🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: First State National Historical Park

(2025 is the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution and 2026 is the 250th anniversary of American Independence, so this month we are beginning a two-year Homeschool American Heritage tour that will invite you and your students to explore parks, historic sites, and national monuments all across the United States. Get out your homeschool atlas and almanac and come along with us!)

Delaware is our homeschool state-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today with your students learning about one of Delaware’s most important collections of historic sites: First State National Historical Park, which commemorates Delaware’s role in the American Revolution.

“Famous as the First State to ratify the Constitution, Delaware was born out of a conflict among three world powers for dominance of the Delaware Valley. From this beginning, the region developed a distinct character that tolerated diversity in religion and national origin and valued independence.”

First State National Historical Park is a National Park Service unit which lies primarily in the state of Delaware but which extends partly into Pennsylvania in Chadds Ford…. The park covers the early colonial history of Delaware and the role Delaware played in the establishment of the nation, leading up to it being the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. It tells the unique story of the early settlement of the Delaware Valley by the Dutch, Swedes, Finns, and English and their relationship with Native Americans. It also seeks to preserve the cultural landscape of the Brandywine River Valley. (Wikipedia)

You can find a wealth of additional information about the park’s history, landscape, location(s), and visitor facilities on the First State National Historical Park website from the National Park Service.

Explore America’s National Parks, National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, and more via Wikipedia and via the U.S. National Park Service’s website today!

And to orient your students to the whole Revolutionary period that Americans will be commemorating in the coming months, turn to the overview on pages 298–299 in your recommended homeschool history encyclopedia.

What American treasures will you and your students be exploring in your homeschool this Cygnus Term? 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring important natural and historical sites in the United States. Print your own copy of our River Houses American Heritage Calendar and follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌎

❡ Print this little lesson: Down at the bottom of this post you'll find a special "Print" button that will let you create a neat and easy-to-read copy of this little lesson, and it will even let you edit and delete sections you don't want or need (such as individual images or footnotes). Give it a try today! 🖨

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses atlas and almanac for more information about any of our homeschool states-of-the-week. The almanac has detailed profiles of all the U.S. states and territories, and the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found. 📚

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

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❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