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== Why America? ==

== Why America? ==

Using common sense and your imagination can serve you very well in mastering American history.  Pause for a moment and predict 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 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 (give them something you 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 this land?  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.

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Who is going to pay for exploration and settlement?  Kings.  Investors.  Do-gooders.  Churches.  Mostly nobody.

Who is going to pay for exploration and settlement?  Kings.  Investors.  Do-gooders.  Churches.  Mostly nobody.

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Who is going to do the hard labor needed to set up a new community, like chopping down trees, working the farms, constructing buildings?  There is almost no money to pay anyone.  Families might do some.  [[Indentured servants]].  Slaves.

Who is going to do the hard labor needed to set up a new community, such as chopping down trees, working the farms, constructing the buildings?  There is almost no money to pay anyone for the work.  Families might do some.  [[Indentured servants]].  Slaves.

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It also helps to look for unifying themes to organize events in your mind.  One theme that helps explain American history works well is the overall expansion of Christianity, for 2000 years.  Why did [[Christopher Columbus]] and other explorers risk their lives to come to the New World?  To spread Christianity.  Why did families then risk their lives to settle here?  To establish religious communities free of persecution.  Two hundred years later, why did Massachusetts prohibit slavery and why did abolitionists President [[John Quincy Adams]] devote their lives to ending slavery?  Because their religious values told them slavery was wrong.

It also helps to look for unifying themes to organize events in your mind.  One theme that helps explain American history well is the overall expansion of Christianity, for 2000 years.  Why did [[Christopher Columbus]] and other explorers risk their lives to come to the New World?  To spread Christianity.  Why did families then risk their lives to settle here?  To establish religious communities free of persecution.  Two hundred years later, why did Massachusetts prohibit slavery and why did abolitionists President [[John Quincy Adams]] devote their lives to ending slavery?  Because their religious values told them slavery was wrong.

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There are other possible themes also.  How about the desire to make more money, or make some money?  How about the urge for self-government, to be in charge of oneself free from a monarchy?  How about the advance of technology and its affect on how we live?  There are many possible themes to American history and we will have fun debates about them.

There are other possible themes also.  How about the desire to make more money, or make some money?  How about the urge for self-government, to be in charge of oneself free from a monarchy?  How about the advance of technology and its affect on how we live?  There are many possible themes to American history and we will have fun debates about them.

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From 1789 until today, we have had an American President.  He is not more important than others.  If I had to name the ten most important Americans in history, I would only include one president in the list (the first one, [[George Washington]]).  But memorizing the list of 43 presidents can help you organize all the other facts.  When someone asks me what was happening in 1962, then I think of who was president and then remember the issues of that time.  The presidents become like drawers, one per president, filled with issues and events.

From 1789 until today, we have had an American President.  He is not more important than others.  If I had to name the ten most important Americans in history, I would only include one president in the list (the first one, [[George Washington]]).  But memorizing the list of 43 presidents can help you organize all the other facts.  When someone asks me what was happening in 1962, I think of who was president and then remember the issues of that time.  The presidents become like drawers, one per president, filled with issues and events.

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But before 1789 there was no president.  How are we going to organize that?  One way is to focus on the three most important colonies, [[Virginia]] (1607), [[Massachusetts]] (1620) and [[Pennsylvania]] (1681), and relate the other 11 colonies and events to them.  Another way is to look at the battles that occurred before the [[American Revolution]], such as the [[French and Indian War]] in 1754-60.

But before 1789 there was no president.  How are we going to organize that?  One way is to focus on the three most important colonies, [[Virginia]] (1607), [[Massachusetts]] (1620) and [[Pennsylvania]] (1681), and relate the other 11 colonies and events to them.  Another way is to look at the battles that occurred before the [[American Revolution]], such as the [[French and Indian War]] in 1754-60.