Vote for Your American History Hero: Homeschool Election 2024

Are you ready to bring history to life in your homeschool? Master Books invites Christian homeschool students to participate in our American History Hero vote! 

Dive into the inspiring stories of ten notable figures from American history, all featured in Marilyn Boyer's What a Character: Notable Lives in History chapter book series. In this free printable you'll find ten biographies highlighting the courage, faith, and determination of these heroes who shaped our nation. After studying the brief biographies either from your printed copies of the relevant books or from the FREE printable below, students can vote for their favorite hero, making this an exciting way to supplement lessons on American history and engage with the 2024 election season!

Thank you for voting. We have a tie between Wojtek, the Bear Who Went to War and Deborah Sampson — The Soldier with a Secret! Did you vote for either of them?

Desmond Doss has gone down in history as the first conscientious objector to win the Medal of Honor in combat. When America entered World War II in December of 1941, Desmond wanted to serve his country in the military as so many other young men were eagerly signing up to do. But Doss was a pacifist. He did not believe in violence against other people. He refused to carry a gun into combat. After a long fight, he finally convinced the army to take him in as a combat medic. He would  not carry a gun, yet he would take part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Desmond’s courage became legendary. In desperate battles in the Pacific he twice won the prestigious Bronze Star for valor. Later, in the battle for Okinawa, he saved an estimated 75 wounded soldiers by lowering them down a cliff on a rope while under enemy fire. When he himself was wounded, he waited for hours before other Americans could come to his aid. While being carried toward an aid station on a stretcher, he spied another soldier whose wounds looked even more serious than his own. Desmond rolled off the stretcher and demanded that the other soldier be rescued first.  His incredible bravery in this battle made him a national hero and earned him the Medal of Honor.

Desmond Doss -The Unarmed Hero is featured in America’s War Heroes on page 105.

Tennessee mountaineer Alvin York was no stranger to guns when America entered World War I in 1917. He had grown up hunting wild game to help support his large family and had won shooting contests with his amazing marksmanship. But when he was drafted he at first refused to go into the army. He had become a Christian as a young man after having lived a wild and sinful life. Now he wanted to live for God and never do harm to anyone again. He prayed and studied the Scriptures about war and finally became convinced that a Christian could take part in a war if it was a righteous one. 

Fighting against the Germans in France, Alvin and his company came under fire from several machine guns placed along the top of a ridge. The sergeant leading the company was wounded and so he ordered York to take charge. Alvin did. He led a small squad of soldiers up and around the ridge, using his Tennessee hunting skills to get through the brush and come up behind the machine gun nests. Then his marksmanship came into play and he began picking off the gunners one by one. Some fired back at him, but even in their trenches they were no match for the rifleman from Tennessee. After many Germans had fallen, the rest surrendered. When Alvin and his squad marched their prisoners back to the American lines, it was found that he had singlehandedly captured over 130 prisoners! For this he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Sergeant York -The Unlikely Hero is featured in America’s War Heroes on page 83.

John Colter grew up on the frontier of Kentucky in the early days of the new nation called America. He loved to hunt and fish in the woods and became skillful in the ways of the wilderness. He was strong and athletic, a good runner and a powerful wrestler. At eighteen he left home and lived in the wilderness among the native tribes. In 1804 he was asked to go along with the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the wild land west of the Mississippi River all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It was years before he travelled east again. During that time he did many amazing things. Vast herds of buffalo covered the plains. Farther west he saw mule deer with their large ears. He was one of the first white men to discover the geysers in what is now Yellowstone national park.

After reaching the Pacific, Colter was released from the party and decided to spend a year or two hunting in the West before returning home. Somewhere along the way he was captured by the Blackfoot tribe and threatened with death. The chief asked him whether he was a fast runner. He was going to run for his life, the chief told him. He would get a head start and then the Blackfoot braves would chase him. If they could catch him, he would be killed. If not, he could escape. It was a six-mile run to the river and Colter was barefoot. Away Colter ran, and a few seconds later he heard the braves shout as they took off after him. It was a desperate race and John’s danger drove him to run as he had never run before. Nearing the river, he looked back and saw that only one brave was near him. Suddenly Colter stopped and the brave threw his spear. But his surprise at seeing his quarry halt so suddenly caused him to miss his target. Colter picked up the man’s spear and killed him with it. Then he fled for the river once again. Diving into the cold water, he swam for a small island. He found a pile of logs and brush that had washed up on the bank and hid under it. With only his nose and mouth above water, he tried to keep his gasping breath quiet as the Blackfeet caught up and searched the island and the river banks. Finally, they gave up and left. After dark came, Colter left the river and began to make his way to the nearest fort. It was a two hundred mile walk on his bare and bruised feet. Nearly dead, he arrived at the fort several days later.

John Colter-The Race for Life is featured in Famous Pioneers and Frontiersmen on page 79.

