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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59 Items found Print
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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
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
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Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
from Chapman Billies, Inc
American Naval History for 8th-Adult
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America and Vietnam
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
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American History in Verse
by Burton Stevenson
from Bob Jones University Press
Poetry for 3rd-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$11.00
Colonial Experience
A Basic History of the United States Volume 1
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-US)
$17.00
Cuban Missile Crisis
by Karl E. Valois
from History Compass
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Dust Bowl
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by David C. King, ed.
from History Compass
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Echoes of the Civil War: The Blue
Perspectives on History Series
by Stephen M. Forman, editor
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
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Echoes of the Civil War: The Gray
Perspectives on History Series
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Europe Finds the World
Cambridge Introduction to World History
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From Sea to Shining Sea
by Peter Marshall & David Manuel
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American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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George Washington's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
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1942 Newbery Honor Book
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George Washington's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster and edited by Rea Berg
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History Reference/Biography for 7th-10th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
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Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest
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History of US Book 1
History of US Book 1
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 10
History of US Book 10
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 10
History of US Book 10
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American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 2
History of US Book 2
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History of US Book 3
History of US Book 3
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 3
by Joy Hakim
3rd edition from Oxford University
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History of US Book 4
History of US Book 4
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 5
History of US Book 5
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 6
History of US Book 6
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
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History of US Book 6
by Joy Hakim
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History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
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3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
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History of US Book 8
History of US Book 8
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History of US Book 8
History of US Book 8
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History of US Book 9
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
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Indian Wars
Perspectives on History Series
by Mary Alice Burke Robinson, editor
1st edition from History Compass
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Iron Horses Across America
Perspectives on History Series
by Jeanne Munn Bracken
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Kids at Work
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1995 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Lone Star
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by Edmund J. Carpenter
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
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Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
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Mourt's Relation
by Dwight B. Heath, editor
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by Walter Dean Myers
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by James Daugherty
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by David Stevenson
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Road to San Jacinto
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by Mary Dodson Wade, editor
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by Theodore Roosevelt
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Search for the Northwest Passage
by Lucile McDonald
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Spanish-American War
Perspectives on History Series
by Mary Alice Burke Robinson, ed.
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Stories of Young Pioneers
by Violet T. Kimball
from Mountain Press
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by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
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Vietnam War
Perspectives on History Series
by Mitch Yamasaki, ed.
from History Compass
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War of 1812
Perspectives on History Series
by Mary Alice Burke Robinson, editor
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by Eugene E. Snyder
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Westward Expansion
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by Cheryl Edwards, editor
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by Genevieve Foster, edited by Rea Berg
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by Albert Marrin
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