• comic globeThe Story of America comic globe


    Throughout the school year, we will be involved in a year-long journey that will take us through the history of the United States. This unit will begin with a unit called Preface and then continue through six additional chapters. The children will be working on these units throughout the school year. This history journey will begin with the first English colony in Jamestown and end with some of the current events in the 21st century.

    Websites:  http://www.ducksters.com/history/american_revolution.php
     


    Students reading newspaper Preface Our story opens with the present time, for this is what the students know best. All good stories begin with the characters and the setting; so too will our story. We will have several lessons and activities that are intended to help students understand the diversity of the characters in our story, the wide spectrum of beliefs and experiences that embody the American people. These lessons are designed to introduce the students to the concept that we are a nation of immigrants and have been since the founding of our country.



    Jamestown ShipBeginnings
    In 1607, Jamestown, the first permanent European settlement in North America, was established along the Atlantic coastline. This was the beginning of England’s colonization of America. It is this place where three distinct civilizations met – the Europeans, the Native Americans and the Africans. The converging of these three groups set the stage for issues that would directly affect the development of what would become the United States of America.



    Paul Revere pictureFreedom
    We begin with the French and the English struggling to establish dominance in North America. France, the French colonists and France’s Indian allies fought against England, the English colonists and England’s Indian allies. Although the British won the war, it cost their government a tremendous amount of money. This laid the groundwork for King George’s justification of future taxes levied on the colonist.
     
    Websites:
    http://mrnussbaum.com/13-colonies/
    http://online.seterra.com/en/vgp/3044
     


    The events that led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence and subsequently to the Revolutionary War were efforts by King George III to force the colonists into submission to the mother country. From the Stamp Act to the Battles of Bunker and Breed’s Hill, the colonists were destined to shape a new nation based on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.



    covered wagonJourneys
    One major difference between the newly formed United States of America and European nations was the aspect of landmass. Most European nations had been countries for hundreds of years with very definite polical boundaries (often challenged by wars). In contract, our new nation had no eastern or western boundaries other than the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It was in fact, a land that reached from sea to shining sea. This had enormous implications for the young nation.
     
Last Modified on November 30, 2017