NOTICE: This is an older course recorded with Adobe Connect and/or Vimeo recordings. We are currently working to replace the recordings with new Zoom recordings. Please don't hesitate to email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.
Note: This is Part One of a two-part course. For Part Two, please click here.
How to Get the Most Out of “American History: Lands of Hope and Promise, Part One” with Christopher Zehnder:
- Obtain the teacher's manual for Lands of Hope and Promise: A History of North America. The manual includes answer keys for the end-of-chapter exercises for each chapter as well as sample quizzes and tests for each chapter, with answer keys. You may find the teacher's manual along with the text here and here. Both are available in printed form as well as in ebook format.
- Go over the assigned reading and do the review questions for each class before listening to the recording. (A parent may wish a student to write out his or her answers to the review questions, though the course does not require it.)
- At least two quizzes are available in the textbook for every chapter, each quiz covering a portion of the chapter. A parent may use these to assess his student's progress. Listen to the recorded class, which covers the main points of each chapter, and give added insights into the period studied. Students might take notes – this is a good exercise in developing a skill that will be of use in college.
- Once the student completes the chapter and listens to the class recording, a parent may wish to use the chapter test to evaluate what the student has learned. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact the course presenter and author of Light to the Nations II, Christopher Zehnder, at editor@CatholicTextbookProject.com.
Total Classes: 12
Prerequisite: None
Suggested Grade Level: 8th to 12th grade
Suggested Credit: 1 full semester American History
Instructor: Christopher Zehnder, MA
Course Description: This course examines the history of the major civilizations of North America from the discovery of America in 1492 to the early 1970s. We will discuss the events, cultural movements, and ideas that led to the founding of the United States and contributed to its development as both a major power and influence both in North America and the world as a whole. The course examines the development of Latin America after the 18th century by examining concurrently the history of Mexico – and thus provides a counterpoint to U.S. history by looking at how the ideas that predominated in Anglo-America worked themselves out in a very different social and cultural context. In addition to the common themes discussed in standard American history courses, this course highlights the role of the Catholic Church and the Catholic faithful in U.S. and Latin American history and how Catholics adjusted themselves to a civilization that in many respects was very different from what they had known in Europe. The course is divided into two parts. Part I (first semester) begins with Columbus' discovery of America to the beginning of the Civil War in the United States. Part II (second semester) continues the story, beginning with the Civil War and concluding with the beginnings of our contemporary world in the early 1970s.
Course Materials: The text for the course (both Part One and Part Two) is Lands of Hope and Promise, A History of North America, published by and available from http://www.catholictextbookproject.com/. The text is now available in hardcover.
Homework: Students read assigned portions of the text. Lectures focus on those events and ideas that are the keys for understanding the historical periods under consideration.
- Teacher: Christopher Zehnder