all for your responsonses! Interesting stuff!


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## FuelRod

Manifest Destiny.


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## Toronado3800

World war two is my favorite.  Closest to clean cut goodness we have ever had save for that little Japanese internment thing.

Really the whole era comes up in everything still.  Soo many of the lines in the sand we fight over were drawn during and after the war


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## JBeukema

Toronado3800 said:


> World war two is my favorite.  Closest to clean cut goodness we have ever had save for that little Japanese internment thing.


And the eugenics thing... you know, passing the sterilization laws Hitler based his on and collaborating with their eugenicists  during the war...


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## uscitizen

Prolly the part before the white man showed up.


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## Polk

1830-1860.


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## Jessica Blume

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



When Andrew Jackson ended the bank and the national debt, for one.


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## bodecea

Mexican War to the Civil War.

Chickens come home to roost.


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## Sunni Man

Jessica Blume said:


> Echo Zulu said:
> 
> 
> 
> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When Andrew Jackson ended the bank and the national debt, for one.
Click to expand...


 I find Andrew Jackson to be the most interesting president.


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## Sallow

The part where conservatives had nothing to do with forming the nation..indeed they sided with the King..and later on when they got their asses kicked during the Whiskey Rebellion and the Civil War.

That..and kicking the asses of German Conservatives who thought they could commit genocide and get away with it.


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## bodecea

I find it a shame that John C. Calhoun did not live long enough to see his ideas destroy the South.


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## Polk

bodecea said:


> I find it a shame that John C. Calhoun did not live long enough to see his ideas destroy the South.



I think it was Calhoun that proposed amending the Constitution so that we elected two presidents, one from the free states and one from the slave states. Things like that are why the antebellum period really interesting. There are all of these complex issues, and it seems like a big chunk of time was spent thinking up off-the-wall solutions.


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## mudwhistle

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



The battle of Iwo Jima.


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## mudwhistle

Sallow said:


> The part where conservatives had nothing to do with forming the nation..indeed they sided with the King..and later on when they got their asses kicked during the Whiskey Rebellion and the Civil War.
> 
> That..and kicking the asses of German Conservatives who thought they could commit genocide and get away with it.



WTF are you talking about???


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## freedombecki

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



Well, I loved the painting of General George Washington's prayer at Valley Forge. His troops were cold, they were hungry, and had literally marched their shoes off. He so dearly loved his men for their sacrifices, he asked God to intervene at their lowest time, and I think his faith saved not only them, but this nation. Apparently, the Continental Congress thought so, too, and they made him their first President of the newly-formed Democratic Republic they created so that all men could have personal liberty and find happiness here in America for ever.

Painted by Arnold Friberg in 1976, the Bicentennial year:






The Prayer at Valley Forge

                "I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, 'Do you see that woods & that plain? There laid the army of Washington. It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man. In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer. I tied my horse to a sapling & went quietly into the woods. To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. I left him alone praying. I went home & told my wife. We never thought a man could be a soldier & a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington. We thought it was the cause of God & America could prevail."

                Source: Eyewitness testimony of Isaac Potts, a Valley Forge resident who shared the following story with the Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden (1770-1851), who then recorded it in his "Diary and Remembrances."

I absolutely love the story of George Washington, and I sought and got a cookbook of Martha Washington's on ebay, not to mention a little cup and saucer depicting their courtship. George Washington put everything he had on the line for the new Republic. What a wonderful person to be bestowed the title of "The Father of his Country."

I love this reading, also: Why is George Washington considered the Father of this nation? 

I'm just apes for George and Martha Washington. Totally love them.


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## rightwinger

> What is your favorite part about U.S.History?



The part where I was born


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## SFC Ollie

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?




I've always loved a good mystery.

 So my favorite thing over all is the Lost Colony of Roanoke. 

Though I do have to have a bit of admiration for my famous relatives John Marshal and Thomas Jefferson. A real shame it's not a direct link but damned close. (John is the Brother of my great great Great grandfather.)


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## Salt Jones

The End.


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## Sherry

I love it all....one part that hasn't been mentioned is the Industrial Revolution.


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## rdean

What is your favorite part about U.S.History?

When Sarah Palin rewrote it.


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## Dude111

I thought this thread title was "What was your favourite part of history" and if it were my response would have been "STUFF WAS MADE MUCH BETTER.....  QUALITY WAS MUCH BETTER"


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## Andrew

Well I like to  all the parts of the history but my favorites are as follows

History of my part of Newyork
The development of sanitation
American Civil War


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## Mr.Owl

1800-1860

Louisiana Purchase, Civil War, Antebellum Era, Manifest Destiny, Oregon Country, Compromises, anything Native American of that time and definately the War of 1812, considering that Andrew Jackson is one of my favorite all time Presidents, and that I live but a a few miles from the place where it was ended.


