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Exploring America:
History, Literature, and Faith
by Ray Notgrass

Table of Contents

Unit 1The Study of History

Lesson 1 - Why Study History?
Lesson 2 - How You See the World Makes A Difference
Lesson 3 - History Is Personal
Lesson 4 - Themes in American History
Lesson 5 - Bible Study: God Is Sovereign

Essay: Advice on Writing

Documents: Speech remembering the Boston Massacre by John Hancock, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" speech by Frederick Douglass, Eulogy for Princess Diana by the Earl of Spencer

Unit 2Exploration and Settlement

Lesson 6 - The Renaissance
Lesson 7 - Native Americans
Lesson 8 - The Voyages of Columbus
Lesson 9 - Spanish Settlement
Lesson 10 - Bible Study: The Reformation

Document: "Here I Stand" speech by Martin Luther

Unit 3English Settlement of America

Lesson 11 - England on the Rise
Lesson 12 - Jamestown, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay
Lesson 13 - Expansion and Dissent
Lesson 14 - Life in the Colonies
Lesson 15 - Bible Study: The Shape of Religion in the Colonies

Documents: Charter for the Virginia Colony by King James I, the Mayflower Compact, excerpt from John Smith's Diary, "A Model of Christian Charity" (the "City on a Hill" sermon) by John Winthrop, preamble of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, excerpts from the Bay Psalm Book and the New England Primer

Literature: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, poem by Anne Bradstreet

Unit 4English Colonies in the 1700s

Lesson 16 - The Enlightenment
Lesson 17 - The Experiment of Self-Government
Lesson 18 - The French and Indian War
Lesson 19 - The Growing Conflict
Lesson 20 - Bible Study: The Great Awakening

Documents: Albany Plan of Union, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon by Jonathan Edwards

Literature: The Scarlet Letter (continued), Wit and Wisdom of Poor Richard's Almanack

Unit 5Revolution

Lesson 21 - The War Begins
Lesson 22 - The Declaration of Independence
Lesson 23 - The Revolutionary War
Lesson 24 - Society and Government After the Revolution
Lesson 25 - Bible Study: Religion and Revolution

Documents: Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech by Patrick Henry, Declaration of Independence, excerpts from "Common Sense" and "The Crisis" by Thomas Paine, the Articles of Confederation, Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Literature: Short stories: "The Legend of Sleep Hollow" and "The Legend of Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving, poems: "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" and "Concord Hymn", poems by Phillis Wheatley

Unit 6The Constitution and the New Nation

Lesson 26 - Writing the Constitution
Lesson 27 - Understanding the Constitution
Lesson 28 - The Administration of George Washington
Lesson 29 - The Administration of John Adams
Lesson 30 - Bible Study: Religion in the New Nation

Documents: The Northwest Ordinance, speech by Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention, Federalist Paper Number 10, the U.S. Constitution, Inaugural Address and Farewell Address by George Washington, the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, hymn "I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord"

Unit 7The Era of Thomas Jefferson

Lesson 31 - The Revolution of 1800
Lesson 32 - Expanding West
Lesson 33 - The Power of the Supreme Court
Lesson 34 - Foreign Involvements
Lesson 35 - Bible Study: The Second Great Awakening

Documents: Inaugural Address by Thomas Jefferson, Marbury v. Madison Supreme Court decision, letters exchanged between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, "The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery"

Unit 8The Era of Good Feelings

Lesson 36 - The War of 1812
Lesson 37 - A Changing Nation
Lesson 38 - The Missouri Compromise
Lesson 39 - The Monroe Doctrine
Lesson 40 - Bible Study: God Defines Success

Documents: "The Star-Spangled Banner" song, speeches by two Native American leaders, the Monroe Doctrine

Literature: Davy Crockett: His Own Story, poems by William Cullen Bryant

Unit 9The Era of Andrew Jackson

Lesson 41 - The March to the White House Begins
Lesson 42 - The Jackson Administration (Part 1)
Lesson 43 - The Jackson Administration (Part 2)
Lesson 44 - Van Buren, Harrison, and Tyler
Lesson 45 - Bible Study: Democracy in America

Documents: Daniel Webster's reply to Hayne, "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)" song, Jackson's Bank Veto Message, Second Inaugural Address by Andrew Jackson

Literature: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Unit 10America Expands

Lesson 46 - Polk, Mexico, and California
Lesson 47 - Cities and Industry
Lesson 48 - A New Sense of Community
Lesson 49 - The Growth of American Literature
Lesson 50 - Bible Study: Nineteenth Century Religious Movements

Document: Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments for Women's Rights

Literature: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau, poetry by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allen Poe, Abraham Lincoln, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Frances E. W. Harper, and Emily Dickinson