The Reverend James Caldwell was a Presbyterian pastor in New Jersey during the War of Independence. He was a leader in the movement for independence and often preached to his people about the evils of government tyranny. Many people trusted him and came to believe as he did that freedom of religion would never be safe under British rule. During the war he served as a chaplain to a New Jersey regiment. When Hessian soldiers approached his city, he moved his family to nearby Connecticut Farms, hoping they would be safe there. But his wife was murdered by a soldier who shot her through the window as she held her baby in her arms.

Caldwell had little time to grieve. Great battles were taking place and he was active on the battlefield, encouraging the soldiers and praying with the wounded and dying men. During the battle of Springfield, the men began to run out of wadding. Wadding is small pieces of paper or cloth used to fire muzzle-loading rifles. Caldwell ran to a nearby church, filled his arms with Watts hymnals and ran back to his men crying, “Give ‘em Watts, boys! Put Watts into ‘em!!” The men tore the pages into pieces and soon were sending deadly fire at the British once again. After a two-day battle, the enemy retreated and Springfield was saved.

Reverend James Caldwell is featured in Heroes of the War of Independence on page 73.

Thomas Edison was a scientist from the time he was a small boy. Everything in life was an experiment to him. He tried hatching goose eggs by sitting on them. He mixed up a potion he hoped would make a neighbor boy fly, but it only made the boy sick. He went to work on a railroad selling snacks and newspapers to the passengers. While he worked there, he got the station telegraph operators to teach him the Morse Code. Finally he got fired because he set the baggage car on fire while doing chemical experiments.

As a man, Edison was the leading inventor in the entire world. He invented the first successful light bulb, lighting up the country and making kerosene lamps obsolete. He invented the first talking machine, which we now call the phonograph. He invented the movie camera. Over a 60-year inventing career, he received almost 1,100 patents. Henry Ford said that history books should refer to that career as the Age of Edison. Indeed, Tom Edison changed the world.

Thomas Edison - Just the Strange Boy the World Needed is featured in Inventors & Scientists on page 69.

Among the thousands of young men who turned out to help George Washington win the War of Independence, Robert Shurtliff of Massachusetts was one of the most dedicated. Robert had tried more than once to join the army before he was accepted. During his war years he was involved in several major battles and always showed courage and determination. But he carried a secret with him that even his closest comrades did not know. Robert was a girl.

Deborah Sampson was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts during the hectic years leading up to war. She was a dedicated patriot and wanted more than anything to help her country win her freedom. Because the army would not enlist women as soldiers, she cut her hair short, donned men’s clothing, and managed to pass herself off as a young man. It was not until the end of the war that she became very sick and the doctor who examined her while she was unconscious discovered the truth. Finally, she was discharged. After the war, she supported herself by traveling around telling the story of her wartime service. She would even carry a rifle onstage and demonstrate the manual of arms. She applied for a government pension as a veteran, but because women weren’t supposed to be soldiers, she was unsuccessful until she finally received help from an influential friend. His name was Paul Revere.

Deborah Sampson - The Soldier with a Secret is featured in Famous Women in History on page 29.

In the spring of 1942, the Polish army was in Iran on its way to fight in Europe against the Germans. An Iranian boy approached some of the soldiers with a pet which he offered to sell them. It was a bear cub whose mother had died. The little bear was tenderly cared for by the soldiers and came to love them as his family. As he grew, he did some of the things he saw the soldiers doing. He enjoyed wrestling matches with them. Sometimes he would stand on his hind legs and march beside them. During one battle, Wojtek saw a group of soldiers carrying boxes of ammunition and stacking them on a truck. He stood up on his hind legs, picked up one of the heavy boxes and carried it up the steep mountain. Box after box went on the stack at the top of the mountain, as the young bear worked beside his comrades. He was given the rank of private and was later promoted to corporal in appreciation of his faithful service. After the war Wojtek was mustered out of the Polish army and spent the rest of his life in a zoo in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a great favorite of the zoo visitors and loved it when his old army buddies would stop by and talk to him in Polish. Wojtek was often a guest on a British television show for children. Eventually, at least three statues of the loyal bear were erected.

Wojtek, The Bear Who Went to War is featured in Extraordinary Animal Heroes on page 97.

