《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评
Gr 8 Up-Whether westward expansion was the result of pioneer heroism or of violent conquest is continually debated by historians and laypersons alike. This volume offers a collection of primary sources that can be utilized by teachers and librarians, and students with advanced reading skills, to think about issues and to interpret the past. The book is divided into four chapters, resulting in a total of 29 documents. The documents offer opposing viewpoints on topics such as Indian removal, the annexation of Texas, Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War, and the transcontinental railroad. Teens will be able to read the words of presidents Thomas Jefferson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Jackson; frontiersman George Bent; Native American Chief Joseph; and articles from Harpers Weekly and the New York Times. Students will welcome the summary provided at the beginning of each document and the questions for consideration. A good choice for those who are eager to understand arguments and attitudes that shaped the history of the West.-Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Gr. 7^-12. This publisher has always done a fine job of integrating primary documents with a range of viewpoints into their many series on contemporary issues. Here the focus is on history, and this first title in the new Interpreting Primary Documents series is a collection of speeches, newspaper articles, diaries, official reports, and other documents from the time of America's movement west. Leaders and ordinary people speak about how they see events from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Indian Wars, and the California gold rush to the Mexican War and the building of the transcontinental railroad. Is Indian removal a dishonorable policy or is it fulfilling the whites' manifest destiny? Should the U.S. annex Texas? The eyewitness accounts of battles, working on the railroad, Indian removal, and more provide dramatic additions to the political speeches, and together they open up the events and issues for debate and discussion. A general introduction outlines the history, and each document begins with a brief preface and ends with reading questions. A long chronology and a detailed bibliography are included. --Hazel Rochman