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## Wry Catcher

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



My absolute favorite is reading 'history' which I learned as a current event.   How historians, both professional and amatuer, spin people and events.  Knowing this I still  read history, and my favorite comes in the form of biographies or first person essays, with an understanding that most of what we read is subjective.  Primary sources are best and I assume an AP course uses them and not text books (AP courses didn't exist in my HS years).

My least favorite thing about the way US history is usually presented is the focus on the president.  The Diplomatic History of the US, the Economic History of the US, The US Labor Movement and the works of American humorists,Twain, Rogers etc, and novelists provide greater detail on issues and events, cause and effect, and outcomes (good or bad) then the study of a presidential administration and our elections.


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## initforme

My favorite part about american history is the fact I dont have to sit through a bunch of history classes.   I can say that history is god awful boring.  Never did have an affinity for it.  Must have been the nuns I had for teachers.  They can take the blame for this.


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## Big Black Dog

Jamestown, VA and Williamsburg, VA


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## Cecilie1200

I think the thing that makes American history most interesting of all is the fact that it affects all of our lives virtually every day.  It fascinates me to study and learn the reasons why things are the way they are.

For example, in the 2000 Presidential election, when the left was wailing about "every vote should count" and how that was the most important thing, overriding any other concerns like legally-mandated deadlines, how many people knew that, in fact, Florida's vote registration deadline was set PRECISELY because of a similar situation?

During the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, following the Civil War, the count was very close, and Florida was the deciding state.  The counts and disputes ran on and on, with tensions mounting higher and higher in a nation still trying to recover from the devastation of war.  The question was thrown to the House of Representatives, and right up until the night before the Inauguration, no one had any idea who was going to be the President.  Finally, Hayes made a deal with the Representatives, promising that if they decided in his favor, he would withdraw federal troops from the South, where they had been stationed for peacekeeping.  The House agreed; his opponent graciously conceded, stating that the continuation of the Union was more important than who held the Presidency; and Florida passed a law requiring all votes to be turned in by a set deadline to prevent that situation ever happening again.

And then we all forgot history, and were doomed to relive it.


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## whitehall

Once you understand the sacrifices that preserved your DNA and insured your ability to study European history in protected comfort, you may or may not start to appreciate the history of the greatest Nation that rose from relative obscurity to become the single super-power in the world in 250 years.


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## CitizenPained

I teach U.S. History.

All of it.


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## Baruch Menachem

Cecilie1200 said:


> Echo Zulu said:
> 
> 
> 
> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've always found US History to be more exciting and interesting than European History.  We're such a robust, rambunctious, ornery group of people!  Find me any other nation that has gone from non-existent to THE world power in just two centuries.
> 
> Granted, teachers have a tendency to leach all of the juice out of American history (or any history, nine times out of ten) by making it all about dry, dusty dates and names.  What makes history interesting is the people, the personalities, the STORIES.  I have a book at home that tells the unknown stories of American history, which I will give you the name of as soon as I get home.  If she can't find anything in there to fascinate her and make her want to learn more, she's just not trying.
> 
> Some of my favorites are the Great Molasses Flood in Boston, the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, and the fistfight that broke out in the House of Representatives in 1857.  It always amuses me to hear people talk about how "uncivil" partisan politics has become, since I know how many times in the past US politicians have attacked each other physically, as opposed to with just words.
Click to expand...


I like the stories too.   It is the personalities that make the policy a lot.

And some stories are too rich.   One of the best stories in English history is the battle of Minden, where a regiment mutinied against goofy orders and went on to win the battle.   The troops were left alone and the officer was court martialed and stripped of his rank and the judgement of the court was not to be used by the military in any capacity.  

How that relates to US history is the the officer the  troops mutinied against was appointed by George III as minister to the colonies.    It was his policies from 1773 onward that made the revolution.


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## Patrick2

Lots of things:

- Creation of the modern world's first democratic state.

- The liberation of western europe, the pacific, and asia in WWII.

- All the achievements in space exploration.

- The technical innovations: mass production, the internet precursor arpanet, the transistor, the telephone, the light bulb, etc etc. 

- The victory over the soviet union.


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## Disenchanted61

My favorite part can only  be acknowledged from experience, and that would be the 1970's when we all had a sense of sanity and Wall Street was only "that piece of crap in New York city."


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## mudwhistle

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



I learned U.S. History at San Diego State University from a prof from the UK.

He always called us "The Colonials".


