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Preface to the HistoryAtOurHouse Edition for Homeschoolers and Lifelong Learners Anyone wishing to learn history in America today faces an almost insurmountable challenge. Modern history texts – even those intended for children – impede the reader with vast quantities of non-essential information. They abound with biased content (religious, multicultural, politicized, or otherwise subjective) while omitting, or at least deemphasizing, many of the most indispensable facts that render the story of the past intelligible. Consequently, students find themselves unable to grasp the “big picture” when it comes to human history, and thus lack the foundational awareness required to appreciate the deeper meaning and relevance of its component narratives. The reader will be relieved to learn that D. H. Montgomery’s Leading Facts of American History is different. The difference lies in the concept of “leading facts.” In the early twentieth century, historians still held to the premise that the purpose of learning history was to become “historically-minded.” This meant that one studied the past not as an end in itself, merely collecting a vast store of factual information, but rather to construct a body of abstract knowledge to inform one’s choices and actions in the present. With the intention of providing a useful picture of the past, historians instinctively applied a standard of selectivity to their writing, whereby the emphasis was placed on the facts that clarified the causal progression of events culminating in the present, i.e. the “leading facts.” As the reader will learn, when one strips away the clutter of history to reveal its straightforward fundamental progression of events, history makes sense as a whole. This is not to deny the presence of intricacies and controversies, which most certainly abound in the story of any nation. It is, in fact, to respect these complexities for what they are: adjuncts more appropriately pursued when one has first mastered the leading facts. I am thrilled that homeschoolers will have this resource at their disposal to help them salvage history education in America. Scott Powell Creator and Teacher, www.HistoryAtOurHouse.com |
Table of Contents
| Leading Dates |
xii | |
Text |
||
| I |
The Discovery and Naming of America, 1492-1522 |
1 |
| II |
Attempts at Exploring and Colonizing America |
20 |
| III |
Permanent English and French Settlements; The Thirteen Colonies |
41 |
| IV |
The Revolution; The Constitution, 1763-1789 |
134 |
| V |
The Union -- National Development; The Federalist Party in Power |
177 |
| VI |
The Democratic Party in Power |
191 |
| VII |
The New Democracy |
226 |
| VIII |
The Civil War, 1861-1865; The Republican Party in Power |
280 |
| IX |
Reconstruction -- The New Nation, 1865 to the Present Time |
328 |
Appendix |
||
| 1 |
The Declaration of Independence (with an introduction and notes) |
i (1) |
| 2 |
The Constitution (with an introduction and notes) |
vi (6) |
| 3 |
Table of states and territories |
xxv (25) |
| 4 |
List of books on American history |
xxxi (31) |
| 5 |
Table of boundaries of the United States |
xxxviii (38) |
| 6 |
Tables of population and representation of the United States |
xl (40) |
| 7 |
Questions | xlii (42) |
| 8 |
Topical Analysis |
lviii (58) |
| Index (with numerous dates and the pronunciation of difficult words) (26 pages long) |
lxxv (75) |
Sample Chapters
| You can click on one of the "View" links below to see the sample chapter
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containing the sample chapter. These files are in Adobe Acrobat format,
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links below to see if your computer is already set up to read them --
many are (e.g. Apple Mac computers come pre-installed with a program
Preview that can display these files). If not, you can download the
free program Adobe Reader from Adobe's web site. Chapter 1: The Discovery and Naming of America, 1492-1522 [View] [Download] Chapter 5: The Union -- National Development; The Federalist Party in Power [View] [Download] These sample chapters are created from the same images used to create the reprint. |
Notes on the process of creating this reprint
| This reprint was created in the same way as the first book in the HistoryAtOurHouse Series, titled "A Short History of Ancient Times". You can read about some of the details at the bottom of this web page if you are interested. |