(HISTORY and AMERICAN GOVERNMENT)
America: The First 350 Years (16 American History audio tapes with
study notes and bibliography by Pastor Stephen Wilkins) Available from
several sources. True history - not modern day revision.

"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it."
--Daniel Webster

The newest history source recommended to us is Gileskirk Curriculum with lectures by
by Dr. George Grant. It seems pricey but very comparable to online classes. This is
an excellent resource for true history for your older students! For more information see
http://gileskirk.com/. To read Dr. Grant's blog go to http://kingsmeadow.com/blogger.html.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour - current news as well as other information. See
http://www.mississippi.gov/index.jsp.

The White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov/.

Our President and Mississippi's governor "inherited" some very challenging problems for
which they were not responsible. They have also faced extremely difficult events during
their terms in office. As men of faith and courage, they have tried to face these problems,
taking responsibility for the challenges, and working for a better future for our children.
Although we don't agree with all of their decisions, we are thankful for the good they have
done for our state and country. Please pray for our leaders as I Timothy 2:1, 2 instructs us.

For traditional textbooks, we have enjoyed ABeka for elementary and jr. high and Streams of
Civilization, Volumes 1 & 2 for high school. For us, having a textbook to use as a basis for
chronological emphasis while supplementing with biographies and historical fiction has been
useful. For Church history we use History of the Church by Elders C. B. and Sylvester
Hassell published in 1886. It has very challenging vocabulary!

I have heard it said that history is really "His Story." Truthquest History guides can be used
as a supplement to any history curriculum to broaden understanding and discernment, and to
overlay a Christian perspective. See http://www.truthquesthistory.com.

A site for children's classical historical literature including An Island Story and
This Country of Ours is http://www.yesterdaysclassics.com/catalog/history.php.

Psalm 33:12, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the
people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance."

WallBuilders "rebuilding the constitutional, moral, and religious heritage of America."
David Barton. See http://www.wallbuilders.com "The Spiritual Heritage video tour
of Washington, D.C.;" The Bulletproof George Washington book; videos or audio cassettes
with topics such as "Education and the Founding Fathers," "Keys to Good Government,"
and "America's Godly Heritage;" pamphlets and American Heritage poster series.

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded,
not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."
--Patrick Henry

Beautiful Feet Books - history through Literature http://www.bfbooks.com/.
(books grouped according to time periods in history - normal disclaimers apply)

Greenleaf Press (history) Rob and Cyndy Shearer http://www.greenleafpress.com/.
Great reading grouped according to time periods, Dover coloring books, activity books,
paper dolls, Klutz books and games, biographies, and curriculum other than history.

Veritas Press has outstanding resources for history. Choose grade level; then choose subject
area of "History" for recommendations. See http://www.veritaspress.com/store/home.asp.

History based readers from Christian Liberty Press are enjoyable for children.
Such titles as History Stories for Children, Stories of the Pilgrims,
Boys and Girls of Colonial Days, The Story of Inventions, and
The Story of the Wright Brothers & their Sister are all recommended.

All Through the Ages by Christine Miller (See http://nothingnewpress.com/atta.shtml.)

Historical fiction by G. A. Henty makes interesting reading for students.
Other good "whole" books for history include the Childhood of Famous Americans
biography series (the old Bobbs-Merrill series) and books by Genevieve Foster.

Read books of a specific time period to coordinate with history studies like the following:
ROMAN empire historical fiction, The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare, is a favorite;
MEDIEVAL books like Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray and The Door in the Wall
by Marguerite de Angeli - both Newbery winners;
EARLY AMERICAN history's Indian Captive: the Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski and
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, both Newbery winners, and Silver for
General Washington: a Story of Valley Forge by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft. Books
about PIONEERS by Barbara Greenwood include, A Pioneer Story and Pioneer Crafts.
Our favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House book is Farmer Boy;
WORLD WAR II story, Snow Treasure: a Story of Courage and Adventure by Marie
McSwigan; and another Newbery about a
VIETNAM War POW who returns home is Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen.
(We have enjoyed reading many of the earlier Newbery winners.)

"A politician thinks of the next election -- a statesman, of the next generation."
--James Freeman Clarke

It can sometimes be said that "bad officials are elected by good people who don't vote."
Perhaps it can also be said they are elected when Christian candidates don't run.

"Electing America's Leaders" is a unit study by Konos described as "a fabulous
9-10 week unit on the electoral process and how to positively influence the process
through hands-on campaigning." See http://www.konos.com/highschool/leaders.htm.

