The Story of America by John A Garraty will be the focal point of this course. It is a highly readable, straightforward, chronological history of the United States. The book’s narrative is filled with anecdotes that engage the attention of junior high students.
The text helps students meet 4 important goals. First, it helps them to develop a knowledge and cultural understanding of the events that shaped this country. Students are often asked to use historical imagination, which allows them to view the people and events thay are studying from the perspective of the people involved.
Secondly, students are encouraged to develop an understanding of the democratic process and civic values that shaped our nation’s foundation and history.
Third, students are given the opportunity to develop and utilize study skills, critical thinking skills, and social participation skills.
In addition I will be emphasizing God’s hand in the formation and development of the United States using outside materials and documents throughout the year.
Semester One:
• English Colonies in America
• Life in Colonial America
• Governing the American Colonies
• The Revolutionary War
• Creating the United States
• The Prince among Slaves
Semester Two:
• Governing the United States
• The Age of Jefferson
• War and Peace, 1812-1823
• Andrew Jackson Man of Peace or War
• Slavery and Abolition
• Causes of the Civil War
• The Civil War
