What incredible dreams our founding fathers had for our country. I have been amazed, and saddened at times, at how much I have learned during this unit. I believe, as a nation, we have forgotten so much. We often think we have "new" ideas and they really aren't different from what they were struggling with over 200 years ago.
We wrapped up our American Revolution / Continental Congress / Electoral Process unit last night. This was a very long but valuable unit. We were really able to step back in time and see how the colonists lived and how they thought.
I've already shared about how we learned about King George's taxes. Doodles kept confusing Boston with England, so she made her own map to help her. I love the drawings of the two Georges!
I've also shared about the Boston Tea party, making lanterns and the seige of Boston. Bear made a map Paul Revere's ride to Lexington. We especially enjoyed learning about him sneaking by the Somerset.
We also had fun acting out the Boston Massacre with paper snowballs. It was interesting learning the facts and how over two hundred years ago the political agenda was sensationalized.
Not quite what happened, Mr. Revere!
We all found the Declaration of Independence fascinating. We found a wonderful book The Declaration of Independence: The Words That Made America by Sam Fink. Mr. Fink illustrated every phrase. It made it so easy to understand. Bear and Doodles both memorized part of the preamble.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
We studied many key people : Nathan Hale, Henry Knox, Marquis de Lafayette, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, but Daniel Morgan was one of Bear's favorites. He loved the ideas of using turkey calls to communicate. We even made up a little song to the tune of "Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho."
"Daniel Morgan fought the battle at Freeman's Farm, Freeman's Farm, Freeman's Farm.Daniel Morgan fought the battle at Freeman's Farm when he used his turkey calls."
We made powder horns and ammo pouches that were similar to Daniel Morgan's.
 
They both have used their pouches. Bear fills his pouch with his knife and survival supplies for when he's outside.
We also read about the first flag that was prescribed. We tried our hands at five point stars.
We then moved on to Valley Forge. This was a very eye opening time for all of us. We couldn't believe how the colonists treated the Continental Army. It was hard to read about the merchants not accepting the colonial money but working freely with the British Army. We watched The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Story of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, PA, 1777 . It's an age appropriate portrayal of Valley Forge. We also studied about Baron von Steuben. Bear really liked him too. We learned how to roll cartidges just like Von Steuben taught the Continental Army.
  
We kept up with the battles but the one that stood out with Bear was the Battle at Cowpens. Once again Daniel Morgan showed his strategical genius when he set up his troops for battle. The British didn't stand a chance and Bear loved it!
We finally moved on to Yorktown. What an amazing victory!
Throughout this part of the unit we kept up with our timeline
and our photo gallery
As we saw the country gain independence, we also watched the government unfold. We learned about
- The Articles of Confederation
- The Virginia Plan
- The New Jersey Plan
- The Great Compromise
We learned about the Constitution and how it establishes the three branches of government ,
how representation of the people was such a "tug of war" until the Great Compromise,
and the roles that James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Ben Franklin played in the forming of the Constitution. We were amazed at the precautions that the delegates took to have this document worded properly, and to not have it "leaked" to anyone. Bear found it especially amusing that the delegates often "babysat" Ben Franklin to ensure that he didn't spill the beans.
We also learned about
- the states ratifying the constitution
- the rewording of the preamble
- the bill of rights
Bear and Doodles also memorized the preamble to the Constitution. We got a little help from
SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK !
That DVD was a staple in our house these last few months.
We then moved on to our current electoral process. It was actually tied in with quite a bit of the Constitutional Convention. We made lapbooks of the info we learned.
 
We learned about the role of the president and what we expect from a president. We also discussed what the bible says about a godly leader.
We then went on to have our own election with another homeschool family. They were vying for the presidency of the Home's Cool Nation. The students were divided into two parties and a candidate was selected from each party.
Bear represented the Declaration Party. The other party was the Eraser Party.
Bear's mascot was the cheetah.
The Declaration Party built their platform and decided on their cabinet,
prepared campaign speeches, and then began campaigning.
The next day we made our voting poll booths. The candidates read their speeches one last time, registered to vote and then headed to the polls. This was a great experience. It was a tie with popular vote due to a write in vote. However, Bear won with the electoral process. Each vote was assigned a value based on their age. Youngest groups vote counted as one, oldest group counted as five.
Acceptance and concession speeches were given and then we partied!!!
I highly recommend this unit. They've all been good but this ranks up their as one of the best.
We are done with history for awhile- next stop: bubbleology!
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