Constitutional Law for Christian Students by Michael Farris. A high school course taught
by Michael Farris is available online. See http://conlaw.hslda.org/cms/.

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions
unbridled by morality and religion...Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious
people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -John Adams

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (History overview from the Ancient World to the
Modern World - some evolution is at the beginning but good reference tool. There are
colorful and interesting illustrations.)

A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer (some evolution, but good overview for
young children) The original is out of print, but it can requested at your local library.
Reprints are now also available through Veritas Press.)

The Rewriting of America's History and Great American Statesmen both by Catherine
Millard, founder and president of Christian Heritage Tours, Inc., a tour group in the D.C.
area. See http://www.christianheritagetours.org/.

"...it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can
securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue." - John Adams

"While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue
then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader."
---Samuel Adams

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any price, peace-at-any-price,
safety-first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."
--Theodore Roosevelt

Luke 12:15, " And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for
a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

This Country of Ours see at http://amblesideonline.org/TCOOContents.shtml and
Our Island Story both by H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth) Marshall

Children's books recommended for studying Thanksgiving include The Thanksgiving Story by
Alice Dalgliesh, Pilgrim Thanksgiving by Wilma Pitchford Hays, The Landing of the Pilgrims
by James Daugherty (a Landmark book), Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert
Bulla, Sarah Morton's Day: a Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl and Samuel Eaton's Day: a
Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy both by Kate Waters, Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl
Harness, and a FIAR Vol. 1 read-aloud Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin.

World Views of the Western World Christian World View for Grades 8-12 by David Quine.
This curriculum covers 1200 BC - 1200 AD; 1200's - 1800's; and from the 1800's to present.
http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com/Curriculum/wvww/wvww.htm.

The phrase "separation between church and state" is NOT in our U.S. Constitution.
On January 1, 1802, in a private letter to the Danbury (CT) Baptists Thomas Jefferson wrote:
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that
he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of
government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that
act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building
a wall of separation between church and State." This confirmed that America would not have
a state established religion as was the case in England. The Constitution gives us freedom OF
religion not freedom from religion.

Understanding the Times by Dr. David Noebel about worldviews.
Read information about Summit Ministries at http://www.summit.org/.
An excellent conference series we are using this year by Dr. Noebel and Jeffrey Myers is
"Symposium on Understanding the Times" (8 audio tapes) from Christian Liberty Press.

"The truth of the culture war is that we have been losing it on all sides in the public arena.
There is no way to paint a happy face on this loss. We must begin where we are: in the corner.
The first step is to understand our enemies and why they have been successful." --Gary North

II Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Our National Day of Prayer is the first Thursday of May each year. "Prayer is an opportunity
to praise God for His mighty works, His gift of freedom, His mercy, and His boundless love."
-- United States President George W. Bush

Prayers in God's word that can help us pray for our nation on our National Day of Prayer
or anytime include prayers of Daniel in Daniel 9 and those of Nehemiah in the book of
Nehemiah - still timely for America today. Please participate in praying for our nation.
Psalm 9:17 says, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
Daniel 9: 3-5 say, "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications,
with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my
confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to
them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have
committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy
precepts and from thy judgments:" Does that sound like America? And like Jerusalem, in the
book of Nehemiah, our walls are broken down - our foundations are being removed. Part of
his prayer in Neh. 1:7 reads, "We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept
the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant
Moses." According to Neh. 13:18 profaning the sabbath day was one of the things that had
brought evil against them. Need we mention the sins of abortion, adultery, profanity,
pornography, sodomy, etc. that plague our land? May we be like Daniel and Nehemiah
confessing our sins and the sins of our nation before a just and holy God as we seek His help
to "rebuild the walls." "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Ps. 11:3

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."-- William Penn

"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that
tyrants forge their chains." -- Patrick Henry

Abraham Lincoln said, "If the policy of the government" is to be irrevocably fixed by
decisions of the Supreme Court... the people will have ceased to be their own rulers."

Thomas Jefferson said that "to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all
constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would
place us under the despotism of an oligarchy."

Western Civlization - How Should We Then Live? by Dr. Francis Schaeffer. (for older
students) Classic film series on the rise & decline of Western thought & culture. 12 episodes
on 3 video tapes with Study Guide. L'Abri site at http://www.labri.org/index.htm/.

"We demand entire freedom of action and then expect the government in
some miraculous way to save us from the consequences of our own acts....
Self-government means self-reliance." --Calvin Coolidge