U. S. History
U.S. History
1607 – 1763
1878 – 1913
1764 – 1788
1914 – 1918
1789 – 1849
1919 – 1945
1850 – 1877
1946 – present
Here at the Sculley Academy, we study U.S. History from about A.D. 1607 to the present, in a systematic way, covering every time period every four years.
We study a time period by any of the following methods:
surf the web:
study historical biographies
This Day in History
Best of History Web Sites
read “living books” from that period
use computer / internet to explore the period
study biographies of leaders, scientists, inventors, musicians, artists, writers, explorers, missionaries
make models of buildings, costumes, etc.
explore interesting U.S. History web sites like:
play games from the period
examine art and music from that period
visit museums, both real and virtual
make period arts and crafts
get cool, cheap (!) projects / books from Dover Publications
play music or sing songs from the period
Cobblestone U.S. History magazines
memorize a poem from that period
Jackdaw
cook something from that period
make an item of period clothing
Erie Canal website
watch videos about that time period
1607 – 1763
Christopher Columbus
We read these books:
Christopher Columbus: First Voyage to America
In 1492
A Picture Book of Christopher Columbus
Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
Explorers Who Got Lost
Christopher Columbus: Sailing the Sea of Darkness
We explored these websites:
Columbus and the Age of Discovery
1492 Exhibit
We made a panorama from Dover, entitled “Columbus Discovers America Panorama”.
The children colored pages about Christopher Columbus.
Colonial America
Paul, Karen, P, J, M, and C visited Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown Plantation.
listened to a speech given by Thomas Jefferson, followed by a witty question and answer session
Paul and the boys participated in army drills, led by a rather feisty sergeant!
learned about various foods consumed in the late 1700s
played hide-and-go-seek in a maze garden
were greatly entertained by actors who would *not* under any circumstances be out of character (e.g. they pretended to have no idea what a camera was)
We visited Colonial Williamsburg again (all 8 of us this time!)
talked with actors who dressed and acted like people who lived in this time period
watched artisans make barrels, cooks prepare period foods, etc.
watched military re-enactments, including General George Washington inspecting the troops
listened to Patrick Henry give a famous speech (!)
participated in a military review; Paul was a captain; P, J, M, and C were regulars
We explored these websites:
Colonial Williamsburg (Day in the Life) website — this is an amazing site we keep coming back to over and over
America’s Homepage: Plymouth, MA
The Thirteen Colonies
13 Originals
Characteristics of the Colonies
Sam’s 13 Colonies
American Colonies
Candlemaking
We played these games:
Made for Trade, a game about Colonial America — this has become a family favorite!
Voyage of the Mayflower
We read these books:
Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall–an excellent book, and a perennial family favorite
Meet Felicity
Felicity Takes a Dare
On the Mayflower
Samuel Eaton’s Day
Sarah Morton’s Day
Tapenum’s Day
Homes in the Wilderness
Three Young Pilgrims
ABC Book of Early Americana
A Gathering of Days
The Diary of an Early American Boy
The children did book reviews:
P did a book review on Felicity Learns a Lesson, by Valerie Tripp.
J did a book review on Felicity’s New Sister, by Valerie Tripp.
We did some activities from Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in the New World.
We learned about the original 13 colonies, and noted the differences between them and today’s states of the same name.
We learned about the varying kinds of stores that you would have found in a typical colonial town.
The children baked Breakfast Puffs (a.k.a. Popovers) and Sally Lunn Bread (delicious!).
We watched these movies:
This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers
Squanto and the First Thanksgiving
We used a Dover stencil book, Fun with Thanksgiving
P & J wrote facts about the Maryland colony, starting each sentence with a letter from “Maryland”.
French & Indian War
We read these books:
The Matchlock Gun
We watched the movie, The Light in the Forest.
We explored these websites:
The French and Indian War Homepage
Montcalm and Wolfe
1764 – 1788
George Washington
We cooked and ate the kind of breakfast George Washington would have enjoyed–tea and hoecakes.
We read these books:
George Washington (d’Aulaire)
George Washington’s Mother
George Washington: A Picture Book Biography
I Did it With My Hatchet: A Story of George Washington
We explored these websites:
Biography of George Washington
Historic Mount Vernon
Thomas Jefferson
We read these books:
A Picture Book of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biography
Grand Papa and Ellen Aroon
We watched part of the PBS series entitled Thomas Jefferson.
We explored the website, Thomas Jefferson.
We read part of the Declaration of Independence.
