America's Past

North America before Columbus starts with the geography of the United States, including its climate and vegetation. Students learn where American Indians came from, where they chose to live, and how groups in each region built a distinct way of life.

The Age of Exploration opens with a sunken ship, where artifacts reveal why European explorers set sail and what tools carried them across the ocean. Students then follow eight explorers and consider how their arrival affected the people already living in the Americas.

Colonial North America covers three groups who came from England, the hardships they faced, and six British colonies in three regions. Students study how slavery changed the lives of West Africans, then tour Williamsburg from the royal governor's home to the quarters of enslaved Africans.

The road to war traces the British actions that angered colonists in the 1700s. Students weigh the arguments Loyalists and Patriots made for and against independence, then examine the ideas and events that led Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence.

The American Revolution comes down to an uneven match. Students read about the war's battles and the challenges the small, inexperienced Continental Army faced in defeating the large, professional British Army.

The Constitution follows the failure of the Articles of Confederation and the writing of a new plan of government. Students learn how the Bill of Rights protects citizens' rights today, what citizenship requires of people, and how the Constitution shaped a free-market economy.

Westward expansion examines how the United States acquired land across North America and why many Americans believed they should spread their way of life to the Pacific. A second lesson follows four groups who moved west and two who were already living there.