John DeGree’s Classical Historian history curriculum continually expands and improves. Most of his Take A Stand guides for history courses have been dependent on history books written by other authors. The textbooks used for some of his American history courses in the past were written for older audiences and were challenging for many junior high and high school students. To help solve that problem, DeGree has written his own textbooks for American history. He began with The Story of Liberty: America’s Heritage Through the Civil War, and he has created all the course materials for using that book in junior high. More recently, he completed the second half of American history with Modern American History: The Story of Liberty! Reconstruction Through the Reagan Revolution. You can now also purchase a single book that contains both of these books, titled American History: The Story of Liberty! America’s Heritage Through the Reagan Revolution. All three are suitable for junior high and might also be used for high school.
The complete American History book has 130 short chapters, with the longest running seven or eight pages and the rest from two to five pages. The chapters are grouped within 24 units. The Story of Liberty (the book covering only the first half) has the first 11 units, and Modern American History contains the last 13 units. None of these books has an index.
Junior high students can easily complete American history in two years, using either half of the complete textbook each year or the two separate books. More ambitious junior high students might finish the complete course in a year. High schoolers should definitely use the complete book (or both halves) in one year.
You can read my separate review of The Story of Liberty. This review concentrates on Modern American History. Course guides and student books for Modern American History are still under development, and I will add those to this review when they are published. There are no questions or assignments in the textbooks, so in the meantime, you might use a resource like The Giant American History Timeline: Book 2, 1870s-Present, which has activity pages that can be used with most American history courses or “Modern American History Lessons and Resources,” available for free at historyskills.com. The latter includes online quizzes.
Modern American History should be very readable for junior high students, and high schoolers should find it easier to read than many high school history textbooks. This is because De Gree keeps his sentences short, writes very clearly, and uses a relatively large font. Even though the complete book has 582 pages, students will be able to read it more quickly than most high school history textbooks. The following sample from page 185 is typical:
The economic situation in 1932 was undoubtedly grim. After the Great Crash in 1929 and four years of Hoover, the United States was in crisis. By 1933, 9,000 banks had closed. Americans lost over $1.36 billion in deposits from these failed banks. In 1932, the unemployment rate was 23 percent. Millions were homeless. Hoovervilles, or shanty towns, sprang up outside of major cities. Built of scrap wood or boxes, these houses provided little relief. Two million men took to the road, constantly searching for food and work.
Viewpoint
The viewpoint expressed in the textbook is clearly conservative and in favor of a limited government. For example, DeGree is critical of the expanded powers of the federal government under the New Deal, and Republican presidents are often treated less critically than Democrat presidents. The following excerpt from page 192 is representative of the political tone throughout the book:
The Great Depression and government’s reaction to it changed America forever. FDR and progressives transformed the relationship between Americans and their leaders and government. For the first time in history, Americans had their money taken from them and given to others. The federal government took over the work of religious groups and charities that had existed for centuries. Americans who worked in professions such as butchery were targeted and prosecuted by government employees if they did not tow the party line. Philanthropists were harassed by the Internal Revenue Service because they gave away their wealth or donated libraries to the needy instead of paying higher taxes. Government experts replace the common sense of Americans in their local communities. Americans continued to suffer throughout the 1930s, even though government had deprived them of so much of their liberty.
While this is not an overtly Christian textbook, it presents Christianity and the work of Christians in a positive light. Social issues are not addressed with Bible verses but are discussed through a Christian lens. For instance, Margaret Sanger and her work to promote eugenics and birth control is presented negatively and concludes with commentary on the huge numbers of abortions provided even today by her organization, Planned Parenthood. (pp. 142-145). Also on the moral front, DeGree sometimes addresses character issues related to key historical figures, such as the extramarital affairs and other personal failings of presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy (pp. 184 and 297).
The textbook stops after the Reagan administration, leaving a significant amount of modern American history untouched. The Giant American History Timeline: Book 2, 1870s-Present extends further, continuing up through the war in Iraq, and “Modern American History Lessons and Resources” covers through the Cold War. For very brief coverage of recent history, students might watch the last part of the more than four-hour video, The ENTIRE History of the United States of America (start at 4:02 for the 1990s and beyond) h, or the more liberally slanted Crash Course U.S. History series #44 through #47 that take us through the Obama administration. For more complete course material for covering recent American history from 1980 to 2020, students might use Unit 9 of Khan Academy’s U.S. History course.
Summary
Even though complete course materials are not yet available, I thought it important to let homeschoolers know about Modern American History and the complete American History books since they are likely to appeal to many of my readers for both their viewpoint and their easier reading level.
