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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Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys
by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Margot Tomes
from Betterway Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Addy Learns a Lesson
by Connie Porter
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Adventures of the American Revolution
by Susan Olasky
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Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
On My Own History
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Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
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American Army of Two
On My Own History
by Janet Greeson
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American Twins of the Revolution
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Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
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Beckoning Road
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
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Birchbark House
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Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
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Boys of '76
by Charles Coffin
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Brady
by Jean Fritz
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Brother's Keeper
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Captain, My Captain
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
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by Joseph Bruchac
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Cleared for Action!
by Stephen W. Meader
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Clearing Weather
by Cornelia Meigs
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1929 Newbery Honor Book
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Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
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Coming Evil
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Daniel's Story
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Daria Solves a Mystery
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Day of Pleasure
by Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Day the World Stopped Turning
by Michael Morpurgo
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Don't You Know There's a War On?
by Avi
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Down Ryton Water
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1942 Newbery Honor
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Early Thunder
by Jean Fritz
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Echo Mountain
by Lauren Wolk
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Echoes of the White Giraffe
by Sook Nyul Choi
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Elephant Run
by Roland Smith
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Elijah Of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis
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Elise the Actress
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Enemy Brothers
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
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Exiled to the Red River
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Exiled to the Red River
Trailblazer Books
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F is for Freedom
by Roni Schotter
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Faith and Freedom Trilogy
Faith and Freedom
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Farewell to Manzanar
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
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Father's Promise
by Donna Hess
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Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
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Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Fiddler's Green
from Rabbit Room Press
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Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
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Fighting Ground
by Avi
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Finding Providence
An I Can Read Chapter Book
by Avi
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First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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$8.99
Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
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$8.99
Give Me Liberty
by L. M. Elliott
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Glory Be
by Augusta Scattergood
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$6.99
God's Mountain Man
by Esther Vogt
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Biography for 9th-Adult
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Gone Crazy in Alabama
by Rita Williams-Garcia
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Coretta Scott King Award
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$8.99
Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
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$6.99
Great Wheel
by Robert Lawson
from Walker and Company
Realistic fiction for 4th-8th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
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Grim Reaper
Shadow Series #3
by Piet Prins
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Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Growing Up Dakota
by Charles Alexander Eastman, Edited and Illustrated by Charlene Notgrass
from Notgrass Company
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Guests
by Michael Dorris
from Hyperion/Madison Press
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$3.49 (1 in stock)
Gunner's Run
by Rick Barry
from Bob Jones University Press
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$6.99
Guns of Thunder
Faith and Freedom Trilogy #1
by Doug Bond
from P&R Publishing
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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$14.99
Heart Strangely Warmed
by Louise A. Vernon
from Herald Press
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Hideout in the Swamp
Shadow Series #2
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Hiroshima
by Laurence Yep
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Hitch
by Jeanette Ingold
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House Divided
Young Founders 1863
by Elizabeth Massie
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I Am David
by Anne Holm
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Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
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$7.99
In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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In the Heart of the Rockies
by G. A. Henty
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Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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In This Hour
by Rudolf Van Reest
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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$15.95
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