When British General Howe chose a house for his headquarters in Philadelphia, he took over the home of an American officer. But when he needed a large room for meetings with his officers, he crossed the street to the home of a Quaker family named Darragh. Quakers are known to be against war and fighting, so Howe never suspected that Mrs. Lydia Darragh was a patriot. He would have been even more surprised had he found out that her son, Charles was a soldier in George Washington’s army! When Washington was at Whitemarsh a short distance from Philadelphia, Howe planned a surprise attack which he was sure would overwhelm Washington and bring the war to an end. But he didn’t know that when he and his officers met in the Darragh home that evening, Lydia was listening to their conversation in a nearby closet. The next day, Lydia took her sack and got a pass to go through the British lines to buy meal at the mill. She left her sack with the miller and told him she would be back to get her meal later in the day. Meeting up with an American officer whom she knew, Lydia explained to him what she knew of Howe’s plan to attack Whitemarsh. Then she walked back to the mill, took up her sack of meal and lugged it back through the British lines to her home. But this was not the only time she sent information to the Americans. She often heard Howe and his officers talk about their plans. Then she would write messages to her son Charles and send them with her younger son, John. John was only a boy and so the British soldiers would allow him to pass through their lines unharmed. Of course they searched him, but they never found his messages. His clever mother had cut the buttons off his coat, removed the cloth that covered them and wrapped the message around the buttons before sewing the cloth back on them and stitching them back on his coat. Then, all he had to do was approach the American camp and ask to visit his brother, Charles.

Lydia Darragh - Quaker Spy is featured in America’s Famous Spies on page 19.

This future president of the United States was named Dwight after the famous evangelist, Dwight Moody. Born in Texas, Dwight moved with his family to Abilene, Kansas when he was two years old. Like Moody, he grew to be a man of prayer and faith. His faith was tested at age 13 when he nearly died of blood poisoning. He had fallen and scratched his knee in the barnyard. When it became infected, there was no effective way to treat it because antibiotics had not yet been invented. The doctor said his leg must be amputated to save the boy’s life. But young Dwight decided to  trust God and pray for healing instead. He begged his brother, Edgar to stand watch in his bedroom so that no one could amputate his leg while he was unconscious from fever. Prayer worked! Slowly, Dwight got better. Eventually, he went to West Point and became an officer in the army. It was Eisenhower who led the Allied forces in Europe in World War II. He led the planning of the D-Day invasion that turned the tide of the war against the Nazis. After the war, a grateful America elected him President for two terms. He was one of the greatest and most famous people in the world, but never forgot that it was prayer to God that had saved his life at the age of 13.

Dwight Eisenhower - The Praying Supreme Commander is featured in Amazing American Presidents on page 111.

Sixteen-year-old Betty Zane was a true frontier girl. She was tough and energetic, strong and hard-working. When her frontier settlement was attacked by British redcoats and their native allies, she fled to Fort Henry with her family and neighbors to fight off the savage enemy. There were far more enemies outside the fort than defenders inside. But the men behind the log walls were sure shots with their long rifles and picked off the attackers whenever they showed themselves. It looked as if they would be able to hold out until help came. Then they discovered that they were running out of gunpowder! When they fired their last shots, a terrible death awaited everyone in the fort. Betty’s brother lived in a cabin a few hundred yards from the fort, and he had a keg of gunpowder in his home. Somehow it had been forgotten in the race to “fort up” at the news of the approaching enemy. The fort’s commander called for a volunteer to run through the enemy fire to bring back that gunpowder. Several of those brave men volunteered, but Betty Zane stepped forward and insisted that she be allowed to go. She was a fast runner, and perhaps the enemies in the woods would not be quick to fire on her. Besides, every man was needed in the fort if it was to stand. So. the gate opened, and young Betty ran for her life. At first all was quiet. Perhaps the warriors in the woods did not think a girl was any threat to them. But when she came out of the cabin with the keg of powder, wild shouts went up and bullets began to fly around her. Desperately she ran, bullets whizzing around her and savage braves emerging from the woods to catch her. But with only seconds to spare, the fort’s gate opened, and she leaped through, falling into the arms of her friends. The gunpowder was passed out to the marksmen and the fort was saved. Everyone in the settlement owed their lives to a sixteen-year-old girl!

Elizabeth Zane - Frontier Girl Who Saved Fort Henry is featured in Famous Pioneers and Frontiersmen on page 31.

Thank you for participating in this voting opportunity. We are delighted to offer your family an opportunity to celebrate godly character, admire people who made a difference in America's history, and practice making wise choices when it comes to voting. Below you will find additional discussion questions you can use to further this lesson in your homeschool.

1. Off all the extraordinary heroes we read about, who is your favorite and why?

2. Which acts of courage were unforgettable to you and why?

3. If you were going to share one of these stories with a close family member or friend, which one would you choose? (Invite the student to practice reteling the story or draw a picture of it.)

4. Which heroic acts can you associate with a Bible verse you have memorized?

5. Did any of these true stories remind of you people you have learned about in the Bible?

6. Can you think of ways you can be courageous like some of these American heroes?

7. Name two of the heroes you read about that demostrated the heart of Jesus.

The What a Character: Noble Lives in History series is designed to help student practice reading, teach them American history, and inspire to do great things for God. Each book in the series is available in print, digital, and audio formats. We encourage you to explore these books for 4th - 8th grade students. Your children will not only enjoy reading but also expand their vocabulary and understanding of key historical events and figures.

*NOTE: Several of the books in this series contain war-related stories. We recommend parents take this into consideration before sharing as independent readers with students younger than sixth grade.