This is a history class and it will give you dates and historical figures and historical events, in the context of their time and place. Our primary focus is exploring the founding documents - the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In addition to reading what those documents say, we try to understand how extraordinary people came together in an extraordinary place at an extraordinary time. This course leads you to look at the history leading up to American independence as well as the philosophers and the new sense of individual freedom that sent settlers to the New World and profoundly influenced the development of our United States Constitution.

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Course Navigation:

​​         The course is divided into 4 distinct sections. The suggested assignments in each section invite you to dig as deeply as you choose into the topics. The course is organized to flow sequentially through the sections, culminating in a couple of options for final reflections that ask you to synthesize your thinking and make new connections. All links to articles, websites, or documents are always highlighted in blue underlined text throughout the site.

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Section 1 begins with a first reading of the Declaration of Independence and the connection between that Declaration and the American Dream.

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Section 2 focuses on the colonies established in our New World by Great Britain. What influenced settlers to leave everything they knew to set out for the unknown? Who sent them here and why? What changed them from subjects of the King of England to independent colonies and then to an independent country? Two links to free, online courses developed and presented by Hillsdale College, tell the story of Colonial America. Additional readings add some depth.

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Section 3 is the “now what” section. The American spirit was forged and the Leaders emerged. The Declaration of Independence, in one page, encapsulates the big ideas for our independent country. Very few people remember the grievances in that document after reading the soaring language of a free people. The next fourteen years included a War for Independence, then the creation of a Government; not a monarchy, an oligarchy, or even a democracy, but a combination of administrative authorities that govern with the consent of the governed. In that time, we saw the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers that help us understand why.

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Section 4 asks you to reflect on what you've learned. The brief history  of the United States of America as a child of Great Britain and of Europe describes a people who initially sought independence to speak, act and very importantly, to practice religion as they chose. They fought for their actual independence and then created a governance that enshrined their liberty and their God-given equality. This final section will ask you to reflect on that work-in-progress; the successes and the failures. There is no other country like the United States of America. As Benjamin Franklin  replied to the question, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” His response, “A Republic, if you can keep it. “