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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1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
from National Geographic
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in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
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Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
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American Dream
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
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Anne Bradstreet
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Anne of Jamestown
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Beyond Stateliest Marble
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Black Man in America
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Building a City On a Hill
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Captive
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Children's Color Book of Jamestown in Virginia
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Colonial Kids
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American History by Era Volume 2
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Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony 1636
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Down Ryton Water
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1942 Newbery Honor
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Eating the Plates
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Faith Unfurled
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History of US Book 2
History of US Book 2
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3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
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by Ann McGovern
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If You Sailed On the Mayflower in 1620
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Jamestown
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Jamestown and the Founding of the Nation
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Mayflower II
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On the Mayflower
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On the Mayflower
by Kate Waters
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Our America... The Pilgrim Adventure
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Paradox of Jamestown (1585-1700)
The Drama of American History
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Pilgrim Boy (old)
by Matilda Nordtvedt
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Pilgrim Voices
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Plymouth Colony
by Andrew Santella
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To Pledge Allegiance #2
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World History Reference for 8th-11th grade
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Roanoke: The Lost Colony
by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple, illustrated by Roger Roth
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Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
by Rush Limbaugh
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Saints and Strangers
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Saints and Strangers
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Samuel De Champlain
by Samuel E. Morison
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Samuel Eaton's Day
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Sarah Morton's Day
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Sarah Morton's Day
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Seeds of a Nation - Massachusetts
by Don Nardo
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Serpent Never Sleeps
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Settlers on a Strange Shore
by Edith S. McCall
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Squanto
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Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving
by Eric Metaxas
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Squanto's Journey
by Joseph Bruchac
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Stink Alley
by Jamie Gilson
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Stories of the Pilgrims
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Stories of the Pilgrims (old)
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Historical Reference for 10th-Adult
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Surviving Jamestown
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Sweet Land of Liberty
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Thanksgiving Primer
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Thanksgiving Story
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1955 Caldecott Honor Book
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This Dear-Bought Land
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Three Young Pilgrims
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Turkeys, Pilgrims, and Indian Corn
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United States History: Puritans & Pilgrims
The Time Traveler Series
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What Was the First Thanksgiving?
What Was?
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Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?
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Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?
by Jean Fritz
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William Bradford
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William Bradford of Plymouth Colony
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William Bradford, Pilgrim Boy
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by Genevieve Foster
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Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
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