America 250 Free-to-Read Collection

Discover, read, and share a collection of free journal articles from Penn State University Press to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States! Every month from July through December 2026, PSU Press will pick a theme related to American history, politics, arts, or culture, and make a few related articles free-to-read for the entire month.

August’s theme is “Surprising American Histories.” The articles listed below will be free to read through August 31, 2026.

You can also celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with 50% off individual one-year subscriptions to all PSU Press journals! Enter discount code 036USA250 when ordering. This special offer expires on 12/31/2026.

1. “Made in America: Mechanics and the Anxiety of Creation in the Early Republic” by Dan Walden (Nineteenth Century Studies 29:1, January 2016)


2. “New York City, Muslims, and the Indian Ocean: Preliminary Findings on the Connection via the Slave Trade” by Michael A. Gomez (Journal of African Development 13:1-2, April 2011)


3. “Freedom from Heaven: State Violence and Religious Protest in the Early Black Atlantic’s Loyalists, 1776 to 1779” by Jon Sensbach (Journal of Africana Religions 3:4, September 2015)


4. “Becoming Patriots: The Struggle for Inclusion and Exclusion on Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary Frontier” by Chris Pearl (Pennsylvania History 88:3, Summer 2021)


5. “Superstitious Memory: Ghost-Sighting and Nation-Making in Washington Irving's ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’” by Michiko Amemiya (Studies in the American Short Story 2:2, 2021)

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