How would I go about becoming more educated on American history?

>Should I just read a college textbook?

if you want to fill your head with ruling class propaganda, sure

>>7230281
>>7230296
Don't listen to these leftie shills that belong on Pol.
I do hear good praises when it comes to the works of David McCullough.

>>7230305
Left-winger post: those righties on /pol/.

Right winger post: those leftiea on /pol/.

Cognitive dissonance is amazing. But anyways, op, do you live in the US? The best way to learn US history is to go the historical sites. Gettysburg is pretty legit.

>>7230343
How is it cognitive dissonance if it's two distinct groups holding the different points of view?

>>7230343
Not OP but another poster who lives in the United States. I have never been to D.C or looked at any other sites except for those that were connected to Lincoln (since they are relatively close). I have stacks of History books, engage in scholarly research on the subject, and am always browsing to absorb the information of others online. I don't think you have to see a site to process relevant information.

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>>7230343

>Gettysburg is pretty legit

wut

>>7230281

Try Gore Vidal's Empire series.

>>7230354
How is Vidal? Given OP's reactions to Zinn I feel like giving him another left wing author who appears to be ideological on face value would be a mistake. I think more in terms of scholarly sources. It might also help to know any particular specific interests OP might have so we can guide him to more specific works.

>>7230281
>I tried reading Zinn's A People's History of the United States

Yeah, don't do that. It's like reading A Patriot's History of the United States, just on the opposite side of the spectrum. Zinn isn't the most qualified person in the world to write about that subject matter. It's actually one of the worst examples of pop-history, right up there with Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Do what >>7230305 says. You can never go wrong with McCollough. Your 101 should be his 1776, followed by Ron Chernow's Washington, and then go back to McCollough again to read John Adams. In my opinion, the best introduction to American History is reading about the Founding Fathers themselves and the ideals they stood for. When you have a decent foundation, feel free to build on it with anything you're interested in. You generally shouldn't have too much trouble with the left/right dichotomy until you get to the Interwar period.

Zinn is meant to be read as a counterpoint to a mainstream high school textbook; read the textbook first or it won't make any sense. It's a great book but the whole idea is to examine history at cross purposes to the way you were taught.

>>7230603
Op here, thanks for this, I'm going to try reading those

>>7230627
That's what I noticed

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>>7230343
>Left-winger post: those righties on /pol/.
>Right winger post: those leftiea on /pol/.
And they're both right? Loonies who sperg out about their shitty political opinion should go post on the board that was literally created to serve as a containment board for loonies who sperg out about their shitty political opinions?