I think it's helpful to overlay a lot of American history with a timeline of not-so-great things that were happening at the same time. For example, the america

I think it's helpful to overlay a lot of American history with a timeline of not-so-great things that were happening at the same time. For example, the american revolutionary war was an important event... but also we had slaves (some who were forced to fight), it fractured many indigenous tribes, and the first presidential election 10 years later only allowed male landowners to vote.