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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123 Items found Print
Active Filters: Biographies, 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Trade Paperback
Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Reprint from Puffin Books
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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All That Glitters
Perspectives on History Series
by Phyllis Raybin Emert
from History Compass
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Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
by Doug Wilson
3rd edition from Canon Press
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Anne Bradstreet
by Faith Cook
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
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Autobiography of Josiah Henson
by Josiah Henson
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Ben Franklin
Sterling Point Books
by Thomas Fleming
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Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renee Watson
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$8.99
Biography of Benjamin Franklin
Sons of Liberty Series
by William M. Thayer
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Biography of George Washington
Sons of Liberty Series
by William M. Thayer
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Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
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$9.50 (1 in stock)
Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown
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by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
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Buffalo Bill
by Helen Cody Wetmore
from University of Nebraska
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Bulletproof George Washington
by David Barton
2nd edition from WallBuilder Press
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Bulletproof George Washington
by David Barton
3rd edition from WallBuilder Press
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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$9.99
Christopher Columbus
by John Abbott
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Churchill
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Claudette Colvin
by Philip Hoose
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Co. Aytch
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
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Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
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Diary of a Young Girl
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Eleanor's Story
by Eleanor Ramrath Garner
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
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Evidence Not Seen
by Darlene Deibler Rose
from HarperCollins
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Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin
by David R. Logsdon
4th edition
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Fabulous Opal Whiteley
by Elbert Bede
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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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Faithful Spy
by John Hendrix
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Falcons of France
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Four Voyages
by Christopher Columbus
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Historical Primary Sources for 9th-Adult
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$17.00
Francis Asbury
by Charles Ludwig
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Free Indeed
by Mark Sidwell
Expanded from Bob Jones University Press
Biography for 6th-12th grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
George B. McClellan
by Michael McHugh
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
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George Washington
Sterling Point Books
by Sterling North
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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George Washington & the Founding of a Nation
by Albert Marrin
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George Whitefield
by Arnold A. Dallimore
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God and Ronald Reagan
by Paul Kengor
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God's Mountain Man
by Esther Vogt
from Gospel Publishing
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Going Solo
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Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
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Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
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Hero Tales from American History
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
Paperback, First Printing from Tolle Lege Press
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Hey, Mac!
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Hiding Place
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35th Anniversary Edition from Chosen Books
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$15.99
History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
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Hitler
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
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$13.95
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
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Jason Lee
Sowers Series
by Charles Ludwig
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Jessie Benton Fremont
by Marguerite Higgins
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John Paul Jones
Sterling Point Books
by Armstrong Sperry
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Jonathan and Sarah
by Edna Gerstner
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Jonathan Edwards
by Stephen J. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
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Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca
Dover editions
by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
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$10.95
Kit Carson's Autobiography
by Kit Carson
from University of Nebraska
Autobiography for 9th-12th grade
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Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
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$9.99
Lawrence of Arabia
Sterling Point Books
by Alistair Maclean
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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Life and Death of Crazy Horse
by Russell Freedman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
1997 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Life of General Stonewall Jackson
by Mary Williamson
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Life of George Washington
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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Life of J.E.B. Stuart
by Mary Williamson
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$11.75
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
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Lives of the Presidents
by Kathleen Krull & Kathryn Hewitt
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Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence
by Benson J. Lossing
3rd Printing from WallBuilder Press
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Log of Christopher Columbus
by Christopher Columbus, translated by Robert Fuson
1992 Printing from International Marine / McGraw-Hill
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Lost World of Thomas Jefferson
by Daniel J. Boorstin
Reprint Edition from Beacon Press
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March (Book One)
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
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Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
March (Book Three)
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin; illustrated by Nate Powell
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2017 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
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by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
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March - Boxed Set
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
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Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
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$24.00 (1 in stock)
Marriage to a Difficult Man
by Elisabeth D. Dodds
from Audobon Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
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Mary McLeod Bethune
by Emma Gelders Sterne
from Purple House Press
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$12.99
Mein Kampf
by Adolf Hitler, translated by Ralph Manheim
from Houghton Mifflin
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mein Kampf
by Adolf Hitler, translated by Michael Ford
from Elite Minds, Inc.
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.95
Mornings on Horseback
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
National; Book Award
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$20.00
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$21.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
N.C. Wyeth's Wild West
by N. C. Wyeth
from Brandywine River Museum
for 7th-12th grade
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Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
by David Crockett
Reprint from Bison Books
for 9th-Adult
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$16.95 $8.50 (1 in stock)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Copper Lodge Library
by Frederick Douglass, annotated by Stephanie B. Meter
from Classical Conversations
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$9.95
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
by Frederick Douglass, edited and introduction by David W. Blight
from Bedford Press
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Never Give In
Leaders in Action Series
by Stephen Mansfield
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$19.99
New York to Nome
by Rick Steber, Photography by Sheldon Taylor
2007 Revised from Bonanza Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Now Is Your Time!
by Walter Dean Myers
from HarperCollins
for 7th-10th grade
1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
Ocean-Born Mary
by Lois Lenski
1st Edition Thus from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Outlaws of the Pacific Northwest
by Bill Gulick
from Caxton Press
for 7th-Adult
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
Outrageous Women of the American Frontier
Outrageous Women
1st edition from Jossey-Bass
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Over the Applegate Trail to Oregon in 1846
by Anne Billeter, Bert Webber
for 8th-12th grade
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Path to the Pacific
Sterling Point Books
by Neta Lohnes Frazier
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
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Path to the Pacific
by Neta Lohnes Frazier
from Quarto Knows
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Poor Richard
by James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 6th-9th grade
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$17.95
Princess Ka'iulani
by Sharon Linnea
from Eerdmans
Biography for 7th-Adult
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$15.00
Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail
by Theodore Roosevelt
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$18.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Reconstruction: Binding the Wounds
Perspectives on History Series
by Cheryl Edwards, ed.
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$7.95
Robert E. Lee
Heroes in Time
by John J. Dwyer
from Broadman & Holman
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Robert E. Lee the Christian
by William J. Johnstone
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$14.50
Rough Riders
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Dover Publications
Historical non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$8.95
Sequoyah and the Cherokee Alphabet
by Robert Cwiklik
from Avyx, Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
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$6.00 (3 in stock)
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