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## Disenchanted61

It's not about being a liberal or conservative, or a this or a that, it's about doing the right thing.


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## Article 15

I always like reading about the Industrial Revolution


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## Divine Wind

There are many great and noble times in our history, but I will go with those who say WWII.

It changed our nation both by bringing us out of our isolationist shell and by turning us into both an economic and military superpower.


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## HUGGY

*What is your favorite part about U.S.History? *

The Native American genocide...definitely!

The Small Pox blankets was an especially nice touch.

Slavery comes in a distant second.  You pretty much have to agree that you ARE a slave to be a victim of slavery.  The blacks could have easily killed the slave holders and of course would have been killed themselves eventually but at least they could have died on their feet rather than on their knees.


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## Swagger

mudwhistle said:


> Echo Zulu said:
> 
> 
> 
> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I learned U.S. History at San Diego State University from a prof from the UK.
> 
> *He always called us "The Colonials".*
Click to expand...


It sounds as though he and I would've got on rather well.


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## Disenchanted61

Before the WTO and IMF took root


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## westwall

The period immediately after independence and the development of the Navy culminating in the naval battles of the War of 1812.


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## Tech_Esq

I don't know whether they will be this in-depth even in AP High School history, but I had a class in college called American Political Thought which reviewed several political threads that came together in the founding of the nation. So, I would say that combined with the revolution and Constitution would be one favorite.

The other would be World War II. It is so large a topic with so many facets that it literally boggles the mind. I've read volumes about the political history from all sides, biographies of individuals, histories of battles and campaigns, watched dozens of documentaries on all of the above and still feel like I've just scratched the surface.


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## random3434

Well, she is two weeks into class, she loves her class and her teacher. She loves History, right now she wants to be a History teacher! 

Thank you everyone for your opinions, it was great to hear what you all loved learning about!


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## MikeGloster

JBeukema said:


> Mr_Rockhead said:
> 
> 
> 
> Revolutionary War
> 
> Civil War
> 
> 
> 
> No such things exist. America has never experienced a revolution _or_ a civil war
Click to expand...


Say what ?


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## Douger

Ahhhhh US His_story. Always involves death and destruction. The murkin way !


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## midcan5

Interesting thread.  Personally I like ideas and how they change, the revolutionary period and the great depression are two periods that helped define America. Both periods were times of turmoil that required a sense of community that seems almost un-American sometimes, we are so strongly individuals.

If you want to read history as it happened, along with cultural or other details that fill out the often hidden background, check out William Manchester's 'The Glory and the Dream.' The narrative covers 1932 to 72. Excellent read, unbiased by today's revisionist standards.


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## Warrior102

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?



Civil War. Fascinating stuff. My personal hobby. I hop on the M/C every weekend and discover more stuff around here - totally off the tourist radar screen - for example.... Potomac Creek Bridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## editec

Echo Zulu said:


> My daughter just got done with her AP Euro Class for the year, and she LOVED IT!
> 
> Next year she takes AP US History. She said she doesn't think it will be as interesting since our country isn't as old as Europe. I told her there are MANY interesting things to learn abour our country.
> 
> 
> What is/was your favorite thing to study/read about in US History?


 

US Revolutionary-era diplomatic history is pretty damned interesting.

And as it is entirely wrapped up in the state of European geo-ppolitical machinations of that age, your daughter will be able to understand what is motivating the Euros to help the fledgling USA in its fight against Britian, too.

That history has got secret conspiracies, international corporations, gun running, international financial considerations, PLUS Ben Franklin charming the every loving bejesus out of the woman of France, and how important those charmed woman's opinions were to getting FRANCE to  help America, too.

It is, in my opinion, one of the neatest stories about that era that is too seldom told.

Another story she might find interesting is the one about how New Jersey anti-Brit TERRORISTS probably SAVED the revolution while GW and Co were taking refuge at Valley Forge.


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## JamesInFlorida

Civil War, WWII, and the 60s.


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## sparky

my _fav _part?

the fact that the US are the _'good guys' _no matter what.....

~S~


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## Old Rocks

Histoy is always fascinating, as much of the characters and events are often larger than fiction. 

For American History, my favorite subject would be exploration of the West, from the Revolution onward. Not the military conquest part, but the basic exploration such as the Corps of Discovery, and the contributions of the mountain men, Fremont, and others.


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## HUGGY

*What is your favorite part about U.S.History? *

Jessie Helms wanting a good look at Clintons penis.


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## Divine Wind

Douger said:


> Ahhhhh US His_story. Always involves death and destruction. The murkin way !



I forget who said it, or the exact quote since I can't google it, but "Peace is the blank page between chapters in the history books".


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