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17th Century America

Back in the 17th century, the area that would eventually become the United States of America was still just the "New World." Native Americans and European settlers lived side-by-side, but populations were small and there wasn't a whole lot going on besides bare survival. Modern historians like to picture white people stepping ashore with guns blazing, when in fact early relations between European settlers and Indians was often peaceful and cooperative.

The South American scene was considerably different. Most of the first European visitors weren't there for primarily religious reasons (as was true of the Pilgrims and Puritans in North America), and the natives they encountered were more violent than their northern counterparts. The result was a lot of bloodshed and fire, and names like Cortes and Columbus are still bad words in many South American countries.

In the New England colonies, however, God was uppermost in the minds of most people. Jamestown was the first English colony in the New World, and it wasn't particularly religious, but the second one was Plymouth and it was the first American home of the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were Puritan in doctrine but Seperatist in practice, believing that the Church of England was beyond repair and that dedicated Christians had no choice but to leave it. They did, settling first in Holland, and in 1620 founding Plymouth Plantation in what would become Massachusetts.

The Puritans came not much later. Their intention was a little more ambitious than the Pilgrim project: not content with simply fleeing the shadow of a state church, they intended to build a Christian community in which the Law of God determined the civic laws, and where there was little distinction between sacred and secular law. Modern Americans often balk at this, but the Puritans weren't concerned with human wisdom, they were wholly informed by a desire to practice holiness and godly devotion.

Don't think they were all witch-hunters and dour black-clad killjoys, either. The Puritans enjoyed life as much as the next person, and while they were susceptible to ignorance and sin just like any other group of human beings, they were continually given to thanking God for the material and spiritual blessings He'd bestowed on them.

Their influence was largely responsible for the inclusion of Christian moral standards within the U.S. Constitution, for while the Enlightenment humanism of Franklin and Jefferson is clearly present, so too is the Puritan heritage of many of the Founding Fathers. As Christians, we also can thank God and praise Him for providing such forefathers for His children in the New World.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14)
20 Plays for U. S. History Classes
by Dean R. Bowman
Revised from Walch Publishing
for 7th-9th grade
in Theater, Drama & Film (Location: ELE-THEAT)
American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
by Elisa Carbone
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Building a City On a Hill
To Pledge Allegiance #2
by Gary DeMar, Fred Douglas Young & Gary L. Todd
from American Vision Press
World History Reference for 8th-11th grade
in To Pledge Allegiance (Location: HISCUR-US)
$22.00 (2 in stock)
Captive
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
Hans Christian Anderson Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Classical Acts and Facts History Cards: New World
from Classical Conversations
for Kindergarten-8th grade
in Classical Acts & Facts Cards (Location: HISCUR-CC)
$24.99
Discoverers of the New World
by Joseph Berger
from Troll Associates
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Drive Thru History: Soldiers, Jamestown and The Heroes of Virginia
by Dave Stotts
from Focus on the Family
for 6th-12th grade
in Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Eating the Plates
by Lucille Recht Penner
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-9th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Eating the Plates
by Lucille Recht Penner
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-8th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Faith Unfurled
from History Compass
for 4th-8th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$7.95 $5.57 (1 in stock)
Heart Strangely Warmed
by Louise A. Vernon
from Herald Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
History of Plymouth
by William Bradford
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
History of US Book 2
History of US Book 2
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (3 in stock)
Homes in the Wilderness
by William Bradford
from Purple House Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$9.99
I Heard of a River
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Singmaster, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jamestown: First English Colony
by Marshall W. Fishwick
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark Series
by James Daugherty
from Random House
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$6.99
Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark #2
by James Daugherty
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Landing of the Pilgrims
Spencer Press Landmark #2 (RH#3)
by James Daugherty
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Lost Colony
by Jean Bothwell, illustrated by Edward F. Cortese
from John C. Winston
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Mayflower II
from Plimoth Plantation Publication
for 6th-12th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mayflower Pilgrims
by Edmund J. Carpenter
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$7.50
Mourt's Relation
by Dwight B. Heath, editor
from Applewood Books
Primary Source Document for 8th-12th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
New World In View
To Pledge Allegiance #1
by Gary DeMar & Fred Douglas Young
from American Vision Press
American History Reference for 8th-10th grade
in To Pledge Allegiance (Location: HISCUR-US)
$15.00 (4 in stock)
Paradox of Jamestown (1585-1700)
The Drama of American History
by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier
from Benchmark Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Peter Stuyvesant of Old New York
Landmark #43
by Russel & Anna Crouse, illustrated by Jo Spier
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Pocahontas and Captain John Smith
Landmark #3
by Marie Lawson
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Power and the Glory
by Gilbert Parker
First Edition from Harper & Brothers
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Reformation to Colonization
To Pledge Allegiance #2
by Gary DeMar, Fred Douglas Young & Gary L. Todd
from American Vision Press
World History Reference for 8th-11th grade
in To Pledge Allegiance (Location: HISCUR-US)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Roanoke
by Sonia Levitin
from Atheneum
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
by Rush Limbaugh
from Threshold Editions
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Saints and Strangers
by George F. Willison
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Saints and Strangers
by George F. Wilson
from Time Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Seven Beaver Skins
Land of the Free Series
by Erick Berry
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
Junior Literary Guild
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Sign of the Golden Fish
Land of the Free Series
by Gertrude Robinson, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
Junior Literary Guild
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Silver Fleece
Land of the Free Series
by Florence Crannell Means & Carl Means, illustrated by Edwin Schmidt
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Story of Pocahontas
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #21
by Shirley Graham, illustrated by Mario Cooper
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of the Thirteen Colonies
by Helene Guerber
from Nothing New Press
History Reference for 3rd-8th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Story of the Thirteen Colonies
Landmark #115
by Clifford Lindsey Alderman
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Thanksgiving Primer
from Plimoth Plantation Publication
for 4th-8th grade
in Holidays (Location: HOLIDAY)
$3.50 (5 in stock)
They Saw America First
by John Bakeless, Katherine Bakeless
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Bob Jones University Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.99
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$56.00 (1 in stock)
To Pledge Allegiance - Complete CD-ROM
by Gary DeMar, George Grant, et al.
from American Vision Press
for 8th-12th grade
in To Pledge Allegiance (Location: HISCUR-US)
Voyage to Freedom
by David Gay
from Banner of Truth Trust
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$12.00
We Were There with the Mayflower Pilgrims
We Were There #7
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Charles J. Andres
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
William Bradford
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Eerdmans
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 $7.50 (2 in stock)
William Bradford
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
William Bradford of Plymouth Colony
by W.J. Jacobs
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Witch of Blackbird Pond
by Elizabeth George Speare
Reissue from Sandpiper Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1959 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
World of Captain John Smith
by Genevieve Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$21.95 $15.00 (1 in stock)
World of Captain John Smith (pictorial hardcover)
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Year of the Pilgrims, 1620
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
History Reference/Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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