Essential Question
Could a nation founded on liberty endure 'half slave and half free'?
This week the student watches the young United States expand westward across a continent while a single unresolved question, slavery, tears at the nation's soul. We tell the story of Manifest Destiny, the deepening sectional crisis, the Civil War, Lincoln, Emancipation, and Reconstruction with honesty and gravity, set against the worldwide 19th-century story of slavery, abolition, and imperialism. Art, music, the saints, and the catechism all converge on one truth: the equal, God-given dignity of every human person.
Liturgical note: Ordinary Time (May). The Church keeps the month of May as the month of Mary; it is a fitting season to reflect on human dignity under the gaze of the Mother of God.
Threads at a Glance
19th-century imperialism (the 'scramble for Africa,' empires in Asia) and the global story of slavery and abolition.
Becoming a World Power & World War I
Abraham Lincoln.
The expanding and dividing US: draw westward expansion (territories and trails) and the Union/Confederacy map.
American landscape and realism: the Hudson River School (Cole, Church), Winslow Homer; photography and Mathew Brady's Civil War.
The Romantic era II: Wagner and the growing symphony; American music: the spirituals and Stephen Foster.
St. Katharine Drexel, American heiress who served Black and Native Americans.
Human Dignity: the equal worth of every person.
YOUCAT on respect for the human person, equality, and solidarity (Q280-Q289, Q329).
Cumulative review and editing: proofreading marks and a self-editing checklist.
Document-based argument: a persuasive essay built on primary sources.
Weekly Writing Assignment
Was the Civil War fought primarily over slavery? Read at least three of the provided primary sources (the Confederate states' declarations of secession, the Cornerstone Speech, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address). Write a persuasive essay that states a clear thesis and supports it with at least three quoted pieces of evidence drawn directly from the documents. Acknowledge and answer one opposing argument.
The Week
Close the Week
Add each date to your running timeline notebook — one color for World History, another for US History.
Unit Reading · Revolutions & the Modern Age
by Baroness Orczy
A masked Englishman risks everything to rescue innocent aristocrats from the guillotine while playing the fool in society. The original 'secret identity' adventure, set in the Terror of revolutionary France.
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Ingalls family loads the wagon and heads west to build a new home on the open prairie. A beloved classic of homesteading, family, and the hard, hopeful work of the American frontier.
by Willa Cather
Two French missionary priests build the Church across the vast deserts of the American Southwest, among Native and Hispanic peoples. A luminous Catholic classic about faith, friendship, and a lifetime of quiet service.
by Charles Dickens
Dickens's masterpiece of the Revolution, moving from the Reign of Terror to one of the greatest acts of self-sacrifice in all of literature. A natural companion to The Scarlet Pimpernel and a standard high-school classic on the Cardinal Newman Society list.
by Stephen Crane
A young Union soldier marches off dreaming of glory, then flees in terror from his first battle — and must wrestle with shame, fear, and what courage really means. A short, vivid American classic on the Cardinal Newman Society reading list.
by Jane Austen
Sharp, funny, and wise, Austen's beloved novel follows quick-witted Elizabeth Bennet and the proud Mr. Darcy as they misjudge each other and slowly learn better. A perennial high-school classic on the Cardinal Newman Society list.