The Home School Legal Defense Association, in support of National Day of Prayer, is delighted to promote and recommend <i>Foundations of Character:</i> Drive Thru History America.<br><br>This 9-unit, DVD-based homeschool curriculum includes integrated supplemental materials to be used by educators with the objective of helping sutdents recognize the relationship between the Christian worldview prevalent among the Founding Fathers and how these beliefs guided their actions. <br><br><b><UL>Features:</UL></b> <li> 128-page book with reproducible worksheets <li> DVD-ROM with nine 10-minute segments to introduce each lesson, and a complete download of Teacher Edition and Student Edition in PDF format <li> Cross-curricular (history, government, citizenship, culture, science, social studies, and technology) <li> Book and DVD are packaged in handy tuck box<ul> <b>Unit Topics:</b><ol> <li> Faith and Freedom <li> Benjamin Franklin <li> Benjamin Rush <li> George Washington <li> Benjamin Banneker <li> Haym Salomon <li> Abigail Adams <li> Noah Webster <li> John Quincy Adams<ul></ul></li></li></li></li></li></li></li></li></li></ol></ul></li></li></li></li>

Foundations of Character

Homeschool Curriculum Kit with Book(s) and DVD ROMBy David Barton

Focus on the Family Publishing

Copyright © 2006 David Barton
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9781414311838

Chapter One

NCSS Curriculum Standards

II. Time, Continuity, and Change

What happened in the past, and how am I connected to those in the past?

V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

What are the roles of institutions in society?

VI. Power, Authority, and Governance

How are governments created, structured, and changed? How can individual rights be protected within the context of majority rule?

X. Civic Ideals and Practices

How has the meaning of citizenship evolved?

Performance expectations

Students will be able to:

1. Systematically employ processes of critical historical inquiry, such as using a variety of sources and checking their credibility, validating and weighing evidence for claims, and searching for causality.

2. Identify and describe examples of tensions between belief systems and government policies and laws.

3. Analyze and explain ideas and mechanisms to meet needs and wants of citizens, regulate territory, manage conflict, establish order and security, and balance competing conceptions of a just society.

4. Describe instances in which language, art, belief systems, and other cultural elements can facilitate understanding or cause misunderstanding.

5. Explain the origins and interpret the continuing influence of key ideals of the democratic republican form of government.

A Few Things to Ponder throughout This Curriculum

On what foundations did the Founding Fathers base the new nation?

What worldview guided the Founders as they created a government for the new nation?

Can freedom flourish without faith?

Lesson 1:

Faith and Freedom

Questions to Ask yourself throughout This unit

* On what foundations did the Founding Fathers base the new nation?

* How did the Founders understand the relationship between church and state?

* What worldview guided the Founders as they created a government for the new nation?

* Can freedom flourish without faith?

Did You Know ...?

* During a battle in the French and Indian War, four bullets pierced the coat of Colonel George Washington and two horses were shot under him, but he escaped without a wound.

* Haym Salomon, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, loaned his own money to support the Revolutionary cause, and Congress designated him "financier of the revolution."

* The first woman to live in the White House, Abigail Adams, was both a wife and mother of U.S. presidents.

* Thomas Jefferson, although not a mainstream Christian, considered Jesus the most important philosopher to have ever lived.

Fasten your Seat Belt

On September 17, 1796, President George Washington delivered a speech known as his Farewell Address. In it, he emphasized two foundations, or "pillars," upon which this nation was built.

What were these foundations-these critical supports? The first and primary pillar was religion, and the second was morality, which Washington said was a product of the first. Virtually all of the Founding Fathers consistently declared that these two elements were vital for continued political success. In his Farewell Address, Washington said:

Of all the dispositions [viewpoints] and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.

He went on to say that no one who tried to overthrow religion and morality could claim to be patriotic. He considered religion and morality to be "great pillars of human happiness ... firmest props of the duties of men and citizens."

We must flash back to the beginning, to the Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation, in order to understand the key to the American experiment. The Pilgrims understood and first demonstrated that religion and morality were inseparable from civil society. They laid the original foundations for what has become the world's most successful civil government. They had a greater purpose-one that was beyond themselves. They believed they were part of a larger story.

A Look in the Rearview mirror

The Pilgrims of Plymouth

In 1534, a new law made King Henry VIII the leader of the church in England; it also required all English people to be members of the Church of England (the Anglican church), over which Henry had just become the absolute authority. Many objected to being members of that Church or being expected to worship in a certain way; they believed that the Bible specified other ways of worship as well. Those who objected became known as "Dissenters." As punishment for refusing to worship the way he mandated, Henry burned the Dissenters at the stake or beheaded them. When Henry's daughter Elizabeth became queen, she took his position as head of the Church and continued his policy that all citizens attend Anglican services only. Those who disobeyed were fined, imprisoned, exiled, or executed.

There were two major groups of Dissenters. Some tried to purify the Church of England to remove the corruption and help it better align with the teachings of the Scriptures. This group became known as the Puritans. Others decided that it could not be purified-that the corruption was too deep and the persecution too severe. This group decided to withdraw from the Church, and they became known as Separatists (later called Pilgrims).

The Separatists honored God, studied the Bible, tried to live godly lives, and took their faith seriously. They wanted to worship freely and disapproved of the corruption that existed in the Church of England. Their homes were watched night and day by British authorities. Since remaining in England was dangerous, a group of Separatists moved to Holland, where they could enjoy greater religious freedom. They worked hard in Holland and made a decent living, but life in their newly adopted country proved difficult. The Separatists wanted to maintain their English identity, and they regretted that their children were being raised as Dutch rather than English citizens.

Some American customs we can thank the Pilgrims for:

* self-government

* the free enterprise system

* a workfare system (rather than a welfare system)

* the antislavery movement

* the practice of purchasing private property

Therefore, in their continuing quest for religious freedom, they decided to move to America. In September 1620, after many difficulties, the forty-one Separatists joined with other travelers, including hired help and other "strangers," as they were called, to form a group of 102 men, women, and children who began the voyage to America aboard the Mayflower. When the group left Europe on their long voyage to America, Governor William Bradford named them Pilgrims. This title comes from Hebrews 11, KJV, in which a pilgrim is described as someone who is a temporary resident on earth, traveling through life on a journey to his or her real home in heaven.

Many difficulties challenged the sea travelers, including crowded conditions, sickness, and disagreements. The Mayflower averaged only two miles an hour on its journey to the New World. Furthermore, a terrible storm battered the ship for days, pouring waves of cold ocean water across the deck. As the storm raged, a deafening crack shook the...