Unit 11The Approaching Conflict

Lesson 51 - Slavery and Abolition
Lesson 52 - Sectionalism
Lesson 53 - The Compromise of 1850
Lesson 54 - Kansas, Dred Scott, and John Brown
Lesson 55 - Bible Study: Pro-Life - The New Abolitionism

Documents: First issue of The Liberator, poem "The Hireling and the Slave", speech by Wendell Phillips on the death of Elijah Lovejoy, speeches by John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay during the debate on the Compromise of 1850, "The Crime against Kansas" speech by Charles Sumner, Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court decision, "House Divided" speech by Abraham Lincoln, reply in debate by Stephen Douglas to Abraham Lincoln, statement by John Brown at his sentencing, speech by William Lloyd Garrison on Brown's execution

Literature: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Unit 12The Nation Divides

Lesson 56 - Election and Secession
Lesson 57 - The War Begins
Lesson 58 - Differences
Lesson 59 - Bull Run and Other Early Battles
Lesson 60 - Bible Study: War

Documents: Speech by Abraham Lincoln on leaving Springfield, Illinois, portion of Jefferson Davis' Inaugural Address, excerpts from the Confederate Constitution, Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

Literature: Uncle Tom's Cabin (continued)

Unit 13The Terrible Conflict

Lesson 61 - 1862
Lesson 62 - 1863
Lesson 63 - 1864-1865
Lesson 64 - Costs of the War
Lesson 65 - Bible Study: Faith on the Front Lines

Documents: Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" song

Literature: Co. Aytch by Sam Watkins

Unit 14The Nation Rebuilds

Lesson 66 - Off to a Rocky Start
Lesson 67 - Congressional Reconstruction
Lesson 68 - The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson
Lesson 69 - Other Developments
Lesson 70 - Bible Study: Rebuilding Under Nehemiah

Literature: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Unit 15Moving Forward

Lesson 71 - The Grant Administration
Lesson 72 - Postwar Life in the United States
Lesson 73 - The Transcontinental Railroad
Lesson 74 - The Election of 1876
Lesson 75 - Bible Study: What Is Progress?

Literature: Little Women (continued)

Unit 16Politics in the Guilded Age

Lesson 76 - Corruption and Reform
Lesson 77 - Cleveland and Harrison
Lesson 78 - Money Business
Lesson 79 - The Populist Revolt
Lesson 80 - Bible Study: Darwin and Evolution

Document: "The Old World and the New" speech by Carl Schurz, 1892 Populist Party platform

Literature: Humorous Stories and Sketches by Mark Twain, Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington

Unit 17Changing America

Lesson 81 - New South, New West
Lesson 82 - The Growth of Big Business
Lesson 83 - Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?
Lesson 84 - The Rise of Organized Labor
Lesson 85 - Bible Study: Social Darwinism and the Social Gospel

Documents: "Atlanta Exposition Address" and "The American Standard" speeches by Booker T. Washington, "Behold the Land" speech by W. E. B. DuBois, "The Significant of the Frontier in American History" by Frederick Jackson Turner, "Letter on Labor in Industrial Society" by Samuel Gompers

Literature: Up from Slavery (continued), Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy

Unit 18The Turn of the Century

Lesson 86 - Politics in the 1890s
Lesson 87 - The "Splendid Little" Spanish-American War
Lesson 88 - Other Foreign Involvements
Lesson 89 - The Progressive Movement
Lesson 90 - Bible Study: Liberal and Conservative

Document: "Cross of Gold" speech by William Jennings Bryan, "The Republic That Never Retreats" speech by Albert J. Beveridge, the "Roosevelt Corollary," "Manhood or Money" speech by Robert M. LaFollette, "Washington's Birthday" speech by Jane Addams, "America the Beautiful" song

Literature: In His Steps by Charles Sheldon

Unit 19The Triumph of Progressivism

Lesson 91 - T.R.
Lesson 92 - The Tenure of Taft
Lesson 93 - Life in the City
Lesson 94 - Welcome to Modern America
Lesson 95 - Bible Study: God and Freud

Document: "The Strenuous Life" speech by Theodore Roosevelt, "The New Nationalism" speech by Theodore Roosevelt, "The Old Order Changeth" speech by Woodrow Wilson

Literature: Mama's Bank Account by Katherine Forbes, poems: "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, "Solitude" by Ella Wheeler Cox, "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer

Unit 20America and the Great War

Lesson 96 - Wilson's Domestic Agenda
Lesson 97 - Trouble in Europe
Lesson 98 - America Goes "Over There"
Lesson 99 - An Imperfect Peace
Lesson 100 - Bible Study: The Balkans

Documents: "Peace Without Victory," "Declaration of War," "Fourteen Points," "Versailles Speech on The League of Nations," speeches by Woodrow Wilson; speech by William Borah in oppostition to the League of Nations

