A Good Founding in History
I hope that everyone had a great July 4th. My family went to my sister-in-law’s home near Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. If you don’t know anything about Texas history, Washington-on-the-Brazos is the site where Texians gathered together and signed the Declaration of Independence from Mexico in 1836. Usually H-E-B and the park put on a spectacular fireworks show, but they could not this year with the drought. So, we watched a laser light show instead.
Before the laser light show began, the park showed a short video comparing the fight for independence from England in 1776 and Mexico half a century later. I found it fascinating because I had never thought about the similarities.
Celebrating the Fourth and being at the “Birthplace of Texas” excited me. I had decided at the end of our home school session a few months ago to focus on the Founding of the United States of America the following school year. I have purchased several interesting resources that I am excited to use to aid our understanding.
My husband and I decided not to do the typical U.S. historical span of starting with the Native Americans and studying up through the Civil War in one school year. Instead, we want to slow down and really study the founding of our nation. We want to focus on character, emphasizing that character is one of the most important things in life. It cannot be purchased. It cannot be stolen. However, you can tear it down by your words and actions. You cannot take your education, your health, your money, your possessions to Heaven, but you do take your character.
Regardless of what revisionist history teaches today, our Founding Fathers were men of character as well as women like Abigail Adams, Deborah Sampson, and Molly Pitcher. Were they perfect? No, are you? They are good role models. They put their lives, fortunes, and Sacred honor on the line.
How many signers of the Declaration of Independence can you name? There were 56. I am sure that you know Thomas Jefferson wrote the document. John Hancock’s signature is the largest. Do you know many more signers? I hate to admit that I do not. I purchased the book, For You They Signed, by Marilyn Boyer. It is a collection of character studies on the lives of each signer. Some families use it as part of their daily Bible devotions. I cannot wait to recognize and know something about all 56 men, who declared to the world that “all men are created by equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
I also bought Drive Through History America: Foundations of Character. It is a DVD-series that focus on a diverse group of founders, including Haym Salomon, a Spanish Jew, and Benjamin Banneker, a man with African ancestry. Again, the entire study focuses on the character of these men and women, not just a simple paragraph summarizing what they did.
I have additional resources at my disposal, but these are the two that I am most excited about. My husband and I feel strongly that studying the founding of these United States of America is extremely important so that our children will know where they come from. For us, it is not just a national identity; it is also a personal identity since many of our ancestors were here living in the colonies and helped fight for independence.
Not being well-grounded in the founding of our nation allows one to take our freedom for granted. Society will be easily swayed to abandon our Constitution and/or lose liberty. Since the early 1900s, there has been a trend to vilify our Founders and focuses on the mistakes of our nation. This trend is called deconstructionism. David Barton from Wallbuilders writes, “As a result of the work of Deconstructionists, most Americans today can recite more of what’s wrong with America and the Founding Fathers than what’s right.”
Wallbuilders is also a great resource for historical study. Mr. Barton has compiled a great on-line library with primary sources at your disposal. In addition, he sends out newsletters usually looking at current events through the lens of the Constitution. They are always thought-provoking and interesting.
In Texas, high school students do not even study the founding of our country. In fact as shocking as it is, they do not even study the Civil War. They begin their study of US History in 1877. It is a fact that I find unbelievable.
Thanks to some great resources and the freedom that home-schooling offers, my family will be getting a good founding in Early American History. Once we lay a great foundation, we can then at our own pace build the rest of our nation’s history on it. Then we can rightly identify our rights as citizens, know the Christian heritage of our nation, and fight to keep our freedom in present and future trials.
