The Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum is a free K-12 program for American history and civics from Hillsdale College. It includes lesson plans, assessments, and teaching resources for families.
Research from the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) shows that homeschooled students typically score 15 to 25 percentile points higher than public school students on standardized academic achievement tests. Most homeschool families report completing core academic subjects in 3-4 hours per day for elementary students, compared to the 6-7 hours typical of traditional schools, due to the one-on-one instruction and absence of classroom management overhead (NHERI, 2024).
What is the Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum?
The Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum is a K-12 program that covers American history and civics. Released by Hillsdale College in July 2021, it was created by college professors and skilled teachers from Hillsdale's classical schools. The curriculum includes lesson plans, assignments, quizzes, primary source documents, and teaching tips. It uses the Declaration of Independence as a guiding principle while addressing tough topics like slavery, with over 3,300 references. Best of all, it’s completely free to download.
What's included
Each grade has full lesson plans, teacher support, student-friendly primary sources, assignments, assessments, and study guides. There are also book recommendations. The current topics cover Colonial America to modern times, with plans to add more, like the Gilded Age and the World Wars, by 2026. Hillsdale also plans to provide a searchable database of maps and over 5 hours of free training videos for teachers.
Educational philosophy
This curriculum follows classical education principles. It presents America as a country with strong founding principles that address past evils. Students learn to look at public questions through the lens of natural rights found in the Declaration of Independence. The focus is on lasting ideas, learning from sources, and encouraging thoughtful discussions instead of just memorizing facts. While it has a conservative leaning, it still tackles issues like slavery, racism, and civil rights.
Using it in your homeschool
You can access all materials at k12.hillsdale.edu without signing up. Download PDFs for your grade and use the lesson plans to guide your year. This curriculum works well with other subjects, so you can pair it with literature, writing, and geography studies. If you're using a four-year history cycle, the 1776 Curriculum fits perfectly during American history years or as extra civics education.
The bottom line
The Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum is a fantastic free resource for families who want a strong, primary-source-based education in American history. Its classical approach encourages real historical thinking instead of just rote learning. Plus, it handles difficult topics head-on, proving it doesn't shy away from the full story. For homeschoolers looking for quality civics and history lessons without any costs, this curriculum is definitely worth a look.