Literature: Christy by Catherine Marshall

Unit 21America in the Twenties

Lesson 101 - Return to Normalcy?
Lesson 102 - Hoover and the Great Depression
Lesson 103 - The Roaring Twenties
Lesson 104 - Prohibition, Race, and Skepticism
Lesson 105 - Bible Study: The Scopes Trial

Documents: "Rugged Individualism" speech by Herbert Hoover, "Religious Prejudice and Politics" speech by Al Smith, "Modern Trade Unionism" speech by William Green, "Wealth and Education" speech by Will Rogers, Clarence Darrow's closing argument in the Leopold and Loeb trial

Literature: Christy (continued), selections of poetry by twentieth century American poets including Robert Frost, Carl Sandberg, T. S. Eliot, and Claude McKay

Unit 22The New Deal

Lesson 106 - Happy Days Are Here Again
Lesson 107 - The New Deal Runs Aground
Lesson 108 - Life in the Thirties
Lesson 109 - War Clouds Build
Lesson 110 - Bible Study: The Dilemma of Suffering

Documents: First Inaugural Address by Franklin Roosevelt, Supreme Court decisions on New Deal programs, "Speaking for the Consumer" speech by William Allen White, Roosevelt's Quarantine speech

Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Unit 23World War II

Lesson 111 - America Enters the War
Lesson 112 - America At War
Lesson 113 - Victory!
Lesson 114 - One Soldier's Story
Lesson 115 - Bible Study: Don't You Know There's a War On?

Documents: Declaration of War and other speeches by Franklin Roosevelt, The Atlantic Charter, "The Cross and the Double Cross" speech by Fulton Sheen, "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" and "Their Finest Hour" speeches by Winston Churchill

Unit 24Postwar America

Lesson 116 - Containing Communism
Lesson 117 - Communism in America
Lesson 118 - The Korean War
Lesson 119 - Life in the United States
Lesson 120 - Bible Study: Religious Issues

Documents: "An Iron Curtain Has Descended" speech by Winston Churchill, "Peace in the Atomic Age" speech by Albert Einstein, "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech by Douglas MacArthur, Inaugural Address by Harry Truman, Nobel Prize acceptance speech by William Faulkner

Unit 25The 1950s

Lesson 121 - We Like Ike!
Lesson 122 - Civil Rights
Lesson 123 - Eisenhower's Foreign Policy
Lesson 124 - The Space Race Begins
Lesson 125 - Bible Study: Were They the Golden Days?

Documents: First Inaugural Address and Farewell Address by Dwight Eisenhower, Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, "Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy" and "The Spirit of Geneva" speeches by Eisenhower

Literature: Selections of modern American poetry

Unit 26The Turbulent Sixties

Lesson 126 - The New Frontier
Lesson 127 - The Great Society
Lesson 128 - 1968
Lesson 129 - The Sixties in Review
Lesson 130 - Bible Study: The Counterculture of Jesus

Documents: Inaugural Address and speech on civil rights by John F. Kennedy, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., "Great Society" and "On Vietnam and On the Decision Not Seeking Re-Election" speeches by Lyndon Johnson, Inaugural Address and Speech to the Astronauts on the Moon by Richard Nixon, speech by Spiro Agnew on "The Importance of Television News"

Unit 27The 1970s

Lesson 131 - The Nixon Administration
Lesson 132 - Watergate
Lesson 133 - Ford and Carter
Lesson 134 - Spiritual Issues of the Seventies
Lesson 135 - Bible Study: Roe v. Wade

Documents: Barbara Jordan's speech at House Judiciary Committee Impeachment Hearings, Articles of Impeachment Against Richard Nixon, Inaugural Address by Gerald Ford, Harvard Commencement Address by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, excerpt from Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision

Literature: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Unit 28The Reagan-Bush Era

Lesson 136 - The Reagan Revolution
Lesson 137 - Reagan's Foreign Policy
Lesson 138 - The Bush Administration
Lesson 139 - The Persian Gulf War
Lesson 140 - Bible Study: Finding Good in Something Bad

Documents: Inaugural Addresses by Ronald Reagan, speech by Mario Cuomo

Unit 29The 1990s

Lesson 141 - Politics and Economics
Lesson 142 - Issues in the 90s
Lesson 143 - The Clinton Foreign Policy
Lesson 144 - The Impeachment and Trial of Bill Clinton
Lesson 145 - Bible Study: Public Leaders, Private Lives

Document: Republican Contract with America

Unit 30The New Millennium

Lesson 146 - America at 2000
Lesson 147 - The 2000 Election
Lesson 148 - September 11, 2001
Lesson 149 - Iraq and the 2004 Election
Lesson 150 - Bible Study: Putting American History into Perspective

Documents: Inaugural Address, Remarks at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People speeches by George W. Bush

 Additional Resources
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