Changes

Don’t try to memorize hundreds of dates.  Instead, when you see a date, think what happened before and after it.  There are only about ten dates that you need to know.  All other dates, such as those in the event list, are there just for the purpose of ordering events.  For example, no one will ask you when Georgia was founded as a colony.  But you may be asked whether it was the first or last colony founded.  (It was the last colony established.)  Another example:  [[Quebec]] was founded in 1608.  Don’t remember the 1608, but remember that Quebec was founded one year after [[Jamestown]] was established (1607 – one of the few dates you should memorize!)

Don’t try to memorize hundreds of dates.  Instead, when you see a date, think what happened before and after it.  There are only about ten dates that you need to know.  All other dates, such as those in the event list, are there just for the purpose of ordering events.  For example, no one will ask you when Georgia was founded as a colony.  But you may be asked whether it was the first or last colony founded.  (It was the last colony established.)  Another example:  [[Quebec]] was founded in 1608.  Don’t remember the 1608, but remember that Quebec was founded one year after [[Jamestown]] was established (1607 – one of the few dates you should memorize!)

<br><br>

<br><br>

If you have a good memory, then memorize the facts.  If you have a poor memory, then focus on the trends and movements in history.  This course gives you four different ways to learn the material:  (1) the lectures, (2) the textbook, (3) the event list and (4) the homework assignments.  Different students will learn better from some approaches than others.  It’s your job to find what works best for you.  At the end your progress will be measured by multiple choice exams.

If you have a good memory, then memorize the facts.  If you have a poor memory, then focus on the trends and movements in history.  This course gives you four different ways to learn the material:  (1) the lectures, (2) Conservapedia, (3) the event list and (4) the homework assignments.  Different students will learn better from some approaches than others.  It’s your job to find what works best for you.  At the end your progress will be measured by multiple choice exams.

<br><br>

<br><br>

This class is a different approach to American history than most courses that take all year.  Learning in a simple and quick manner can sometimes be better.  It’s easier to see how events relate to each other.  It’s easier to see the big picture.  When you want to find your way somewhere, do you want a road map that has every single detail and building on it?  No, that is too hard to read.  You want a map that has the important things on it.  Same with studying history:  don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by unimportant details.  Focus on the big stuff.

This class is a different approach to American history than most courses that take all year.  Learning in a simple and quick manner can sometimes be better.  It’s easier to see how events relate to each other.  It’s easier to see the big picture.  When you want to find your way somewhere, do you want a road map that has every single detail and building on it?  No, that is too hard to read.  You want a map that has the important things on it.  Same with studying history:  don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by unimportant details.  Focus on the big stuff.

But while Roger Williams was highly moral, others in Rhode Island made it the biggest importer of slaves in all the colonies.  So censoring religion may have a price.  In contrast, in the larger Massachusetts, taxes funded religious institutions for nearly 200 years, until at least the 1830s.  It successfully prohibited slavery.  Another devout Christian who disagreed with the Puritans and left them was named [[Anne Hutchinson]].  She, however, was later killed by Indians.

But while Roger Williams was highly moral, others in Rhode Island made it the biggest importer of slaves in all the colonies.  So censoring religion may have a price.  In contrast, in the larger Massachusetts, taxes funded religious institutions for nearly 200 years, until at least the 1830s.  It successfully prohibited slavery.  Another devout Christian who disagreed with the Puritans and left them was named [[Anne Hutchinson]].  She, however, was later killed by Indians.

<br><br>

<br><br>

Let’s turn to the textbook, page 75, under “Rhode Island.” The textbook says, “This belief [by Roger Williams] in the separation of church and state became a cornerstone of the American Constitution in 1787.”  That is completely false.  Roger Williams was long dead by 1787, and there is separation of church and state in the Constitution.  Some people want to keep religion out of government, but the First Amendment only prohibits the establishment of a national church by the government.

One prominent text claims, under “Rhode Island,” that “This belief [by Roger Williams] in the separation of church and state became a cornerstone of the American Constitution in 1787.”  That is completely false.  Roger Williams was long dead by 1787, and there is separation of church and state in the Constitution.  Some people want to keep religion out of government, but the First Amendment only prohibits the establishment of a national church by the government.

<br><br>

<br><br>

In between Massachusetts and Virginia there was a third approach:  that taken by Pennsylvania.  William Penn was another extraordinary Englishman.  He converted to become a Quaker in England and began practicing that religion in violation of English law.  He was arrested and prosecuted, but the jury refused to convict him.  The king owed his father money, and gave the son what is today Pennsylvania.  It was nothing but woods at the time.  But William Penn founded his colony based on one principle:  religious freedom for all.  He advertised in Europe and attracted peoples of many nationalities in addition to the English.   

In between Massachusetts and Virginia there was a third approach:  that taken by Pennsylvania.  William Penn was another extraordinary Englishman.  He converted to become a Quaker in England and began practicing that religion in violation of English law.  He was arrested and prosecuted, but the jury refused to convict him.  The king owed his father money, and gave the son what is today Pennsylvania.  It was nothing but woods at the time.  But William Penn founded his colony based on one principle:  religious freedom for all.  He advertised in Europe and attracted peoples of many nationalities in addition to the English.