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American Holidays

Technically, American holidays aren't holidays. The word holiday means "holy day," and the only paid federal festival that even approaches that description is Thanksgiving. Independence Day, Labor Day, Washington's Birthday, etc. might be holy according to the dogma of the civil religion, but as Christians we reserve adjectives like holy and sacred for Christ and His Church.

That doesn't mean we can't celebrate along with our countrymen. Liberty, justice and equality are American distinctives, and we thank God we live in a country where they're upheld (at least for the most part). To hold our freedom lightly would be ungrateful on our part, so we celebrate it humbly when we have the chance.

Our favorite distinctly American holiday is Thanksgiving. Given the circumstances of its first celebration it's a little ironic that it's a federal holiday, but we aren't complaining. You can read more about it in our Thanksgiving category. We also like Independence Day because Civil War reenactments are fun and fireworks are super rad, but we've given it the full treatment elsewhere.

Many of the other holidays observed by our federal government are less well known or universally celebrated. (We aren't talking about Christmas or New Year; those aren't distinctly American.) Who even knew Columbus Day was a holiday? Well, if you work at the post office or a bank you probably knew, but most of us are quite unaware.

Which is kind of a shame. While we wouldn't support Martin Luther King, Jr.'s theology, celebrating his birthday isn't a celebration of him so much as a memorial to the Civil Rights movement and the struggle of the black community to achieve equal rights and standing as citizens. Insofar as his efforts were a rallying point for many, the holiday bears his name.

Celebrating the birthdays of Columbus and George Washington is almost a no-brainer: without Christopher we wouldn't even be here, and without ol' Georgie we wouldn't be ruled by a president. Those may be broad strokes to paint in, but few nations in the world owe so much to two distinct individuals for their existence.

Of course, millions of others have helped build this land. Memorial Day remembers those Americans who've died in war, while Veterans Day honors everyone who's served in the armed forces; Labor Day is a tip of the hat to the workers of America, the solid constituency that built Chicago, ranched Colorado, and found gold in the middle of Alaska.

There aren't a lot of specifically American traditions. We like to rally around the ones we do have to promote cameraderie and peace, and these holidays provide just that opportunity. If you aren't into celebrating state-sponsored festivals, that's fine. But the fact that you can have that opinion and still enjoy your freedom says a lot for our country, and we're willing to show our gratitude a few times a year.

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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59 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Hardcover
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)
American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolution
Landmark #83
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Apostle of Liberty
by Stephen McDowell
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
by Benjamin Franklin
from Spencer Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Beyond Stateliest Marble
Leaders in Action Series
by Doug Wilson
from Cumberland House
Biography for
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$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)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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)
Declaration of Independence with Short Biographies of its Signers
by Thomas Jefferson
from Applewood Books
Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
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)
Feast of Thanksgiving: A Play
by June Behrens, Illustrated by Anne Siberell
from Children's Press
for 6th-Adult
in Holidays (Location: HOLIDAY)
$5.00 (2 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)
Forgotten Founding Father
Leaders in Action Series
by Stephen Mansfield
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-12th grade
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$16.95 $10.00 (2 in stock)
George Rogers Clark, Soldier in the West
by Walter Havinghurst
from McGraw-Hill
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington
by M. D. Holmes
from John C. Winston
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington & the Founding of a Nation
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Children's Books
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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's World (pictorial hardcover)
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$38.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington: Frontier Colonel
Landmark #71
by Sterling North
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
George Washington: Soldier and Man
by North Callahan
from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-10th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Give Me Liberty
Leaders in Action Series
by David Vaughan
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$17.95 $10.00 (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)
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)
Life & Times of Washington
by Mario Rivoire
from Curtis Publishing Co.
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Life & Times of Washington
by Mario Rivoire, translated by C.J. Richards
from Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Light and the Glory 1492-1793
by Peter Marshall, David Manuel
Revised Expanded from Revell Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Light and the Glory (Location: HISA-LG)
Marquis de Lafayette
World Landmark #34
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Meggy MacIntosh
by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli
from Viking Press
for 7th-10th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Military Buttons of the American Revolution
by Don Troiani, photographs by Michael O'Donnell, foreword by James Kochan
from Thomas Publications
for 8th-Adult
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Poor Richard
by James Daugherty
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Revolutionary War: America's Fight for Freedom
by Bart McDowell
1983 Printing from National Geographic
for 6th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior
by George Washington
from Applewood Books
for 4th-9th grade
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Saints and Strangers
by George F. Willison
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Spirit of 1776
by Peter Seymour
from Hallmark Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Spy
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Spy
by James Fenimore Cooper
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Story of Andrew Jackson
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #13
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by David Hendrickson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Benjamin Franklin
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #5
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of George Washington
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #12
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of John Paul Jones
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #20
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Mad Anthony Wayne
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #24
by Hazel Wilson, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of the Declaration of Independence
by Dumas Malone; pictures by Hirst Milhollen and Milton Kaplan
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Swamp Fox of the Revolution
Landmark #90
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Tavern at the Ferry
by Edwin Tunis
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Trade Wind
by Cornelia Meigs, with a frontispiece by Henry C. Pitz
from Little, Brown & Company
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
War of the Revolution
by Christopher Ward
from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
We Were There at the Battle of Lexington and Concord
We Were There #20
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by H. B. Vestal
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Boston Tea Party
We Were There #3
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by E. F. Ward
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There When Washington Won at Yorktown
We Were There #17
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Herman B. Vestal
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys
We Were There #10
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Robert Pious
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
Winter at Valley Forge
Landmark #33
by F. Van Wyck Mason
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Year of Independence, 1776
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
History Reference/Biography for 7th-10th grade
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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