Welcome to Our Understanding Modern History Homeschool History Curriculum

Course Sample for Our Understanding Modern History Homeschool Curriculum

For a full sample of this course, click here.

 

Unit Four – Effects of the American Revolution

Some people were afraid of having a centralized government after the problems with King George III, so the founding fathers needed to allay those fears by putting provisions into the new government to calm them.

The concern was that the Articles of Confederation had too many weaknesses that prevented it from effectively dealing with the problems the new nation faced, both domestically and in foreign affairs. In 1787, the Philadelphia Convention met to discuss a new national government that would be stronger and, therefore, more able to govern the new nation.

Some of the fears that needed to be addressed were:

• size discrepancy among states – smaller states would lose power to larger states
• weak central government – lack of uniform currency, concerns over trade policies
• unwritten word not secure – poor past experience with Britain
• conflict with other states – border and trade disputes
• foreign powers – possibility of invasion
• strong executive powers – unpleasant experience with George III
• losing individual rights – no written guarantee of individual rights

After finishing this week’s lessons, you should be able to meet the following objectives:

1. Discuss the effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation as an instrument of government
2. Understand how the Founding Fathers balanced competing interests when creating a centralized government
3. Describe the various means Alexander Hamilton used to put the federal government on a sound financial footing
4. Describe the roles of Madison and Hamilton and how conflict over Hamilton’s policies led to the formation of the first American political parties
5. Describe the growth of discontent in mid-1700s France
6. Explain why and how the French Revolution spread
7. Identify ways in which Napoleon’s government was successful
8. Explain how France became an empire
9. Describe how Napoleon reorganized Europe
10. Discuss the events that led to Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo
11. Describe the polarizing effects of the French Revolution on American foreign policy and politics from 1790 to 1800
12. Explain why Washington negotiated the conciliatory Jay’s Treaty with the British and why it provoked Jeffersonian outrage
13. Describe the political atmosphere that produced the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in response
14. Describe the contrasting membership and principles of the Hamiltonian Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans.

Course Outline for Our Understanding Modern History Homeschool Curriculum

Understanding Modern History is a thirty-six week homeschool history course that explores topics from both American history and world history.

Unit One – Introduction

• Analyzing Primary Sources
• Review of Early American History

Unit Two – The Road to Independence

• Empires at War
• British Actions & Colonial Reactions
• Philosophical Foundations of American Revolution

Unit Three – The American Revolution and Its Aftermath

• Foundations for War
• The War
• Women, Native Americans & African Americans of the Revolution
• Results of the American Revolution

Unit Four – Effects of the American Revolution

• The Constitution
• The New Republic
• French Revolution

Unit Five – Jeffersonian Era

• Jefferson’s Presidency
• John Marshall and the Supreme Court
• Madison’s Presidency
• War of 1812

Unit Six – Early Nationalism

• Nationalism and Economic Development
• Missouri Compromise
• Growth of a Nation
• Industrialization

Unit Seven – Sectional Differences

• The North
• The South
• The West

Unit Eight – The Age of Jackson

• Jacksonian Democracy
• Jackson’s Presidency
• Nullification/Two-Party System

Unit Nine – A Revolution for Within

• Rise of the Reformers
• Arts & Literature
• Reforming Society

Unit Ten – Manifest Destiny

• Expansion Through Conflicts
• Southern and Western Expansion
• Politics

Unit Eleven – Reform and Revolution in Europe

• United Kingdom
• France
• Russia
• Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire

Unit Twelve – American Civil War

• A Union in Peril
• Road to Secession
• Events of the War
• Effects of the American Civil War

Unit Thirteen – Reconstruction

• Congressional Reconstruction
• Reconstruction in the South
• Unification in Europe

Unit Fourteen – Transforming Our American Nation

• The West: Settlement of the Last Frontier
• Building a New South
• Farm Problems

Unit Fifteen – The Rise of Industrial America

• The Business of Railroads
• Industrial Empires
• Technology & Innovations
• Organized Labor Struggles

Unit Sixteen – Growth of Cities and Urban Life

• A Nation of Immigrants
• Urbanization
• Awakening of Reform

Unit Seventeen – The Gilded Age

• Politics During the Gilded Age
• Growth of Discontent
• A Turning Point in American Politics

Unit Eighteen – An Emerging World Power

• U.S. Involvement in Foreign Affairs
• The “New Imperialism”
• Spanish-American War
• Foreign Diplomacy

Unit Nineteen – European and American Power Expands

• Reasons for Imperialism
• British East India Company
• China and Japan
• Power in Southeast Asia

Unit Twenty – The Progressive Era

• Origins of Progressivism
• Political Reforms
• Civil Rights and the Suffrage Movement

Unit Twenty-One – World War I and Its Aftermath

• Setting the Stage for War
• The U.S. Enters the War
• U.S. Home Front during the War
• Russian Revolution
• Toward a New Peace

Unit Twenty-Two – The 1920s

• Presidential Administrations
• Economy
• Culture

Unit Twenty-Three – The Great Depression and the New Deal

• Causes and Effects of the Great Depression
• Roosevelt’s New Deal

Unit Twenty-Four – Moving Toward Another World War

• Unrest in Europe
• U.S. Response Toward European War
• Pearl Harbor
• Effects in the U.S.

Unit Twenty-Five – World War II

• U.S. Involvement
• European Leadership
• World War II Conferences
• The War’s Legacy

Unit Twenty-Six – Truman and the Cold War

• Postwar America
• Origins of Cold War
• Korean War

Unit Twenty-Seven – The World Following the War

• Post-War Europe
• Middle East and Northern Africa
• India and Eastern Asia

Unit Twenty-Eight – The Eisenhower Years

• Eisenhower Takes Command
• Origins of the Civil Rights Movement
• Popular Culture

Unit Twenty-Nine – Civil Rights and Social Reform

• Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society
• Civil Rights and Conflict
• Counterculture
• Women’s Liberation, Native Americans, and the Space Program

Unit Thirty – Political Actions of the Civil Rights Era

• The Kennedy Years
• Vietnam War
• U.S. Administrations in Turmoil

Unit Thirty-One – America’s Limitations

• Nixon Administration
• Policies Under Ford and Carter
• American Society in Transition

Unit Thirty-Two – Changing Views and Challenges

• Rise of Conservatism
• Foreign Policy During the Reagan Years

Unit Thirty-Three – War on Terror

• Bush Administration
• Clinton Administration

Unit Thirty-Four – Central & South American Colonization and Independence

• Mexican Reform
• Central American Nations
• South American Geography
• Independence in South America

Unit Thirty-Five – Famous Individuals

• Political Leaders
• Reformers
• Scientists
• Other Notable Figures

Unit Thirty-Six – Conclusion

• Final Project