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Welcome to "American History," also known as "United States history."  This is likely to become your favorite course.  It has something for everyone: heroes, villains, criminal trials, comical mistakes, competitions, politics, literature, gold, silver, war, and peace.  You name it, American history has it.  We are going to have some fun in this course.

Welcome to "American history," also known as "United States history."  This is likely to become your favorite course.  It has something for everyone: heroes, villains, criminal trials, comical mistakes, competitions, politics, literature, gold, silver, war, and peace.  You name it, American history has it.  We are going to have some fun in this course.

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We will start without a textbook, to encourage students to be more proactive in learning history.  If we can find a good textbook or reference source, then we'll distribute it a few weeks into the course.

We will start without a textbook, to encourage students to be more proactive in learning history.  If we can find a good textbook or reference source, then we'll distribute it a few weeks into the course.

** overemphasis on [[liberal]]s and their beliefs, and denial of their failures

** overemphasis on [[liberal]]s and their beliefs, and denial of their failures

** obsession with materialism and inborn characteristics like race and gender

** obsession with materialism and inborn characteristics like race and gender

 

Common mistakes by students in history courses include:

Common mistakes by students in history courses include:

== Bias in American History ==

== Bias in American History ==

Every student in the [[United States]] is supposed to take several courses in [[American History]].  As a result, how this subject is taught has a big influence on what Americans believe, and how they vote when they are older.  Someone who is taught and believes that [[Bill Clinton]] or [[Jimmy Carter]] are great [[American]] heroes is more likely to vote [[Democratic]] than someone who learns that [[Ronald Reagan]] had a bigger and better impact than both of them combined in my opinion.  Going backwards in time, how the textbooks and teachers praise or criticize [[George Washington]] and [[Christopher Columbus]] can shape many students' minds both about America and about Christianity.

Every student in the [[United States]] is supposed to take several courses in [[American History]].  As a result, how this subject is taught has a big influence on what Americans believe, and how they vote when they are older.  Someone who is taught and believes that [[Bill Clinton]] or [[Jimmy Carter]] are great [[American]] heroes is more likely to vote [[Democratic]] than someone who learns that [[Ronald Reagan]] had a bigger and better impact than both of them combined.  Going backwards in time, how the textbooks and teachers praise or criticize [[George Washington]] and [[Christopher Columbus]] can shape many students' minds both about America and about Christianity.

Bias is worth recognizing, and it can even be fun spotting the half-truths and misleading claims that are put in textbooks and exams to try to take students away from Christian truths and American patriotism.  Our Honors track in this course will enable students to address bias they see in textbooks, Wikipedia, and other sources concerning American history.

Bias is worth recognizing, and it can even be fun spotting the half-truths and misleading claims that are put in textbooks and exams to try to take students away from Christian truths and American patriotism.  Our Honors track in this course will enable students to address bias they see in textbooks, Wikipedia, and other sources concerning American history.

* Post-Reagan Prosperity and the dot-com boom

* Post-Reagan Prosperity and the dot-com boom

* [[9/11]] and [[terrorism]]

* [[9/11]] and [[terrorism]]

On the SAT II in U.S History, the breakdown of questions is like this:

On the SAT II in U.S History, the breakdown of questions is like this:

Using common sense and your imagination can serve you very well in mastering American history.  Pause for a moment and predict what would likely happen to a nice chunk of fertile land, possibly containing riches like gold, located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.  Would some Europeans want to go there?  Which ones would want to go there, and why?

Using common sense and your imagination can serve you very well in mastering American history.  Pause for a moment and predict what would likely happen to a nice chunk of fertile land, possibly containing riches like gold, located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.  Would some Europeans want to go there?  Which ones would want to go there, and why?

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One reason is to convert the natives to Christianity, just as home school families today often go on missionary trips to distant lands.  Another reason is to search for gold and other riches.  A third reason is to obtain freedom.  Another reason is for the same reason people climb mountains:  because they are there!  Some want to escape where they are.  Others want to set up a new community, perhaps a new religious environment.  Others hope to meet new people and make new friends, engage in the trade of goods with the people.  Another motivation is to learn from the new people, or have adventures and then write about them.

One reason is to convert the natives to Christianity, just as homeschool families today often go on missionary trips to distant lands.  Another reason is to search for gold and other riches.  A third reason is to obtain freedom.  Another reason is for the same reason people climb mountains:  because they are there!  Some want to escape where they are.  Others want to set up a new community, perhaps a new religious environment.  Others hope to meet new people and make new friends, engage in the trade of goods with the people.  Another motivation is to learn from the new people, or have adventures and then write about them.

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What is likely to happen if a bunch of Europeans go to this land? There will be  conflict. Conflicts with the natives.  Conflicts with other European countries.  Conflicts with the mother country that sent the settlers.  New opportunities for improvements, for new products, for new businesses, for new religions, for new systems of government.

What is likely to happen if a bunch of Europeans go to this land? There will be  conflict. Conflicts with the natives.  Conflicts with other European countries.  Conflicts with the mother country that sent the settlers.  New opportunities for improvements, for new products, for new businesses, for new religions, for new systems of government.

The American Indians, also called Native Americans, were [[nomads]] who traveled across wide areas.  They did not read and write, and they lacked a monetary system.  They were organized by tribes and some had simple forms of government.  There was the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] that united some, but typically there was a lack of unity that led to their easy defeat by Europeans.  The Indians did introduce [[tobacco]] and [[corn]] to Europeans, and they became widely popular back in Europe.

The American Indians, also called Native Americans, were [[nomads]] who traveled across wide areas.  They did not read and write, and they lacked a monetary system.  They were organized by tribes and some had simple forms of government.  There was the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] that united some, but typically there was a lack of unity that led to their easy defeat by Europeans.  The Indians did introduce [[tobacco]] and [[corn]] to Europeans, and they became widely popular back in Europe.

Textbooks written after 1970 began claiming that around A.D. 1000, the Scandinavian [[Leif Ericson]] established a small colony at [[Vinland]], where the present [[Newfoundland]] is (north of Maine).  But there is very little evidence that such a colony existed, and no explanation for what happened to it. Or at least I hope they don't find any. That would upset my childhood memory of the stories told me.  It did not last long even if it did exist, and there is no sign of any Viking colony in what is now the United States.<ref>"People have been looking hard for hundreds of years and there is no archaeological evidence in this part [New England]— it's certainly possible, the Vikings were incredible boat handlers — '''but there is no evidence'''," observed one university history professor.[http://farshores.org/a04viki.htm]</ref>.

Textbooks written after 1970 began claiming that around A.D. 1000, the Scandinavian [[Leif Ericson]] established a small colony at [[Vinland]], where the present [[Newfoundland]] is (north of Maine).  But there is very little evidence that such a colony existed, and no explanation for what happened to it.  It did not last long even if it did exist, and there is no sign of any Viking colony in what is now the United States.<ref>"People have been looking hard for hundreds of years and there is no archaeological evidence in this part [New England]— it's certainly possible, the Vikings were incredible boat handlers — '''but there is no evidence'''," observed one university history professor.[http://farshores.org/a04viki.htm]</ref>.

''Exam note'': there are no more than one or two questions about the Pre-Columbian period on any American history exam.

''Exam note'': there are no more than one or two questions about the Pre-Columbian period on any American history exam.