1789 – 1849
George Washington (1732 – 1799), John Adams (1735 – 1826), Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), James Madison (1751 – 1836), James Monroe (1758 – 1831), John Quincy Adams (1767 – 1848), Andrew Jackson (1767 – 1845), Martin Van Buren (1782 – 1862), William H. Harrison (1773 – 1841), John Tyler (1790 – 1862), James K. Polk (1795 – 1849), Zachary Taylor (1784 – 1850)
History of U.S.: volume 4 – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Banneker, Washington D.C., U.S. census, John Adams, Lewis & Clark expedition, Tecumseh, Osceola, War of 1812, James Madison, star-spangled banner, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, cotton, muskets, Erie Canal, steamboats, steam locomotives. Sequoyah, Cherokee nation, Trail of Tears, Seminole Wars, slavery, plantations, abolition, Frederick Douglass, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Daniel Webster, John Calhoun
History of U.S.: volume 5 – Oregon Territory, Louisiana Purchase, Davy Crockett, Jedidiah Smith, Santa Fe Trail, rise in immigration, Oregon Trail, Mormon settlements, Spanish missions, California, Texas, Alamo, Mexican War, California Gold Rush, Clipper Ships, Pony Express, Morse code, Stagecoaches, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Nathaniel Bowditch, Whaling, Commodore Perry, John Deere’s steel plow, Cyrus McCormick’s reaper, Elias Howe’s sewing machine, Charles Goodyear’s vulcanized rubber, Samuel Morse’s electric telegraph, indoor plumbing, city life, John Jacob Astor, railroads, education, women’s rights
American Indians
Soft Rain: A Story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears
Lewis & Clark Expedition
Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark
Lewis & Clark expedition virtual fun
We read How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark. The kids really enjoyed this one, as there were lots of extra tidbits to read on every page.
P and J colored pages from Dover’s Lewis & Clark coloring book.
Westward Expansion
Children of the Covered Wagon (Mary Jane Carr)
They’re Off! The Story of the Pony Express (Cheryl Harness)
We participated in the Oregon Trail Virtual Wagon Train Trek (watch for this to recur again next January). We tracked our virtual travels using our Streets & Trips software, so now if we ever get to the “real thing” (via air-conditioned van with fast food stops along the way, thank you very much), we know the approximate route the early settlers took!
We read Josefina Story Quilt, by Eleanor Coerr, which tells of a pioneer family’s journey out west, and the little girl who journaled via quilt squares. We also designed our own quilt squares.
We read Frontier Dream, by Catherine E. Chambers.
Biographies
We read Child of the Silent Night: The Story of of Laura Bridgman, by Edith Fisher Hunter. It is the touching story of a woman who, despite having only one of her senses, managed to live a full and victorious life.
We read Carry On, Mr Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham. It is a wonderful biography, especially for our math-loving family, because Nathaniel Bowditch was a brilliant mathematician and astronomer. We read this after lunch / dinner for several weeks, and thoroughly enjoyed the story.
Achievements
We read The Amazing, Impossible Erie Canal (Cheryl Harness), an inspiring story about perseverance and dedication.
1850 – 1877
Millard Fillmore (1800 – 1874), Franklin Pierce (1804 – 1869), James Buchanan (1791 – 1868), Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865), Andrew Johnson (1808 – 1875), Ulysses S. Grant (1822 – 1885), Rutherford B. Hayes (1822 – 1893)
History of U.S.: volume 5 – Sojourner Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, mill life, working women & children, James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfefllow, Louisa May Alcott, Harvard, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, tall tales, John James Audubon, Gilbert Stuart, slavery, Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, Dred Scott, Frederick Douglass, underground railway
History of U.S.: volume 6 – Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, Jefferson Davis, slavery, John Brown, Robert E. Lee, Fort Sumter
Cool 1850-1877 links:
What’s the Cost? (compares cost of living in the 1850s with the present)
Sherman’s March to the Sea
Draw it Out (examining causes of civil unrest, starting with draft riots of 1863)
Civil War Letters
Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts
Ulysses S. Grant
Voices of Heroism
The Civil War (Ken Burns)
Civil War Music
The Union’s “Grand Strategy”
Transcontinental Railroad
The Demise of the Great American Frontier
Free Land
Slavery
The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railway (F. N. Monjo)
Civil War
Iron Scouts of the Confederacy (Lee McGiffin)s
The Boys War — we learned about some of the ways many children fought in the Civil War
A Picture Book of Robert E. Lee
Abe Lincoln’s Hat
Walking the Road to Freedom
A History of US, vol. 6: War, Terrible War
J read With Lee in Virginia
A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman
We explored toys of the Civil War era. The children each made spinning snake toys (from paper plates).
