North America History

After gold was discovered in California in 1848, thousands of people rushed there to strike it rich. They faced tough choices at every turn. Now the choices are yours. Would you rather use the slower method of panning for gold or use a more dangerous method of hydraulic mining? Would you rather run a store or a hotel in a California boomtown? It's your turn to pick this or that!

Most people have heard about the French and Indian War, but you will find that most history classes have “forgotten” to explore some of the most interesting and important facets of this conflict. Its little-told stories and often underrated importance in world history have begun to be buried over the centuries. Was this epic struggle simply another war among many others in history?

What does a college have to do with presidential elections? If it's the electoral college, a lot! Listeners will learn all about the electoral college and how it plays a part in our elections.

Christopher Columbus had a dream - to reach the fabled lands of the East, rich with spices, jewels, silver, and especially gold. Having studied the travels of other explorers, Columbus was convinced he could reach his destination by traveling west across the seas. After convincing Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand to fund his expedition, he set sail in August 1492. This account talks about the voyage Columbus undertook in his own voice through his journal entries of that year.

This fourth book in the action-packed Guts & Glory series takes listeners through the exciting and fascinating history of the American Revolution. From George Washington crossing the icy Delaware, to Molly Pitcher fearlessly firing her cannon, the people of the American Revolution were some of the bravest and most inspiring of all time. Jump into a riot in the streets of Boston, join the Culper Spy Ring as they steal secrets in the dead of night, and watch the signing of the Declaration of Independence in this accessible guide to the birth of the United States.

The Aztecs went a long way from being nomads to city builders. Such a leap was not easily done, so how did they do it? In this audiobook, you will read about the history of the Aztec people. You will gain important information on the lives they lived, the leaders they selected, and the culture they painstakingly built. Get ready for a mind explosion!

Louis Riel was a brilliant man who made change happen. He was a Metis leader who played a vital role in bringing Manitoba into the Confederation. He led the resistance to Canadian intrusion on Metis territory. Louis Riel died as a hero to his people. His name is still spoken of, and his legacy continues today.

For anyone who's ever nodded off in history class or gotten lost amidst a commotion of confusing names, dates, and other incidentals— it's Captain History to the rescue! Flanked by his two wise-cracking sidekicks, Elmo and Nero, Captain History makes learning United States history fun and entertaining.

Mezcal. In recent years, the oldest spirit in the Americas has been reinvented as a pricy positional good popular among booze connoisseurs and the mixologists who use it as a cocktail ingredient. Unlike most high-end distillates, most small-batch mezcal is typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, often under challenging conditions.

Mesoamérica era una extensa área cultural que abarco un periodo de más de cuatro milenios, en el que mientras algunas civilizaciones alcanzaban su esplendor, otras llegaron a su más profunda decadencia. Los pueblos mesoamericanos creían que antes de ellos habían existido cuatro eras o soles.

Estas civilizaciones, aportaron su arte y sus ideas para conformar, junto con otros pueblos, un área de alta cultura en Mesoamérica. Sin embargo, se tiene conocimiento de la existencia de culturas "preolmecas", de las que se han encontrado señales intactas de su desarrollo, hace más de cuatro mil años, en los restos de vasijas de cerámica grabada con imágenes del maíz, el Sol, el cielo, el rayo y la tierra.

The beautiful town of St. Augustine, Florida, is the oldest continuously occupied city in North America. Founded in 1565, by Pedro Menendez, of Spain, it predates the Pilgrims at Plymouth rock by 42 years and the English settlement at Jamestown by 55 years. It's old town section with many classic stone and log pole buildings in excellent condition, and its magnificent Spanish fort the Castillo San Marcos, dating from 1672, herald St. Augustine as one of the most amazingly preserved historical towns in the Americas.

Thousands of years, way before Christopher Columbus set sail, wandering tribes of hunters made their way from Asia across the Bering land bridge to North America. They didn't know it, but they had discovered a New World. The First Americans is a fascinating re-creation of pre-Columbian Native American life, and it's an adventure of a lifetime!

With Abraham Lincoln's assassination, his "team of rivals" was left adrift. President Andrew Johnson, a former slave owner from Tennessee, was challenged by Northern Congressmen, Radical Republicans led by Thaddeus Stephens and Charles Sumner, who wanted to punish the defeated South. When Johnson's policies placated the rebels at the expense of the freed black men, radicals in the House impeached him for trying to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

One of America's most influential Hispanics - Maria on Sesame Street - delivers a beautifully wrought coming-of-age memoir. Set in the 1970s in the Bronx, this is the story of a girl with a dream. When listeners meet young Sonia, she is a child living amid the squalor of a boisterous home that is filled with noisy relatives and nosy neighbors. Each day she is glued to the TV screen that blots out the painful realities of her existence and also illuminates the possibilities that lie ahead.

In 1692, a few paranoid Puritans accused their neighbors of being witches sending the town flying off the (broomstick) handle. Before it was all over, dozens of women in Salem, Massachusetts were executed—burned at the stake. RIGHT? WRONG! There was some serious witch worry, but no one in the United States was put on a pyre (though the truth isn't much better). And women weren’t the only ones caught in crossfire…maybe don’t tell your dog about this one.

This is the vibrant story of George, Garrett, Rall, and Rasul - four children raised by Nanny, their fiercely devoted grandmother. The boys hold one another close through early brushes with racism, memorable experiences at the family barbershop, and first loves and losses. And with Nanny at their center, they are never broken. George M. Johnson capture the unique experience of growing up as a Black boy in America, and their rich family stories are interspersed with touching letters from the grandchildren to their beloved matriarch.

This is the touching story of the benevolent naturalist who roamed the Ohio valley in the early 1800s, planting apple orchards, making friends, and spreading goodwill along his way. Known to early settlers as a gentle soul with a reverence for all life, Johnny never missed a chance to save an abandoned animal or to savor a delicious apple pie. Garrison Keillor's narration is accompanied by original music by Mark O'Connor. Ages five and up.

For the last five years, James and Deborah Fallows have been traveling across America in a single-engine prop airplane. Visiting dozens of towns, they have met hundreds of civic leaders, workers, immigrants, educators, environmentalists, artists, public servants, librarians, businesspeople, city planners, students, and entrepreneurs to take the pulse and understand the prospects of places that usually draw notice only after a disaster or during a political campaign. The America they saw is acutely conscious of its problems, but it is also crafting solutions.

Jeanne Mance est née en France, dans la ville de Langres. C’est lors de la grande peste qu’elle découvre sa vocation de soignante. Après de nombreuses péripéties, elle arrive en Nouvelle-France en tant que missionnaire laïque en compagnie d’une quarantaine de personnes afin de fonder Ville-Marie. Elle y occupe le poste d’économe et d’administratrice de la colonie. Elle fondera également l’Hôtel-Dieu, le premier hôpital de Montréal. Aujourd’hui, Jeanne Mance est reconnue comme la cofondatrice de Montréal au même titre que Paul de Chomedey.