The Great American Story Course Notes Part 1

The American novelist John Dos Passos argues that in times of danger and change the study of
history helps people solve the problems of their age.

The first settlers of America arrived from northeastern Asia by crossing the Bering Strait.

Leif Erikson attempted to establish a settlement on what is today the island of Newfoundland.

Portugal was the leading kingdom for sea exploration in the late fifteenth century.

Christopher Columbus undertook four voyages between 1492 and 1503.

On his final voyage, Columbus reached the future site of the Panama Canal.

Dr. McClay argues that the religious unsettlement of Europe was the most consequential.

John Calvin brought a principle of democratic self-governance into the church by rejecting the
institutional structure of Catholicism.

The English Reformation differed from the Reformation on the continent because it started
primarily as a political dispute.

Prior to 1588, Spain was the predominant power in the New World.

After years of economic struggle, the Colony of Virginia established a stable economy based on tobacco.

Both the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening shared a common skepticism of received
traditions and established authorities.

The publication of Common Sense in 1776 galvanized American support for the revolutionary cause.

Source: “The Great American Story: A Land of Hope”