Forging the Peninsulas: Michigan is Made

Forging the Peninsulas: Michigan Is Made by David B. McConnell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Local history is a much overlooked subject in education. Everything today has been nationalized – we know way more about what happened today in D.C. or Ukraine than we do across town. This is partly because during the Cold War, our public education shifted to focus on instilling into our pupils a positive national identity. And it drowned out any identity but the American. Local media have been bought up and dominated by national conglomerates. People are quick to move out of state for employment. All this feeds our utter ignorance of the history of our place. We don’t even have a sense of our place, anymore.

Back in the 1st century, when God providentially brought many Gentiles into the New Testament church, they became part of a history they hadn’t known before. Jews came alongside them, and read to them from the Old Testament, saying, “As you are in Christ, this is your story, now.”

So, if you move to a new place, or as you grow up in the same one, parents or mentors should give you resources like “Forging the Peninsulas,” and say, “Since you’re settling here, this is part of your story, now.” 

This is a GREAT textbook, probably for middle schoolers. But I read it and learned a ton, though I’ve lived in Michigan for 30 of my 47 years. It covers the facts and historical trends evenly, both chronologically and ideologically. (As this is a Hillsdale publication I expected nothing less – always excellent work there.)

I’d urge you to find similar works wherever you live. Have your children read them. Read them yourselves. Visit local historical sites and enrich your education by actually being there. There is SO much to learn from our past. Too many assume that since we have had phones for the last 15 years that can Google anything, our forefathers have nothing more to teach us.  What folly!

Most of the wisdom you REALLY need to know in life, you can’t get from Google. It’s gotta come from somewhere and someone closer.

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