James Weippert has narrated 5 audiobooks on Listento.it by 1 author, with an average listener rating of 3.5★ across 2 ratings. The most-rated is Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Mound Builders.
Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Mound Builders
Summary
"There being one of these [mounds] in my neighborhood, I wished to satisfy myself whether any, and which of these opinions [regarding the identity of the Mound Builders] were just. For this purpose I determined to open and examine it thoroughly." (Thomas Jefferson) In the 18th century, when Europeans first came upon the giant mounds and earthworks dotting the North American landscape, they couldn't imagine that the Native Americans they came into contact with were capable of producing such advanced technology and masterful engineering. In fact, when President George Washington sent adventurer and military strategist Rufus Putnam to survey the land at the convergence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers in southeastern Ohio for settlement, Putnam reported that he'd discovered an impressive walled earthwork complex near present-day Marietta, which was obviously the breastwork of an ancient fortress built by some long-forgotten ancient civilization. Like others of his time, Putnam couldn't conceive that indigenous Americans had at one time reached an advanced level of cultural and technical sophistication. As detailed by Thomas Jefferson in his 1783 book Notes on the State of Virginia, the future American president began to excavate a mound near Monticello, his Virginia estate, around 1780. He noted, "I determined to open and examine it thoroughly. It was situated on the low grounds of the Rivanna [River], about two miles above its principal fork, and opposite to some hills, on which had been an Indian town. It was of a spheroidical form, of about 40 feet diameter at the base."
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Pawnee
Summary
"All things in the world are two. In our minds we are two, good and evil. With our eyes we see two things, things that are fair and things that are ugly. We have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and we have the left hand full of kindness, near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the other foot may lead us to a good. So are all things two, all two." - Letakos-Lesa (Eagle Chief), a member of the Pawnee From the Trail of Tears to Wounded Knee and Little Bighorn, the narrative of American history is incomplete without the inclusion of the Native Americans that lived on the continent before European settlers arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the first contact between natives and settlers, tribes like the Sioux, Cherokee, and Navajo have both fascinated and perplexed outsiders with their history, language, and culture. In Charles River Editors' Native American Tribes series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the history and culture of North America's most famous native tribes in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. One of the most famous Native American tribes on the Great Plains is the Pawnee, and they were also once one of the strongest groups in the region. At the turn of the 19th century, there were about 10,000 members spread across much of modern day Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and even into Missouri and Iowa. The Pawnee were able to thrive despite having strong neighbors to their west, most notably the Arapaho and the Lakota Sioux, and though the different Pawnee bands were autonomous, they also recognized the need to cooperate with each other to face various threats.
©2012- Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Utes
Summary
From the "Trail of Tears" to Wounded Knee and Little Bighorn, the narrative of American history is incomplete without the inclusion of the Native Americans that lived on the continent before European settlers arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the first contact between natives and settlers, tribes like the Sioux, Cherokees, and Navajos have both fascinated and perplexed outsiders with their history, language, and culture. In Charles River Editors' Native American Tribes series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the history and culture of North America's most famous native tribes in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. The Utes are a Native American people who live today in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, and they currently have the second-largest Indian reservation in the United States: the 1.2 million acre Uintah and Ouray Reservation located in northeastern Utah. The Southern Ute Reservation in southwestern Colorado takes in another 681,000 acres, while the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, mostly in southwestern Colorado and northeastern New Mexico, has 553,000 acres. However, these holdings are relatively small fragments of the original Ute land base; before the arrival of whites and the taking of the Utes' land, they stretched from the Great Basin of Utah through the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and northern New Mexico into the Great Plains. The Utes were a fierce warrior people who fought hard to defend their land against Spaniards and later the Americans, but they remain much less well-known among the American public than the Navajos, (holders of the biggest reservation today) and many other Native American nations.
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
The Lincoln Memorial
Summary
Includes accounts of the memorial's construction by people who worked on it. Explains how the memorial's site was chosen and how it was built. "In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever." (The epitaph by Royal Cortissoz engraved in the Lincoln Memorial) People have always loved symbols and monuments. Even before there was any sort of written language, there were places and things considered sacred, whether it was the Mesopotamians' ziggurats or the Egyptians' pyramids. Thus, it had long been a practice to make some sort of memorial to those who had died as a way to remember and honor them. Abraham Lincoln is one of the most famous Americans in history and one of the country's most revered presidents. Schoolchildren can recite the life story of Lincoln, the "Westerner" who educated himself and became a self-made man, rising from lawyer to leader of the new Republican Party before becoming the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln successfully navigated the Union through the Civil War but didn't live to witness his crowning achievement, becoming the first president assassinated when he was shot at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. Given the importance of Abraham Lincoln to the country, it's no surprise that plans to build monuments to him began within months of his death. There are countless ways that the Great Emancipator has been commemorated across America, but the most famous is the Lincoln Memorial, which would not be completed until well over half a century after his death.
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
American Legends: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr.
Summary
A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or yet to be discovered. Today, a man born Michael King, Jr. is one of the most famous Americans in history. His name was changed at the age of five to one the world fondly remembers: Martin Luther King, Jr. The life and legend of Dr. King have been told to every American, many of whom come away equating King with the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. But King's life was about far more than leading movements and having dreams. American Legends: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. humanizes the leader who constantly sought to better himself and desperately wanted to follow in the footsteps of the man he was named after. It celebrates his incredible accomplishments and analyzes his perceived shortcomings. Along the way, you'll learn things about Dr. King you never knew, including a bitterly contested court case over some of his papers and the off-the-cuff origins of his "I Have a Dream" speech. Learn about Dr. King in no time, like you never have before.
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors