The Story of Civilization: Vol. 4 - The History of the United States One Nation Under God Text Book

By Phillip Campbell

Children should not just read about history, they should live it. In The Story of Civilization, the stories that have shaped humanity come alive like never before. Author Phillip Campbell uses his historical expertise and story-telling ability together in tandem to present the content in a fresh and thrilling way.

The Story of Civilization reflects a new emphasis in presenting the history of the world as a thrilling and compelling narrative. Within each chapter, children will encounter short stories that place them directly in the shoes of historical figures, both famous and ordinary, as they live through legendary battles and invasions, philosophical debates, the construction of architectural wonders, the discovery of new inventions and sciences, and the exploration of the world.

Volume IV: The History of the United States transfers the journey over to the New World. Beginning with Columbus when he sailed the open blue and extending into the present day, this volume tells the thrilling tale of our nation, both the good and the bad. Children will be introduced to heroic American saints like Juan Diego, Peter Claver, and Elizabeth Ann Seton, explorers like Lewis and Clark and Neil Armstrong, and a whole host of US presidents, as well as relive some of the most significant events in our country's past, like the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the assassination of President Lincoln, the Civil Rights Movement, the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, and many more.

The strength of the content lies not only in the storybook delivery but also in the way it presents history through the faithful prism of the Church. Have you always wanted your children to learn about world history from a Catholic perspective? Here, you'll have the trusted resource you've always wanted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TAN Books
• Release date: Nov 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781505111538

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Conquest of Mexico

The Good, the Bad, and Everything in Between

The history of the United States of America is a fascinating story. It is full of adventures and daring deeds, and of feats done by men and women who braved an unknown, hostile frontier to carve out a new life for themselves. It is full of people who had marvelous ideas and invented things that made the world better for billions of people, and on more than one occasion, the United States has saved entire continents from the powers of evil. It’s safe to say that the United States emerged as one of the most influential nations in the modern world, becoming a global power politically, economically, and culturally.

But the United States also has its share of darker deeds, of promises broken and of persecution, of boundless lust for land, and of human beings enslaved and ground down because of the color of their skin.

In this volume, we will learn all about this remarkable country, the good, the bad, and everything in between.

The Spanish Arrive

The United States was founded in 1776. Though the Founding Fathers of the United States intended to create a new nation independent of Great Britain, they were all men of European ancestry whose ideas were steeped in European thinking. To understand US history, we must go back further than 1776 to the first Europeans who set foot on the shores of North America.

Back in volume 3, we learned about the amazing voyage of Christopher Columbus. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, sailing under the flag of Spain, landed in the Caribbean islands and discovered the New World. Since volume 3 focused on Europe, we were not able to spend time exploring what happened in the New World after Columbus. So let’s do that right now!

Christopher Columbus died in 1506 without ever realizing he had discovered two new continents Europeans had never known about (remember he thought he had landed in India). But later Spanish explorers would come after him to learn more about this strange new world. And not only to learn, but to conquer. These conquering-explorers of Spain were known as conquistadors. Conquistador means conqueror in Spanish. The conquistadors brought large swaths of the North American continent under the dominion of Spain.

The largest island in the Caribbean Sea is Cuba. In 1511, the conquistador Diego Velasquez led a Spanish army into Cuba. The local Taino natives did not appreciate the Spanish on their island and tried to fight back. It was a brutal fight. The Taino outnumbered the Spanish, but the Spaniards had guns, horses, and steel, which the Taino lacked. After three years, Velasquez was in control of the island and became governor of Cuba.

Cuba had very good land for farming, but there was just one problem: there weren’t many Spaniards around. It was difficult to farm all the land with so few settlers. They tried to turn the Taino into serfs, similar to the peasants back in Europe. But the Taino had lived in Cuba their whole lives. They knew the land too well and could often slip away and escape the second the Spaniards weren’t looking. Those who did not escape often fell ill. They were not used to being around Europeans and caught diseases from the Spaniards. Thousands of Taino died from a disease called smallpox. This would happen to many native tribes throughout the New World who came in contact with Europeans because they had not built up an immune system that could withstand these new illnesses.

Without natives to work the farms, the Spanish started importing Africans to work for them. These Africans were captured from their homes in Africa and shipped over to the New World to labor. They were forced to make sugar, rum, and molasses for the Spanish in the Caribbean. These were the first slaves in the New World. Unfortunately, they would not be the last.

Cortez Sails to Mexico

Though they were busy in Cuba, the Spanish became restless. They wondered what vast, unexplored lands these new continents might contain. Further exciting Spanish curiosity were the little trinkets of gold the Taino wore in their ears and around their wrists. The Spanish demanded to know where they found this gold. The Taino told them that far to the west, across the Caribbean Sea, was a wealthy land known as Mexico, full of gold and other treasures.

Governor Velasquez began preparing an expedition to find, explore, and conquer Mexico. He put a young conquistador named Hernando Cortez in charge, though he would later regret this because Cortez was very popular and Velasquez became jealous. He knew whoever found Mexico would become incredibly famous. He tried to take command of the expedition away from Cortez and arrest him, but Cortez eluded Velasquez and set sail for Mexico without him. Velasquez missed him by just moments; all he could do was watch helplessly as Cortez’s ships sailed off into the sunset.

Cortez’s force consisted of 11 ships, 100 sailors, 530 soldiers, and a mere 15 horses. He needed such a force not just because the journey was harsh and difficult but because there were supposedly hostile tribes of people there known as the Aztecs. He landed with all this at what is now Veracruz, Mexico in July 1519.

At this point, Cortez did something that has gone down in legend. Fearing his men might lose heart when they heard they were marching against the warlike Aztecs, Cortez had all his ships except one burned in the harbor at Veracruz. This gave his men no choice but to carry on and removed the possibility of anyone seizing the ships and returning to Governor Velasquez. Seeing the only means of escape destroyed, the eager soldiers cheered, To Mexico! and pledged to follow Cortez to whatever end.

Cortez would pick up other support too. Wherever he and his men went, they found that the native tribes of Mexico lived in fear of the Aztecs. He won many more native allies who vowed to help him defeat the Aztecs, the first of which was the Totonacs, who swelled his numbers to seven hundred men. Cortez also won a valuable ally in a young woman named Doña Marina. Doña Marina was a native woman who served as a translator so Cortez could communicate with the tribes he met. Without Doña Marina, Cortez would not have been able to win so many tribes to his side.

The natives of Mexico were afraid of the Aztecs because they maintained their power through fear. Like most pagans, the Aztecs worshipped many gods, goddesses, and spirits, each responsible for the government of very specific things. Aztec religion was noted for its brutality and the centrality of human sacrifice. They used this reputation for brutality as a means of frightening their conquered subjects into submission.

For example, there was Tlaloc, the rain god, who was worshiped by the sacrifice of children five times per year. Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god of wisdom, was very popular throughout Mesoamerica. The largest pyramid in Mexico was dedicated to him. Quetzalcoatl was worshipped by the ceremonial drowning of victims.

The most important god in the Aztec pantheon was undoubtedly Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and warfare. Huitzilopochtli had the whole month of December dedicated to him with feasts, processions, and human sacrifices. Victims would be led to the top of a pyramid and have their hearts cut out by Aztec priests. Thousands of victims could be killed at a time. Victims usually came from prisoners of war or members of subject tribes. Obviously, the subjects of the Aztecs didn’t appreciate this. So when Cortez came promising to free them, they were eager to help.

All this is not to say Aztec culture didn’t have anything positive about it. They had a very advanced calendar, were phenomenal architects and engineers, ornate craftsmen, successful farmers, and capable of great beauty and nobility at times. But despite this, they were hated by many of their subject peoples.

Escape From Tenochtitlan

In November of 1519, Cortez and his company crested the Mexican highlands and saw the great Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, a marvelous city constructed on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco and accessible only by a causeway connected by a series of bridges.

Aztec officials came out to welcome Cortez. In fact, the Aztec emperor Montezuma himself came and greeted Cortez outside the city, treating him as a brother and equal. The stunned Spaniards were ushered into the city to the cheers of the people and a shower of flower petals thrown by native women. Montezuma even allowed the Spaniards to take gold and riches from his palace, which Cortez encouraged his Spaniards to accept.

It seemed Montezuma wanted to make friends with the Spaniards, but his chieftains disagreed. When he tried to speak to his people about this, they hit him with stones and spears and killed him. The Aztecs then turned against the Spaniards. Cortez and his men tried to flee Tenochtitlan by night, but the Aztecs had a surprise for them. How did the Spaniards get out? Let’s take a look:

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Run, men! shouted Cortez.

The brave conquistador led his straggling column of soldiers along the narrow stone causeway. Behind them came the fearsome whoops of the Aztec warriors pursuing them. Arrows whizzed past them on all sides, fired from the canoes that surrounded the causeway on Lake Texcoco. Every now and then a Spaniard would fall, pierced by an arrow. If he was unfortunate enough to be taken alive, he would be dragged into an Aztec canoe and taken back to the city to be sacrificed.

Sir, the bridges are out! shouted one of Cortez’s men.

Cortez looked in terror. Indeed, it was true. The wooden bridges that connected the causeways were removed, leaving open canals much too wide to jump.

They’re trying to trap us in the city! Cortez called. Men, our only hope is to swim across these canals. Take only what you need.

Many of the men emptied their pockets of the gold they had picked up in Montezuma’s palace, dropping everything they did not absolutely need. But others balked.

I see how it is! a man named Alejandro yelled. We risk our lives to come here in hopes of riches, and now that our pockets are full of gold, you want us to empty them? Not likely!

I don’t have time to argue with you, Alejandro, Cortez said sternly. I want the gold as badly as you do; let us take some of it, but this much gold is of no use to us if we’re dead. It’s your life to preserve or lose. Do as you wish. Cortez emptied most of the gold from his pockets before unbuckling his heavy steel armor and letting it drop with a clank. I choose to survive, he said as he leapt into the water with a splash.

Alejandro snorted. I’ll take my chances. He jumped into the water behind Cortez and the other soldiers followed, some with all their gold in their pockets, some without.

Swimming across the canal was brutal. The Aztecs concentrated all their arrows on the narrow canal. Cortez and his men thrashed about wildly in the water, dodging arrows and trying desperately to stay afloat. Many did not make it. Arghh! a Spaniard beside Cortez groaned as an arrow struck him in the neck. The man slumped beneath the dark waters of the lake and was gone.

Cortez reached the other side and clambered up the wall of the canal. Behind him he heard gurgling. Turning, he saw Alejandro struggling, not because he had been hit with an arrow, but because his armor and the gold in his pockets were weighing him down.

Alejandro! Cortez called. Give me your hand!

But Alejandro was too far and could not swim any further. He gasped, choked, and disappeared beneath the water.

I tried to tell him! Cortez said with tears stinging his eyes.

His moment of emotion was rudely interrupted as an arrow rattled off the stone causeway beside him.

Sir, we must flee! called one of his men. Wiping the tears away, Cortez leapt to his feet and continued the embattled retreat from the deadly Aztec capital, disappearing into the surrounding jungle.

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The Spaniards eventually escaped, but only with many losses. After he was safe, Cortez sat down beside a tree and cried for all the dead. The Spaniards would remember this evening as La Noche Triste. This means the Sad Night.

New Spain

Cortez had been defeated and lost several hundred Spaniards of his already small force. Yet, despite the horrific events of La Noche Triste, he knew he had an important advantage. Whatever its strength or population, Tenochtitlan was a city on an island, so it depended on the mainland for its supplies. If Cortez could cut the Aztec capital off from being resupplied from the mainland, he could starve the Aztecs into submission.

Cortez began a difficult half-year campaign to subdue all of the cities surrounding Lake Texcoco. By early 1521, Tenochtitlan was cut off. What followed was an eight- month siege of Tenochtitlan, during which time the Aztecs slowly succumbed to starvation and disease. By the summer of 1521, Aztec resistance had broken down so much that the Spaniards were able to re-enter the city. The fighting was again brutal; every street and block was bitterly contested, and much of the city was destroyed. But finally, on August 13, 1521, the Spaniards took the main square of Tenochtitlan, threw down the idols, and replaced them with crosses. Mexico had fallen.

Upon Cortez’s recommendation, King Charles V renamed Mexico New Spain, and in 1535, a Spanish Viceroy was put in charge. Cortez himself received the title First Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. He settled down to live comfortably in a spacious manor on the shores of Lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan, the city he had helped conquer, was renamed Mexico City.

Meanwhile, Franciscan missionaries spread throughout the land, teaching the faith to the natives. The blending of native and Spanish civilizations brought forth a new culture, neither Aztec nor Spaniard, but Mexican.

In our next chapter, we will learn more about the deeds of the Spanish in North America and how the Catholic faith spread there.

CHAPTER 2

Our Spanish Heritage

Establishing Missions

In our last chapter, we learned how Hernando Cortez subjugated the brutal Aztec Empire and established a Spanish colony in present-day Mexico. This colony was known as New Spain. Over the next century, New Spain would grow and Spanish dominion would spread throughout the New World in every direction.

The Spanish sent Franciscan friars and other religious to teach the Catholic faith to the natives. They had mixed success. Some natives were eager to learn about the Catholic faith and many were baptized. The friars set up missions for them; missions were communities for the natives centered around the church. Natives who lived there would learn the Catholic faith, as well as other valuable skills like woodworking or weaving.

While churches and monasteries began to spring up all over Mexico, a great many natives continued to adhere to the religious practices of their forefathers and remained hostile to the Spanish. Furthermore, many of the natives would contract diseases brought by the Europeans and die. It was a sad, confusing time for the natives of Mexico.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Ten years after Cortez’s conquest, in 1531, a poor Aztec peasant named Juan Diego, who had recently converted to Christianity, was visited by a beautiful lady. It was a visit that would change the course of history:

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It was a bright, sunny day. The air was crisp and light. Along an old dusty road that ran out of Mexico City, there came a peasant. This was Juan Diego, cloaked in a tilma, the traditional Aztec cloak made of woven cactus fibers.

As Juan made his way to a neighboring village, he passed by a place called Tepeyac Hill. Tepeyac was a rugged, boulder-strewn cliff that loomed over the road. Juan Diego paused to rest, wiping sweat from his brow. He gazed up at the stony hill and shuddered.

In the days of my fathers, my ancestors made sacrifices to the earth goddess here, Juan thought to himself. How happy I am we no longer do such things! Now that we have knowledge of the true God and his Son, Jesus, those horrible days are behind us.

He hurried on past the place, making the sign of the cross.

As he did, suddenly he heard a gentle singing. Juan paused, trying to find the source of the lovely sound.

Beloved Juan Diego, came a voice.

Juan leapt back. Who’s there? he asked.

There was no answer. Shielding his eyes from the sun, Juan looked up the steep hillside. He saw a faint light glowing from atop the hill.

What can this be? he asked. I must see this strange sight.

Turning aside from the road, Juan began to climb the stones, slowly but surely clambering up Tepeyac.

When he reached the top, Juan was stunned to see a beautiful woman standing before him. She was a native woman, clothed in a greenish-turquoise mantle. Among the natives of Mexico, this symbolized royalty. The mantle was also covered with stars. Juan Diego fell to his knees.

Beloved Juan, the woman said. Know that I am the immaculate ever-virgin Mary, Mother of the true God who is the Origin of all life, who creates all things and keeps them in being, the Lord of heaven and earth. I earnestly desire that my house should be built in this very place. For in truth I am your compassionate Mother, yours and of all who live together in this land. In that house, I will listen to their weeping and their sadness, I will give them help in their troubles and a cure for their misfortunes. So that this desire of mine may be fulfilled, go to Mexico City, to the palace of the bishop. Tell him that I have sent you to him to tell him how much I want a house to be built here for me, a church built here at this hill. Though Juan Diego was stunned, he did as the woman asked. But the bishop, Juan Zumárraga, did not believe him.

My son, you have a very active imagination, and you had been out in the sun a long time. Come back another time. Meanwhile, I’ll consider what you’ve told me.

Yes, your excellency, Juan said, dejected.

But the Blessed Virgin would not relent. She appeared to Juan again and commanded him to turn around and go right back to the bishop.

Hmm, Bishop Zumárraga thought, scratching his head. Juan, if the lady wants a chapel built on Tepeyac, she herself will have to show me a sign. Can you ask her for such a sign?

Yes, your excellency! Juan said, hurrying off to Tepeyac to find the woman. When he came to Tepeyac, he saw the Blessed Mother standing atop the hill. He scrambled up, panting. My lady! My lady! he cried. The bishop requests a sign!

A smile beamed across her face. I shall provide a sign the next day, she said. Juan crossed himself and returned home, full of excitement and pious zeal.

The following day, however, Juan’s uncle fell very ill. Juan Diego loved his uncle very much and spent the entire day at his uncle’s home attending to him. As the sun sank in the west and darkness fell over the land, Juan looked out the window anxiously toward Tepeyac.

She was expecting me, he muttered to himself. He felt ashamed of missing the lady, but his uncle needed him. In fact, he seemed to be on the verge of death.

Juan, return to the city and fetch a priest! his relatives told him.

Juan Diego draped his tilma over his shoulders and dashed off into the night, hoping to find a priest to give last rites to his uncle.

After some time, Juan saw the shadow of Tepeyac looming before him. The sun was beginning to rise. Juan paused. He knew that if he passed the hill, she would appear and would be angry with him. He decided to go the other way around. Turning off the road, Juan trotted the far way ’round Tepeyac, hoping to avoid being delayed by the woman and possibly scolded for missing her the day before.

But Juan could not hide from the Mother of God! She appeared before him near the bottom of the hill. Juan fell to the earth. Lady, I am sorry! I was delayed by my uncle! I know you must be angry with me!

She smiled. Listen, my beloved son, have no fear or anxiety in your heart. Am I not here with you, your mother? Are you not safe in the shadow of my protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Am I not holding you in my lap, wrapped in my arms? What else can you possibly need? Do not be upset or distressed. Climb again, my beloved son, to the summit of this hill, to the place where you saw me and heard me speak. You will find flowers growing there. Pick them and gather them and bring them down to me.

Juan Diego obeyed, and as the sun rose over Tepeyac, he saw the hillside covered with flowers. He was confused. I’ve never seen flowers like these before … and it is the middle of winter, not the season for blooming flowers. Despite his confusion, he began picking the flowers, collecting them in his tilma.

When Juan returned to the foot of the hill, the lady arranged the flowers for him in his tilma. As she did, she said, Most beloved son, these flowers are the sign that you are to carry to the bishop. You yourself are my messenger and I entrust myself to your faithfulness. I strictly command you not to unfold your tilma in front of anyone except the bishop; but to him you should show what it is you are carrying. As you do so, tell him the story of how I asked you to climb to the top of the hill and pick the flowers there. Tell him everything you saw and marveled at so that he will believe you and undertake to build the church I wish for.

When Juan presented himself before Bishop Zumárraga, he said, My Lord, I have done as you asked. I went to my Lady, the Queen of Heaven, holy Mary, the Mother of God, and told her that you had asked for a sign so that you might believe me and build the church that the Virgin herself desires. I told her that I had given my word to bring you back some sign of her wishes. She heard what you had asked and accepted with good grace your request for some sign so that you could fulfill her will. Today, very early, she sent me back to see you.

At this, Juan Diego opened his tilma and dropped the flowers before the bishop.

Bishop Zumárraga and his attendants stood stunned, their jaws hanging open.

Castilian roses! exclaimed one of the bishop’s attendants. From Spain! How did he find those here?

A marvel indeed, said Bishop Zumárraga, but not as much of a marvel as what I see before me on the tilma!

The attendants all looked down and gasped. Upon the tilma was a beautiful image of the Blessed Virgin, dressed in a starry blue mantle, just as Juan had described her. She was surrounded by beams of light and stood upon the crescent moon with her hands folded in prayer.

Tears filled Bishop Zumárraga’s eyes. And a great sign appeared in heaven, he whispered, quoting the book of Revelation from the Bible. A woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet … he said, bowing his head. Juan, it is Our Lady! The bishop and all who were present knelt.

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Word spread that the Mother of Christ had come to visit the people of Mexico. The chapel was erected on Tepeyac Hill, just as Our Lady requested. Juan’s tilma would be displayed so all could venerate the miraculous image and pray for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. Over the next several years, thousands upon thousands of Aztecs and other natives embraced the Catholic faith. This appearance of Mary to Juan Diego is known as the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Today, over twenty million pilgrims a year still come to Tepeyac to venerate the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is known as the patroness of the Americas, and her feast day is celebrated on December 12. As for Juan Diego, he became a very holy man and is honored today as St. Juan Diego.

More Spanish Exploration

Things continued to go well in New Spain. The first college in North America was the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, founded in Mexico City in 1551. Thousands of Spaniards came over the seas to start lives in New Spain. Many of the Spanish and Mexican natives intermarried, creating a new race and culture that blended

Reviews for The Story of Civilization

[Samantha · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Story of Civilization series by Phillip Campbell is phenomenal. I struggled to find a history curriculum with the perfect balance of history focus without being anti-Catholic. SOC fit the bill perfectly. The best part is that it doesn’t read as a fry typical history book. It’s an engaging summary of history with windows into the lives of those that lived it. It really allows you to retain and immerse yourselves into history, and enjoy it! My boys (other than the oblivious toddlers) especially love the audio version, complete with sound effects and all! My oldest (12) utilizes and enjoys the lecture series and tests via our homeschool group, while my 9 and 7 year olds use the activity book and various activities from the Teacher’s Manual to enhance the chapters each week. We’ve now gone through all four volumes, and each is just as good as the last! Phillip Campbell is a phenomenal author, and history nerd, that never disappoints.

[Rob Agnelli · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it because I Learning about America Origins.