All 6 children acted in a play, Friendship and Freedom, from the American Girl collection, starring Addy. For our play, we modified it to make 3 of the parts male 🙂 We made a video of the whole thing–really cute!
Westward Expansion
We read Wagon Wheels, by Barbara Brenner.
1878 – 1913
James A. Garfield (1831 – 1881), Chester A. Arthur (1829 – 1886), Grover Cleveland (1837 – 1908), Benjamin Harrison (1833 – 1901), William McKinley (1843 – 1901), Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919), William H. Taft (1857 – 1930), Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924), Henry Ford (1863 – 1947), Amadeo Giannini (1870 – 1949), Wilbur and Orville Wright (1867 – 1912, 1871 – 1948), Helen Keller (1880 – 1968)
We read these books:
Shoes for Everyone: A Story about Jan Matzeliger
The Wright Brothers
Frontier Surgeons–A Story About the Mayo Brothers
Paddle-to-the-Sea
We’ll Race You Henry: A Story About Henry Ford
A History of US, vol. 7: Reconstruction & Reform
We visited the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia.
1914 – 1918
Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924), Margaret Sanger (1879 – 1966), Robert Goddard (1882 – 1945)
World War I
We read these books:
First World War (Living History)
The Language of Doves
Woodrow Wilson
The Singing Tree
Biographies
We read a biography of George Gershwin, by Mike Venezia, then listened to some Gershwin recordings.
1919 – 1945
Warren G. Harding (1865 – 1923), Calvin Coolidge (1872 – 1933), Herbert C. Hoover (1874 – 1964), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 – 1945), Harry S. Truman (1884 – 1972), Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962), Martha Graham (1894 – 1991), Charles Edward Merrill (1885 – 1956), Willis Carrier (1876 – 1950), Stephen Bechtel (1900 – 1989), Walt Disney (1901 – 1966), Juan Trippe (1899 – 1981), Edwin Hubble (1889 – 1953), Philo Farnsworth (1906 – 1971), Charles Lindbergh (1902 – 1974), Bill Wilson (1895 – 1971), The American G.I. (1939 – 1945)
World War II
We read these books:
Meet Molly
Don’t You Know There’s a War On
My Daddy Was a Soldier
Friends and Enemies
But No Candy
A History of US, vol. 9: War, Peace, and All That Jazz
We made parachutes out of bandanas and dolls / blocks.
We made “toad in the hole” (egg inside toast) and star-shaped jelly “flag sandwiches” — yum!
Biographies
We read Lindbergh.
1946 – present
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 – 1969), John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963), Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 – 1973), Richard M. Nixon (1913 – 1994), Gerald R. Ford (1913 – ?), Jimmy Carter (1924 – ?), Ronald W. Reagan (1911 – ?), George H. W. Bush (1924 – ?), Bill Clinton (1946 – ?), George W. Bush (? – ?), Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968), Louis Armstrong (1901 – 1971), Marlon Brando (1924 – ?), Rodgers and Hammerstein, Frank Sinatra (1915 – 1998), Lucille Ball (1911 – 1989), Bob Dylan (1941 – ?), Aretha Franklin (1942 – ?), Jim Henson (1936 – 1990), Steven Spielberg (1946 – ?), Bart Simpson, Oprah Winfrey (1954 – ?), William Levitt (1907 – 1994), Leo Burnett (1891 – 1971), Ray Kroc (1902 – 1984), Pete Rozelle (1926 – 1996), Sam Walton (1918 – 1992), Walter Reuther (1907 – 1970), Thomas Watson Jr. (1914 – 1993), Estee Lauder (1910 – ?), Bill Gates (1955 – ?), Jonas Salk (1914 – 1995), Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964), Jackie Robinson (1919 – 1972), Billy Graham (1918 – ?), Rosa Parks (1913 – ?), Marilyn Monroe (1927 – 1962), The Kennedys (1888 – ?), Muhammed Ali (1942 – ?), Bruce Lee (1940 -1973)
Biographies
“Basher Five-Two”
Civil Rights
We read The Empty Schoolhouse, and learned about how segregation affected children.
Communications
“Satellites” (Steve Parker)
“Telecommunications” (Chris Oxlade)
“Cyber Space: virtual reality and the World Wide Web” (David Jefferis)
Vietnam War
We talked with our friend Barry about his experiences in the Vietnam War.
We read Tough Choices, by Nancy Antle.
Other
We read about the 1950s.
We found out about the year 1963.
