A Challenging but Worthwhile History: This Country of Ours

This Country of Ours

by H. E. Marshall

This Country of Ours is the first option on the Mater Amabilis™ Level 1B syllabus for History, the first year in a three year course of study that continues through Level 1A (first grade through third grade). I started to read it aloud to First Son when he was in first grade and...it was a bit of a disaster. A lot of reasons for our struggles were at play: First Son was not a strong narrator. I was new at homeschooling and at narration myself. I had an exhausting two-year-old. I also had a demanding infant. The book was published in 1917 and is written with an attitude toward Native Americans we now recognize as racist, though it was not intended as such, but I was uncomfortable dealing with that attitude as we read. This Country of Ours is a challenging text, and the early chapters are in some ways the most difficult. 

We had barely scratched the surface when I decided to switch to Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston, one of the suggested alternatives. This was a much better book for First Son at that age and for me, too. 

There are a lot of discussions in the Mater Amabilis™ Facebook group about This Country of Ours and the American history options in Levels 1-3. I heard stories from other families that loved the book and from those that used it in later years. So a couple of years ago, I decided to revisit it. First Daughter and Second Daughter have read the whole book. Second Son just started it in Level 1A Year 2 (third grade).

One of the aspects of the book I really wanted to address was the change in attitude toward Native Americans between Marshall's time and our own. I also wanted to give my readers a more concrete grasp of where these events were taking place. So I wrote a study guide, one that could be printed with a little introduction to each chapter saying everything I would say if I were sitting down to read it aloud to them. I included some maps to study before and as they read. As the girls used the study guide, I fixed errors and expanded it. Over the past few weeks, I added a list of people for each chapter. (My children explained they were having trouble telling people apart, especially in remembering which country or army someone represented.)

Over the past three years, I have read This Country of Ours two or three times, and I have come to love it. The people described are real, with their faults and virtues. The stories are exhilarating, and yet encourage further study. The language is full of rich descriptions. As a teacher of children at multiple levels, I can see myriad connections with This Country of Ours and other books in the Mater Amabilis™ syllabi like A Book of Discovery. These are not explicit, as they would be in a series that referred to early books or chapters, but are there because they exist in reality.

Though I address Native Americans in the study guide, I found a book for Second Son to read from before he started This Country of Ours and to intersperse in his readings to give a completely different perspective on events concerning Native Americans. First People: An Illustrated History of American Indians by David C. King seems to be an even-handed description of life before Europeans arrived and the consequences that followed interactions between Europeans and Native Americans.

Second Son was nine years old before he even started third grade and is a fantastic reader and narrator, so he could handle a little more difficulty than just This Country of Ours. Even so, I let him tell me if I'd assigned too much. If he wanted to only read half a chapter, I let him. Because I knew he was such a strong reader, I knew he'd be able to handle adding First People in addition to This Country of Ours.

I encourage all Mater Amabilis™ families to explore the many different ways to teach American history in Levels 1-3. The website has many options and the Facebook group has lots of people willing to share their own experiences. Here are just a few ideas:

• Read This Country of Ours over three years starting in Level 1B as on the original Mater Amabilis™ syllabus (first, second, and third grades). Use the study guide and read aloud to your student. Divide the early chapters into as many readings as you need so your student doesn't get overwhelmed.
• Read This Country of Ours over three years starting in Level 1A Year 2 and going through both years of Level 2, as Second Son will, with readings from First People interspersed (third, fourth, and fifth grades). Or spread This Country of Ours over these three years but without any reading from First People.
• Read This Country of Ours over two years in Level 2, as Second Daughter did, using the study guide (fourth and fifth grades). (She did not read First People.)
• Read This Country of Ours over two years in Level 3, as First Daughter did, with First People as an independent reading book (sixth and seventh grades). 

As you can see, my own four children have each read (or not read) This Country of Ours on a different schedule.

