History of Transportation

The history of the world is largely the history of movement. We speak of ancient cultures as though they were immobile, often forgetting that the greatest empires were often comprised primarily of displaced peoples. Genghis Khan uprooted entire populations and put them elsewhere in order to encourage homogeneity within his realm. How did he get them from place to place?

In the age of Learjets and bullet trains, the invention of the wheel seems distant and almost inconsequential. Riding horses is a little more immediate (oddly) because people still do that, but unless you're Amish or Mennonite Brethren living in the eastern United States, carts, wagons and buggies are mere images flickering against the faded screen of the past.

Still, the wheel is one of the building blocks of civilization. Things like wagons, trains, and cars would never have been developed without the wheel, and by extension we probably wouldn't have airplanes either. Boats and ships are a slightly different story, but the technology that allowed early civilizations to put to sea is as foundational as that used to make wheels.

Man has always been fascinated with movement of all kinds, not least the modes of conveyance used to get people and things around. It's important for Christians to remember that God's will is ultimately what allows advances in transportation technology, which (rather than ending the discussion) is the best reason to study it in the first place. To that end, we offer a variety of resources covering a variety of vehicles and inventions.

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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160 Items found Print
Active Filters: 5th grade (Ages 10-11)
Across America on an Emigrant Train
by Jim Murphy
from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$10.95
Aircraft - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$3.95
Airplane
Inventions that Shaped the World
by Nancy Robinson Masters
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-7th grade
in Things That Go (Location: SCI-TTGO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Airplanes of the Second World War - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Airplanes of World War I - Coloring Book
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99
All About Aviation
All About Books #51
by Robert D. Loomis
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Sailing the Seven Seas
All About Books #40
by Ruth Brindze
from Random House
for 4th-7th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
Amelia Earhart - Coloring Book
by Muriel Earhart Morrissey
from Bellerophon Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Beatrice Gormley
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
American Muscle Cars - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99
American Sailing Ships - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99
Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
by Walter Dean Myers
from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Antique Airplanes - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99
Antique Automobiles - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Clarence P. Hornung
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
Antique Locomotives - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Tre Tryckare Company
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
Arts of the Sailor
by Hervey Garrett Smith
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Automobiles - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
Avion My Uncle Flew
by Cyrus Fisher, illustrated by Richard Floethe
from Purple House Press
for 5th-7th grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Barbary Pirates
Landmark #31
by C. S. Forester
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813
by James P. Barry
from Franklin Watts
for 5th-8th grade
in War of 1812 (Location: HISA-19WET)
Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone
from Golden Press
for 4th-10th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Landmark #9
by Adele Nathan, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Spencer Press Landmark #9 (RH#9)
by Adele Nathan
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Captain Cook Explores the South Seas
World Landmark #19
by Armstrong Sperry
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Cars - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Steven James Petruccio
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$3.99
Central Pacific Railroad
Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series
by Clark J. Evans
from Children's Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Charles A. Lindbergh
by James Cross Giblin
from Clarion Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Charles Lindbergh
A Discovery Book
by David R. Collins
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Classic Cars - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$9.95
Classic Cars of the Fifties - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$3.99
Classic Motorcars - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Tre Tryckare Company
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
Classic Racing Cars of the World - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
Clipper Ship Days
Landmark #22
by John Jennings
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Commodore Perry in Japan
by Robert Reynolds
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Coolies
by Yin, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Transcontinental Railroad (Location: HISA-19TRR)
$7.99
Design Line: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
by Chris Oxlade, Edited by Jenny Broom, Illustrated by Mike Lemanski
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-Adult
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Drake: The Man They Called a Pirate
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Brothers
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Draw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and Trains
by Lee Ames
from Watson-Guptill Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in Draw 50 (Location: ELE-ARTD50)
$9.99
Early Automobiles
Golden Library of Knowledge
by Eugene Rachlis, illustrated by Jack Coggins
from Golden Press
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Early Cars
Junior Golden Guides
by James A. Hathaway
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Early Days of Automobiles
Landmark #68
by Elizabeth Janeway
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race
Step Into Reading Level 3
by Monica Kulling, Illustrated by Richard Walz
from Random House Books for Young Readers
in Step into Reading (Location: EAR-STEP)
$5.99
Famous Trains - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$3.99
Famous Women Aviators - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by LaFontaine, Bruce
