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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389 Items found Print
Active Filters: Biographies, 8th grade (Ages 13-14)
Abe Lincoln
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by Sterling North
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
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Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Douglass
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Abraham Lincoln's World
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
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Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
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All That Glitters
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America's War Heroes
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American Heroes of the 20th Century
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Amos Fortune, Free Man
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Andrew Jackson: Soldier and Statesman
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Anne Bradstreet
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Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
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At Her Majesty's Request
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2000 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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B. Franklin, Printer
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Balboa: Swordsman and Conquistador
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Ben Franklin
Sterling Point Books
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
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Ben Snipes, Northwest Cattle King
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Betsy Ross and the Flag
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Betty Before X
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Biography of Benjamin Franklin
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Sons of Liberty Series
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Black Hawk, Sac Rebel
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Black Heroes of the American Revolution
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Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom - Audio Drama (CD)
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Book of Famous Explorers
Young Folks Library
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Booker T. Washington
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Boy on the Wooden Box
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Boy's War
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
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Buffalo Bill
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Buffalo Bill's Great Wild West Show
Landmark #73
by Walter Havighurst, illustrated by John C. Wonsetler
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Buffalo Bill's Life Story
by William F. Cody, Illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
1966 printing from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
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Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt!
by Jean Fritz
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Camels West
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Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
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1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Cartier Sails the St. Lawrence
by Esther Averill, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
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Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
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Charles A. Lindbergh
by James Cross Giblin
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Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces
by Shannon Garst, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline
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Christopher Columbus
by John Abbott
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Christopher Columbus
by Samuel Eliot Morison
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Clara Barton
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by Helen Dore Boylston
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Claudette Colvin
by Philip Hoose
from Square Fish Publishing
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2010 Newbery Honor Book, 2010 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, National Book Award
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Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
from Touchstone
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Cobblestone Magazine: Thomas Jefferson
from Cobblestone Publishing
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Colonial Governor
by J.G.E. Hopkins, illustrated by William Wilson
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Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Random House
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Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Purple House Press
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Come By Here
by Olivia Coolidge
from Houghton Mifflin
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Come on Seabiscuit
by Ralph Moody
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
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Commodore Perry in Japan
by Robert Reynolds
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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Cortes and the Aztec Conquest
by Irwin R. Blacker
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Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
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Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
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Daniel Boone: The Opening of the Wilderness
Landmark #21
by John Mason Brown
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David Farragut
The History of the Civil War
by Russell Shorto
from Stan Clark Military Books
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Davy Crockett
by David Crockett
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Davy Crockett
Landmark #57
by Stewart H. Holbrook
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Defeating the Totalitarian Lie
by Hilmar Von Campe
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Diary of a Young Girl
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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$11.99
Dime a Dozen
by Nikki Grimes, Illustrated by Angelo
from Dial Books for Young Readers
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Discoverers of the New World
by Joseph Berger
from Troll Associates
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in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Dolly Madison
Landmark #47
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
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Dr. George Washington Carver, Scientist
by Shirley Graham & George D. Lipscomb
Seventeenth Printing from Julian Messner
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Eagle and the Fort
by Dorothy Morrison
from Oregon Historical Society Press
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
by James F. Hinkle
from Unknown Publisher
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Eleanor's Story
by Eleanor Ramrath Garner
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Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
by Jean Lee Latham
from Garrard Publishing Company
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Emancipation Proclomation
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
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Escape from Corregidor
by Edward D. Whitcomb
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
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Exploration of Africa
by Thomas Sterling
from Harper & Row
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Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set
from UXL Publishing
biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade
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$30.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
from Tor Classic
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro
from Starscape
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Explorers, Missionaries, and Trappers
by Kieran Doherty
from Oliver-Nelson Books
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Fabulous Opal Whiteley
by Elbert Bede
from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Faith of Our Fathers: Scenes from American Church History
by Mark Sidwell, editor
from Bob Jones University Press
Church History Reference for 7th-12th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Faithful Spy
by John Hendrix
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
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Falcons of France
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
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