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18th Century America

In Europe, the 18th century was about Progress. Technological advances were only one aspect of that progress, the most important elements being intellectual and spiritual. The Age of Enlightenment was at its peak, and philosophers envisioned a future time when the knowledge, virtue and diligence of Mankind would usher in a golden era of educated populations working together for self-actualization and evolutionary development.

It's easy to think the American Colonies, and later the fledgling United States of America, were different, that the distance of oceans removed them from the influence of secular humanism. In fact, the Founding Fathers were thoroughly sons of the Enlightenment, and it was their commitment to the same kind of Progress espoused by men like Hegel and Voltaire that led them to break with England.

Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were probably the most outspoken defenders of Enlightenment idealism, but there were plenty of others. There were also plenty of Christians, men whom today's Enlightenment heirs would prefer we forgot, but the fact remains that the American political experiment was largely undertaken with the goal of reshaping government to advance the people further on the path toward perfection.

Essentially, the primary tenets of the Enlightenment were that man can know all there is to know, that through education all men can acquire enough knowledge to become virtuous and productive, and that together we can all make the world a better place. It's basically a mirror-image of the Christian doctrine of history: that man is helpless, that only God knows everything, and that history is moving along the path God set for it to fulfill His ultimate ends and glorify Himself through Jesus Christ.

As in any era, God raised men to proclaim the latter truth despite the humanism engulfing so much of Western society. The wisdom of God is foolishness to those who are perishing (as He says in His Word), and many rejected the calls to repentance, but there were plenty who accepted and turned to Christ, enough to start a revival called the Great Awakening.

Men like George Whitefield, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards preached the Gospel in direct opposition to the wisdom of this world that was spreading so quickly and thoroughly. Even today, their sermons are remembered and read, and even today men and women are converted through their doctrinally sound and spiritually edifying writings.

In the end, the tension between Christianity and Enlightenment rationalism that swept the newly settled North American continent was indicative of the same battle that has raged ever since Adam declared war on God by eating the forbidden fruit. For Christians, the most important event in 18th century America was the Great Awakening, not the American War for Independence. It's essential when studying the period that we keep this in perspective, appreciating the good things the Revolution and its advocates accomplished while measuring everything against the truth of Scripture.

