I want to make sure that i have a good understanding of the basics of the history of the united states; from the beginning of settlement to as close to the present day as possible. The history of the native Americans preceding the beginning of settlement is interesting to me, but i want to wrap my head around the history of colonisation and the American nation state first.
In my experience, the best introduction to American history is a textbook used commonly in AP and introductory university classes throughout the US: Liberty or Death by Eric Foner. Foner begins with the history of Native America and actually spends a fair amount of time on British North America before diving into "American history" proper. You may want to take a look there!