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of the World Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISW)
$4.99
Ferdinand Magellan
World Landmark #31
by Seymour Gates Pond
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Fighter Planes
by Mairi MacKinnon
from Usborne
for 4th-8th grade
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
First Ships Around the World
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 4th-6th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
Flight: A Panorama of Aviation
by Melvin B. Zisfein; illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker
from Pantheon Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Flying Aces of World War I
World Landmark #60
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Gasoline Buggy of the Duryea Brothers
by Robert B. Jackson
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Getting There
by Suzanne Hilton
from Westminster Press
for 5th-Adult
in Things That Go (Location: SCI-TTGO)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Golden Age of Railroads
Landmark #93
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Great Railroad Race
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Great Trains of All Time
by Freeman Hubbard; illustrated by Herb Mott
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Hear that Train Whistle Blow!
by Milton Meltzer
from Random House
for 5th-7th grade
in Transcontinental Railroad (Location: HISA-19TRR)
Henry Ford: Young Man with Ideas
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Hazel B. Aird
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Historic Sailing Ships - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Tre Tryckare Company
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
History of Fire Engines - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
History of Flight - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99 $2.50 (1 in stock)
History of Pirates
by Angus Konstam
from Lyons Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
History of the American Automobile - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith & Randy Mason
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
History of Trucks - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
Horses of the Old West - Coloring Book
by John Green
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Horse Coloring Books (Location: COL-HOR)
$3.99
How Things Work: Vehicles - Coloring Book
by Scott MacNeill
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
Ideas That Changed the World: Transportation
by Philip Wilkinson and Michael Pollard, Illustrated by Robert Ingpen
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Guide to Sailing Ships
by Christopher Chant
Library ed from Marshall Cavendish Education
for 4th-8th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Indestructible Commodore Matthew Perry
by Arthur Orrmont
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ironclads of the Civil War
by Frank R. Donovan
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Jet Fighters - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John, Batchelor
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99
John Paul Jones
A Discovery Book
by Stewart Graff, illustrated by William Hutchinson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John Paul Jones, Fighting Sailor
Landmark #39
by Armstrong Sperry
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Lighthouses of America
by Mina Lewiton, Illustrated by Howard Simon
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.50 (1 in stock)
Lindbergh
Classic Starts
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
from NorthSouth
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Lindbergh Alone
by Brendan Gill
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 4th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Star
by Patricia Lauber
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Luxury Cars - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$3.99
Making It Go: The Life and Work of Robert Fulton
by Don Herweck
from Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00
Men-of-War
by Patrick O'Brian
1st Us Edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 5th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Midway: Battle for the Pacific
Landmark #119
by Edmund Castillo
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Modern Fighters to Color, Cut Out & Fly
by Nick Taylor
from Bellerophon Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
Monitor and the Merrimac
Landmark #16
by Fletcher Pratt
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Motorcycles - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$4.99
Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd
Landmark #122
by A.B.C. Whipple
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd
Landmark #122
by A.B.C. Whipple
from Purple House Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$14.99
Nelson and the Age of Fighting Sail
by Oliver Warner
from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Old Ironsides: The Fighting Constitution
Landmark #51
by Harry Hansen
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Old Ship Figureheads - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John Batchelor
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of the World Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISW)
$3.95 $2.50 (1 in stock)
On the Shores of the Great Sea
Story of the World Series #1
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
On the Shores of the Great Sea
Story of the World Series #1
by M. B. Synge
from Living Book Press
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$9.99
On the Wings of Heroes
by Richard Peck
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Orville Wright
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Orville Wright - Audio Book
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
Pirates
by Nigel Cawthorne
from Chartwell Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Railroad
Inventions That Shaped the World
by John Matthews
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-9th grade
in Transcontinental Railroad (Location: HISA-19TRR)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Railroad Engines from Around the World - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.99
Red Baron
by Richard A. Boning, illustrated by Harry Schaare
from Dexter & Westbrook
for 3rd-6th grade
in World War I (1914-1919) (Location: HISA-20WW1)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Sailors, Whalers, Fantastic Sea Voyages
by Valerie Petrillo
1st edition from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude
by Louise Borden
1st edition from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Disasters
by Walter R. Brown & Norman D. Anderson
from Addison Wesley
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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