United States History

What should we say about the United States of America? So much has already been said, adding our two cents is a bit redundant or presumptuous, depending on your perspective. Certainly, no one needs us to outline the facts, the major events and figures, or to describe our unique written Constitution and democratic-republican system.

We can offer a bit of perspective. It's nothing new, nothing we came up with on our own, but it is different from a lot of the prevailing notions about both history in general and our nation in particular.

For starters, there's no specific reference to the U.S. in the Bible. The principles found in God's Word that apply to all nations certainly apply to the United States as well, but we aren't a Christian nation, we don't hold a special place in biblical prophecy, and Manifest Destiny is the result of Enlightenment rationalist views about the Progress of Mankind rather than being rooted in any kind of Christian attitude.

That said, many of the first settlers of the New World were dedicated Christians seeking the right to worship God without the constraints of political entanglement or government-imposed strictures and doctrine. The Pilgrims came in 1620, just 13 years after the first successful English settlement at Jamestown, and the Puritan settlers followed soon after.

Their arrivals and colonization didn't make America Christian, of course. It was a broad continent, largely unknown, and the initial colonies weren't strictly bound together at first, as they were later to become. By that time, things had become substantially more secular, so that by the 18th century many Americans were just as degenerate as their European counterparts. Fortunately, men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield were around to preach the true Gospel, and to initiate a revival known as the Great Awakening.

Secular forces were still at work, though. While there were definitely many Christians involved, the American Revolution was largely the result of Enlightenment philosophizing, and men were convinced that America could produce a virtuous and stable population if education and participatory government were enforced. So they rebelled against England, and the United States republic was formed.

Ever since, groups and individuals have tried to call Americans back to their Christian roots. That's the wrong strategy: we don't need to call anyone back to anything, we need to point the way forward to the pursuit of Christ and the bringing of His Gospel and glory to every corner of the earth no matter what our country of origin. That America has been so materially blessed simply means we have more options at our disposal for proclaiming and bringing the Word to the rest of the world.

Our study of United States history is consequently Christ-centered. Not because we think America is more Christian than other countries, but because it (like all other nations) is under Christ's control as King of Heaven and Lord of Time. Of course, you shouldn't abandon study of the facts, people and events, but they only attain true meaning when viewed through the lens of Christ's ultimate plan of redemption and self-glorification.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes 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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About Our Flag
by Elinor Rees; illustrated by Jerome W. Bowen
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Abraham Lincoln
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Civil War
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Road Trip: National Parks
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Among the Plains Indians
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Battle of the Little Bighorn
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See and Read: Beginning to Read Biography
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Black Hawk, Sac Rebel
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Blowing-Wand
Land of the Free Series
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Booker T. Washington
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By Right of Conquest
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Captain Bayley's Heir
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Captives of the Senecas
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Christian History of the American Revolution
by Verna Hall & Rosalie Slater
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Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America - Volume I
by Verna Hall
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by Verna Hall
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Christopher Columbus and His Legacy
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Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
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City! San Francisco
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Claim to the Wilderness
by Peter John Stephens
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Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
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Cook: Captain James Cook Charts the Pacific Ocean
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Crazy Horse: The Story of an American Indian
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Customs and Fashions in Old New England
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Dark Venture
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Dear Levi
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Dog Crusoe
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Drinking Gourd
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Dust Bowl
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Let Freedom Ring
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Eliza Pinckney
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
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Empire State Building
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Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys
Cornerstones of Freedom
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Landmark #66
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Ferdinand Magellan
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Ferdinand Magellan and the First Voyage Around the World
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First Book of the American Revolution
by Richard B. Morris
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First Steamboat on the Mississippi
North Star Books #31
by Sterling North
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Flag of the Dreadful Bear
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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Forts in the Wilderness
by Edith S. McCall
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Fourth of July Story
by Alice Dalgliesh, illustrated by Marie Nonnast
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Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Francisco Coronado and the Exploration of the American Southwest
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Freedom's Fruit
by William H. Hooks
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From Sea to Shining Sea: Americans Move West 1846-1860
How America Became America
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Frontiersman
by Marian T. Place
First Ediition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
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George Washington
by Verna Hall
from Foundation for American Christian Education
Biography for 10th-Adult
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George Washington Carver
by Carol Greene
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George Washington: Man and Monument
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Geronimo: Apache Freedom Fighter
Native American Biographies
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Glassmakers
Colonial American Craftsmen
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Glorious Days, Dreadful Days
Stories of America
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Golden Coyote
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Good Women of a Well-Blessed Land
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Grand Papa and Ellen Aroon
by F. N. Monjo, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
1st edition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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Guise of Every Graceless Heart
by Terrill Irwin Elniff
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$5.00
Harriet Tubman
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by Lisa Halvorsen
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Henry Hudson
Library of Explorers and Exploration
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Her Story, Her Words
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Hernando de Soto and the Exploration of Florida
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How Men Discovered the World
by Hans R. Hecke, illustrated by Nikolaus Plump, freely translated by Moya Gillespie
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How They Built the Statue of Liberty
by Mary J. Shapiro, illustrated by Huck Scarry
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Hunters Blaze the Trails
by Edith S. McCall
New 1980 Edition from Children's Press
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Hunters Blaze the Trails
by Edith S. McCall
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In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
In Their Own Words: World War I
by Nicholas Saunders
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Incas
by Rosemary Rees
from Heinemann Educational Books
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Indian and His Horse
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
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Indian Beadwork
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Indian Costumes
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Indian Fishing and Camping
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
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Indian Hunting
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
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