Humanitas: American Origins

About this curriculum

Humanitas: American Origins is designed to be a one-semester course for high school students seeking American History studies. Rooted in the Renaissance humanists’ clarion call to return ad fontes, this brand-new upper school humanities curriculum promises to bring students “back to the sources.” Geared towards history, humanities, and humane letters courses, the Humanitas series offers a continuous, unfolding narrative of Western Civilization through a series of carefully curated primary source documents that trace the founding and beginnings of the American experiment. Book 1 begins with the myths and politics of peoples indigenous to the North American continent, then moves into a select tour of the peoples, ideas, and events that were most responsible for defining the historical epoch between the Protestant Reformation and the establishment of the American colonies. Book 2 picks up the fascinating narrative, beginning with the intellectual renaissance known as the Enlightenment and then moving into a select tour of the peoples, ideas, and events that led up to and were involved in the American Revolution.…