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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Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
Landmark #85
by Russel & Anna Crouse
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
America During Four Wars
by Earl Schenck Miers & Felix Sutton
from Grosset & Dunlap
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
America in the Time of George Washington
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
America Moves Forward
A History for Peter #3
by Gerald W. Johnson
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-Adult
American Plague
by Jim Murphy
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$21.99
American Revolution
Landmark #83
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Calkins Creek
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$19.99
Architects
Colonial American Craftsmen
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Battle for Long Island and New York
by Susan Lee
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Battle for Quebec
North Star Books #38
by F. Van Wyck Mason, illustrated by Victor Mays
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Battle of Yorktown
by Thomas J. Fleming
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 3rd-7th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark #28
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Betsy Ross and the Flag
Landmark #26
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Betsy Ross: Girl of Old Philadelphia
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ann Weil, illustrated by Al Fiorentino
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Boy Sailor with John Paul Jones
by H. C. Thomas
from Whitman Publishing Company
for 5th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Calico Captive
by Elizabeth Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Captain of the Minute Men
Boys of Liberty Library
by Harrie Irving Hancock
from David McKay Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Christmas Tree Hessian
by Cora Cheney, illustrated by Edith Ballinger Price
from Henry Holt and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Colonial American Home Life
by John F. Warner
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-10th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Colonial Craftsmen and the Beginnings of American Industry
by Edwin Tunis
from World Publishing Company
for 4th-9th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Colonial Governor
by J.G.E. Hopkins, illustrated by William Wilson
from P.J. Kenedy & Sons
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Courage to Command
by Zillah K. MacDonald, illustrated by Harve Stein
from John C. Winston
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Crispus Attucks: Boy of Valor
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Dharathula H. Millender
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Cromwell's Head
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Crossing
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Garden City Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Daniel Boone: The Opening of the Wilderness
Landmark #21
by John Mason Brown
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Dolly Madison
Landmark #47
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Drums
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by James Boyd
1st edition from Atheneum
for 5th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Far Frontier
by William O. Steele; illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Harcourt
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fight for Freedom
by Benson Bobrick
1st edition from Atheneum
for 5th-10th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$24.99 $15.00 (1 in stock)
For You They Signed
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$27.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
From Colonies to Country with George Washington - Book Only
My American Journey
by Deborah Hedstrom
from Multnomah Books
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
George Rogers Clark: War in the West
Events of the Revolution
by Susan and John Lee, illustrated by Richard Wahl
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington
by M. D. Holmes
from John C. Winston
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington
by Heather Lehr Wagner
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington and the Making of a Nation
by Marcus Cunliffe
from Troll Associates
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
George Washington: Frontier Colonel
Landmark #71
by Sterling North
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 2
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 3
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 4
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book of the American Revolution
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
1st edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Gristmill
Historic Communities
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Hatters
Colonial American Craftsmen
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Benchmark Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Haym Salomon: Liberty's Son
by Shirley Milgrim, illustrated by Richard Fish
from Jewish Publication Society
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Haym Salomon: Son of Liberty
by Howard Fast
from Julian Messner
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Home Crafts (Historic Communities)
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Homemakers
Colonial American Craftsmen
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
How and Why Wonder Book of the American Revolution
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
I Walk in Dread
Dear America
by Lisa Rowe Fraustino
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Inventing America: The Life of Benjamin Franklin
by Mark Essig
for 6th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Jack Wade, Fighter for Liberty
A Doubleday Signal Book
by Irving Werstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
John Hancock
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee, illustrated by Chuck Mitchell
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John Paul Jones
by Norma Jean Lutz
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John Paul Jones
Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee, illustrated by Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
John Wesley
by May McNeer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Abingdon Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Johnny Tremain
Illustrated American Classics
by Esther Forbes
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 3rd-10th grade
1944 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
G&D Famous Horse Stories
by Marguerite Henry
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
1st edition from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
1958th edition from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse (pictorial cover)
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Kings Mountain
by G. Clifton Wisler
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lafayette in America
North Star Books #15
by André Maurois
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lafayette!
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #8
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Last Fort
Land of the Free Series
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Edward Shenton
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill
by Francis Russell
from Troll Associates
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Liberty or Death
by Margaret Whitman Blair
from National Geographic
for 4th-9th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Look to the Hills
Dear America
by Patricia C. McKissack
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Love Thy Neighbor
Dear America
by Ann Turner
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Making of America
by Robert D. Johnston
Reissue from National Geographic
for 6th-10th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Man with the Silver Eyes
by William O. Steele
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Marquis de Lafayette
World Landmark #34
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Miracle at Philadelphia
by Catherine Drinker Bowen
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-6th grade
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$9.00 (3 in stock)
My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Nathan Hale
by Loree Lough
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Noah Webster: Father of the American Dictionary
by Isabel Proudfit
13th printing from Julian Messner
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Old Ironsides: The Fighting Constitution
Landmark #51
by Harry Hansen
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
One Dead Spy
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #1
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Our Independence and the Constitution
Landmark #5
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Our Independence and the Constitution
Spencer Press Landmark #4 (RH#5)
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Patriots' Gold
by Virginia Frances Voight, illustrated by H. Tom Hall
from Macrae-Smith Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Patsy Jefferson's Diary
by Miriam Anne Bourne
First Edition from Coward McCann
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Paul Revere
by Margaret Green
from Julian Messner
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Paul Revere and the Minute Men
Landmark #4
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Paul Revere and the Minute Men
Spencer Press Landmark #3 (RH#4)
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Paul Revere's Ride
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Charles Santore
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Phoebe and the General
by Judith Berry Griffin
from Weekly Reader
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Pictorial Encyclopedia of American History Volume 15
from United States Capital Historical Society
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Pictorial Encyclopedia of American History Volume 16
from United States Capital Historical Society
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Pictorial Encyclopedia of American History Volume 17
from United States Capital Historical Society
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Pictorial Encyclopedia of American History Volume 2
from United States Capital Historical Society
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
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