U.S. HISTORY BOOK LIST | YEAR ONE

After 12 years of homeschooling, I finally have a completed list that I LOVE for U.S. History. My philosophy of teaching history is guided by Charlotte Mason’s “Living Books” mindset, and I am glad to say that when you ask my children what their favorite subject is … they almost all say “History.”

We sit down and I read aloud as they draw at the table. Each child ends up going through this book list two times before moving into World History. I only had to purchase these once, but I have used them over and over and over.

NOTE: I didn’t actually know a lot about History when I started homeschooling, but in my typical compulsive learning research style … I dug deep, and boy I learned a lot and I wanted my children to understand some really important things that I never learned or certainly didn’t comprehend. So, here is my list of the FIRST YEAR of U.S. History and the FIVE THINGS I wanted to focus on in that first year.

5 THINGS I WANTED MY CHILDREN TO KNOW ABOUT THE FOUNDING OF AMERICA:

That Columbus was over 100 years before the English colonies and why Canada speaks French, Mexico speaks Spanish and the U.S. speaks English, but is called America … not Columbia. Also, who Leif the Lucky is.
That U.S. History has two sides of it: Merchants / Banks & those seeking freedom of religion. You often here people say “America wasn’t founded by Christians.” but then also hearing the opposing viewpoint that “America was founded by the Pilgrims who were seeking to worship God freely.” Both statements are true.I wanted my children to see both sides of the coin. I wanted them to see that people are layered. They need to see that just as Satan has had his grips in every kingdom from the beginning of time, that it was no different in North America. But God also was blessing and prospering those who were choosing Him and His word. Jamestown and Roanoke of the Virginia company didn’t impact America like the Pilgrims on Plymouth, but they were still there.
William Penn with Christian values set up fair trading with Native Americans and then the Corporate oligarchs worked their political power to destroy and steal for profit.
Patrick Henry and John Leland helped shape The Bill of Rights and to know what our rights as Americans are.
Worldwide Banks (much like the Federal Reserve of today) had their hand in the Trans Continental Railroad and Manifest Destiny while men like Baptist preacher John Leland were fighting for the civil rights of the slaves as a contemporary of William Wilberforce. One was utilizing slave labor and the other was fighting for freedom and liberty for all mankind.

HERE IS THE PRINTABLE BOOK LIST