Last week, I shared with you my plans to focus on Early American History this up-coming school year.  I am busy trying to get myself prepared for our first day, which will be in early August.  We like to start school when it is too hot to do anything productive outside.

The Thomas Jefferson Education calls this act of preparation on the part of the teacher, Mom School.  I have finished a great book by Charles C. Coffin, Sweet Land of Liberty.   It is the second in a series of three historical books by the same author.  Charles Coffin was a Civil War correspondent; therefore, his three historical books were written in the mid-1800s.  Since his audience is children, he writes in an engaging style.  The language is not archaic or hard-to-understand.  At the same time, it is certainly not watered down, but quite meaty.

The first book in the series is The Story of Liberty. This book shows the struggle between Protestantism and Catholicism from the perspective of freedom and liberty.  It is beautifully written and makes you better understand the significance of the Magna Carta, the printing of the Bible, the Inquisition, and the struggle to claim territory in the newly-discovered New World.  Mr. Coffin shows how the seeds of liberty were planted and grew to fullness in the future creation of the United States of America.  Rose Weiner, the publisher, writes, “Until the founding of America, 99% of the human race has had to live under the tyranny of ruler’s law.”

Sweet Land of Liberty, which was formerly titled, Old Times in the Colonies, covers the birth and growth of the colonies in the New World.  It also covers the growth of the Canadian settlements as well as the fight for territory between the Spanish, the Dutch, the French, and the English.  The most interesting part of the book is how Mr. Coffin shows the contrast between the French and the English.  I thought that the English and French were very similar, but he clearly shows how they were two very different civilizations based on their views of liberty.

In the preface, Mr. Coffin writes, “Through all the narratives of wars, massacres, and bloodshed, you will see Right, Justice, and Liberty ever advancing.”  This is exactly the feeling you get as you read this volume.  You also get to learn about Provincial heroes like John Stark and George Washington.  As you read about the French and Indian Wars, you come to see how colonists began to see that they could fight and win without the assistance of the British troops.

Now I am in the third book, The Boys of ’76.  It covers the battles of the Revolutionary War.  It reads more like a novel than the previous two books.  He tells the story of the principal battles as witnessed by those who took part in them through the eyes of four boys.  It is such a good book that I am considering putting it down and reading it aloud to my children when school begins.

I am also finishing The Five Thousand Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen and the first part of A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen.  I am reading as much as I can, but I don’t really have that much time in a day to sit down with a book.  However, I feel that it is extremely important to educate myself before discussing our nation’s history with my children.  I don’t want to simply repeat phrases like taxation without representation, but understand the underlying issues and ideas that made the colonists put their lives and livelihoods on the line.

If you are interested in learning more about Early American History, you just have to read.  Any of these books are great, but I am partial to Charles C. Coffin’s series.  Educate yourself.  Then you can be better prepared to teach your children and others.  I am going to leave you to ponder of the words of President Ronald Reagan taken from his farewell address.  Of course you can always leave a comment to explain your own perspective and/or thoughts.

Are we doing a good enough job of teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world?…We’ve got to do a better job of getting across the idea that America is freedom– freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise.  And freedom is special and rare.  It’s fragile and it needs protection… So we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion, but on what’s important, on why the pilgrims came here…If we forget what we did we won’t know who we are–I am warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result ultimately in an erosion of The American Spirit.

Tags: A Patriot's History of the United States, Charles C. Coffin, Early American History, Mom school, Sweet Land of Liberty, The Boys of '76, The Five Thousand Year Leap, The Story of Liberty, Thomas Jefferson Education

This entry was posted on Monday, July 18th, 2011 at 10:06 am and is filed under Homeschooling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.