This past weekend, we celebrated our youngest son’s engagement to Claire with our families, friends and his business colleagues. We spent a lot of time together and some good talks. The subject of patriotism came up as our son is an avid student of history. I have to say he would be a good history professor because he can breakdown the most detailed of situations into terms that anyone can understand. He loves to read about history of the world, world wars and United States history. From a young child he liked the picture books about historical figures, his favorite movies were somewhat historical, like “National Treasure” and ”Pirates of the Caribbean” inspired learning of the history of the Caribbean which led to a fascination with Alexander Hamilton that then led to this history of his life long relationship with Arron Burr. His love of history inspires his travel, free time, reading selections and the entertainment he chooses. This is a young man who was not what you’d call a traditional student as he was homeschooled for a good part of high school and left college to pursue his own business. Often, I ask, what led to this…
We met up at a historical gathering place, one of the oldest bars in the country…Zach and his Fiancé’ Claire.
Kids don’t just wake up with a particular interest, in my opinion, it’s nurtured. Take your faith. Unless you instill a fear and respect for God, and set an example, they will not have a faith. You take them to church or synagogue you pray before meals, you pray with them before bed time and you participate in activities in the congregation during the week, and if you do, the chances are that they will attend church/synagogue when they depart from your home and do so with their spouse and children. The same for eating healthy and participating in fitness and athletic activities. Oh, and same with having a good work ethic and having success in school, if you instill these important factors in your families “fabric” it will just part of who you all are…
The same could be said for encouraging a sense of patriotism. We all have seen, that you cannot necessarily depend on school to do that, Infact, depending on where your kids go to school, they may teach the complete opposite (do a deep dive in this and see for yourself what your kids are learning about American History-a lesson for another day, but be aware). This is easier than you may think and you may even have fun yourself, instilling this subject. Here are some suggestions:
1. Does your family fly a flag at your home? If not, make it a family activity to purchase a flag from an American company and maybe YOU the adult come up with two places you would be happy to display that flag and then of those two choices that you are good with, let the kids decide. Explain the etiquette of the flag, when to fly it, what not to do with it and have your kids read about the meaning of the Stars and Stripes. What do they represent? Who made the first flag?
2. As Saturday is our Independence Day, the Fourth of July, explain to your kids what the Declaration of Independence did. Let them know just how much those who signed it risked. At the time, they could have been signing their death warrants as the British considered such behavior treasonous. Benjamin Franklin make a comment that they would have either all hung together or could have been hung alone. These men were into this fight so far that they must have felt that the risk was worth the fight as they wanted freedom for themselves and their future generations. These men risked their families and home as well. You can find documentaries on this subject. The Fourth of July is not just a day of barbecues and fireworks. There is so much more too it. Unless you teach your kids this, they won’t know, or maybe they will learn the history of it in school, YOU are the one who takes it the next level.
3. Explain to your kids the odds the colonists were up against. The British Army was the best equipped and trained in the world. The continental army was not nearly as trained or supplied. The colonists ‘invented’ gorilla warfare. The formal British, in their red coats fought in formation, they marched to the conflict they lined up in European fashion. Really, the only chance we had was fighting them picking them off from hidden locations and catching them off guard. The Mel Gibson movie that also starred Heath Ledger, “The Patriot” is a good example of what the Revolutionary War was like. It is a very emotional movie, I highly recommend it for older kids. The colonist also were fighting against a good amount of Loyalists, those living in the colonies who were fine with British rule. It was a long war considering that Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the war didn’t end until 1783. That is a long time to supply troops and keep colonists interested in the fight for freedom.
4. Teach your children how great of a man George Washington was. He was the commander of the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War. His coat intercepted six bullets during a battle. From there, Washington went on to become the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. He led a poorly organized and equipped force against the highly disciplined British troops. Washington had to keep morale up and he did. Those who were organizing the country following the war had so much for respect for Washington and felt that there was no other choice rather than him as our first President. I could go on and on. Let your kids do a search and see what they can learn and share about our first President.
5. The Constitution. This is a biggie!! Talk about what the Constitution is, what it does, who drew it up and the discussions and back and forth as it was being drafted.
6. I love maps, print off a map of the thirteen original colonies. Have your kids learn these first colonies which became states. This may seem common sense to you but explain that these colonies were on the east coast, because that’s where the ships landed and then the expansion moved west as the country became more populated with immigration.
7. Mount Vernon. Watch You Tube videos about George Washington’s home in Virginia. George didn’t live in the White House. If your family can take a trip to Washington DC and visit Mount Vernon and the other sides of our Nation’s Capitol, do it. Back to Mount Vernon. It’s a beautiful place to see and learn about colonial life.
8. Washington DC. Again, you can find video on the historical places and sites in the Nation’s Capitol. If you can plan a trip, have your kids do homework prior to the trip. Depending on how old your kids are, you could divide the sites and give each child a site to research, or, you could take one site a week and teach the kids a site a week, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Reflecting Pool and the Vietnam Memorial. It’s fun to read about the history of how Washington DC was laid out.
9. Teach your kids about patriotic music, starting with the Star Spangled Banner-Frances Scott Key. From there go on to God Bless America, by Irving Berlin, The Battle Hymn of the Republic-Julia Ward Howe. I am making a playlist of patriotic music on Spotify. Play it in your car or have patriotic music on as background music. Have your kids research when the songs were written and what inspired them.
10. Take time to teach and learn about famous people from the Revolutionary War. Here are a few I would recommend in addition to Washington: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Marquis de Lafayette, Henry Knox, Nathaniel Greene, John Paul Jones, Thomas, Payne, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, Abigail Adams, Betsy Ross, John Hancock, Salem Poor, Benedict Arnold, King George III, James Madison, Crispus Attucks, John Laurens, Joseph Brant, Margaret Corbin and General Charles Cornwallis. You could take a person a week or have your kids do research on these and share with the family at the dinner table.
11. Have books around your house on our nation’s history. You could have these in a basket for younger kids to look through or out on an end table, coffee table or in a guest room. Kids who are home from college or high school students to pick up and read a chapter or two may inspire them to either finish the book or do other reading on the subject.
In talking with Zach this weekend, he told me that reading and learning about history made him more patriotic as he gained more and more respect, the more he learned about the dedication, struggles and lengths our Founding Fathers and Colonists went through to declare their independence and win the war. The deck was stacked against them, they were the underdogs and they forged on despite the odds.
I intended for this to be a paragraph or two Teaching Tuesday lesson. Well, I guess there was more to be said and maybe I know more than I thought on this subject. Maybe that’s where Zach interest of history came from…You can take it from here, this is a start, get going and I’ll have that Spotify playlist up soon…It’s a Great Day!
