America, A Narrative History is a text published by WW Norton. As a free supplement to the book, Norton has published ten Google Earth tours. These tours include major themes and events in US History. The list includes the Revolutionary War, the path to the Civil War, WWII, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, Lewis & Clark’s expedition, the Indian Removal Act, Pre-Columbian North America, the national parks system, and the 20th Century power grid. All of the tours include multiple images and references. Some of the tours also have “tour questions” for students to answer.

Update for clarification: Anyone can access these tours even if you don’t own a copy of the book. 

Norton’s US History Google Earth tours could be a fantastic alternative to using slides to present a lesson on US History. These tours provide history lessons within a geographic context.

For the last few years I’ve had my US History students create Google Maps and Google Earth files about various events (Revolutionary War, Civil War) and themes (Manifest Destiny, Imperialism) in the course. Before they start creating their own projects I like to share some models, Norton’s US History Google Earth tours are good models.