The study guide I wrote is available in the Mater Amabilis™ Facebook group for families to download and print or to use on a tablet and would be appropriate for reading aloud with children in Levels 1B and up, or printing for children to use independently in Levels 2 or 3. I hope it provides some support for families who might otherwise hesitate to use This Country of Ours.

Incorporating First People with This Country of Ours (perhaps most appropriate for Levels 2 or 3)

Start the year with First People. For This Country of Ours, read about a chapter a day (perhaps increasing to two chapters nearing the end of the third year as the chapters get shorter). Some of the First People readings might need to be broken up as well, depending on your student.

• First People
• Introduction pp. 6-11
• Chapter 1: The Beginning pp. 15-19 (The Ice Age and the Land Bridge, Adapting to the Environment)
• Chapter 2: The Emergence of Indian Cultures pp. 28-33 (The Mound-Building Cultures, Monk's Mound)
• This Country of Ours (TCOO)
• Chapters 1-12
• First People
• Chapter 2: The Emergence of Indian Cultures pp. 68-71 (The Southeast, The Cherokee)
• Chapter 3: First Encounters with Europeans pp. 75-77 (Europeans Explore the Southeast)
• Chapter 4: The European Impact pp. 88-89 (Changes in the East)
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Nation pp. 118-119 (The Virginia Frontier)
• TCOO
• Chapters 13-21
• First People
• Chapter 2: The Emergence of Indian Cultures pp. 60-67 (The Northeast Woodlands, The Iroquois, The Ojibwe)
• Chapter 3: First Encounters with Europeans pp. 78-79 (First Meetings in the Northeast)
• TCOO
• Chapters 22-31
• First People
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Continent pp. 120-121 (The Conflict in New England)
• TCOO
• Chapters 32-49
• First People
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Continent pp. 122-123 (The Conflict Moves West)
• TCOO
• Chapters 50-66
• First People
• Chapter 2: The Emergence of Indian Cultures pp. 42-46 (The Great Plains, The Sioux: Before European Contact, Made from Bison)
• Chapter 2: The Emergence of Indian Culture pp. 48-51 (The Plateau, The Great Basin)
• Chapter 4:  The European Impact pp. 94-98 (Changes on the Plains, The Sioux: After European Contact, Weapons of the Plains)
• Chapter 2: The Emergence of Indian Cultures pp. 54-59 (The Pacific Northwest, The Haida: Before European Conflict, Totem Poles)
• Chapter 3: First Encounters with Europeans pp. 84-85 (Encounters on the West Coast)
• Chapter 4: The European Impact pp. 108-113 (Changes in the Northwest, The Haida: After European Contact, The Kwakwaka'wakw)
• TCOO 

• Chapters 67-72
• First People
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Continent pp. 126-131 (Last Conflicts in the East, Write it in Cherokee, The Trail Where They Cried)
• TCOO
• Chapters 73-74
• First People
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Continent pp. 124-125 (Other Indian Struggles to Survive)
• TCOO
• Chapter 75
• First People
• Chapter 3: First Encounters with Europeans pp. 80-82 (The Spanish in the Southwest)
• Chapter 4: The European Impact pp. 100-107 (Changes in the Southwest, The Navajo: After European Contact, The Apache)
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Continent pp. 134-135 (Indian Losses in the Southwest)
• TCOO
• Chapter 76
• First People
• Chapter 2: The Emergence of Indian Cultures pp. 52-53 (California)
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Continent pp. 132-133 (The Impact of New Developments)
• TCOO
• Chapters 77-91
• First People
• Chapter 5: The Contest for a Continent pp. 136-143 (War for the Great Plains, What's in a Headdress?, Final Victories, Final Defeats)
• TCOO
• Chapters 92-99
• First People (spread over many days)
• Chapter 6: The Struggle to Survive
• Chapter 7: A People's Revival

Second Son also read some of the supplemental reading during his independent reading time over the course of the year.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links. I have also often purchased books directly from Yesterday's Classics because their reprints are consistently good and the myriad of options on bookseller sites are often impossible to evaluate before purchasing.