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'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.
Did you find this review helpful?
116 Items found Print
Active Filters: Adult, Trade Paperback, Used Books & Materials
1421: The Year China Discovered America
by Gavin Menzies
1st edition from William Morrow & Company
for Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
1491
by Charles C. Mann
2nd ed. from Vintage Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$16.15 $7.60 (1 in stock)
1861: The Civil War Awakening
by Adam Goodheart
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
from Tyndale House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander Hamilton
by Ron Chernow
from Penguin Random House
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
America's Christian History
by Gary DeMar
2nd edition from American Vision Press
for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
America's Providential History
by Mark Beliles & Stephen McDowell
from Providence Foundation
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$6.40 (6 in stock)
American Civil War
by Robert K. Krick
from Osprey Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Covenant
by Marshall Foster
from Mayflower Institute
for 9th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
American Passage
by Vincent J. Cannato
from Harper Perennial
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolutionaries
by Milton Meltzer
from HarperCollins
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
by Gordon S. Wood
from Penguin Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Anne Bradstreet
by Heidi L. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$9.79 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of the North American Indian
by Carl Waldman
1st edition from Facts On File
for 9th-Adult
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Beginning of the Republic
A Basic History of the United States Volume 2
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-BHUS)
$17.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Between the Lines
by Tom and Delphine Frazier
from Regent Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Black & Tan
by Doug Wilson
from Canon Press
for Adult
in Culture & Discernment (Location: XCU-DIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Black Odyssey
by Mary Cable
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill and the Wild West
by Henry Blackman Sell and Victor Weybright
Reprint from International Cody Family Assoc.
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Butter in the Well: Historical Diary 1868-1888
by Linda K. Hubalek
from Butterfield Books
for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Christianity and the Constitution
by John Eidsmoe
from Baker Academics
for Adult
in Christianity and the State (Location: XWV-STA)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Churchill: Walking with Destiny
by Andrew Roberts
from Penguin Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Songbook
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War: 1850-1895
American History by Era Volume 5
by Auriana Ojeda, book editor
from Greenhaven Press
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Civil War: A History
by Harry Hansen, Introduction by Richard S. Wheeler, Foreword by Gary Gallagher
from New American Library
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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-BHUS)
$17.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Period: 1607-1750
American History by Era Volume 2
by Brenda Stalcup (editor)
from Greenhaven Press
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.80 (1 in stock)
Defining Moment
by Jonathan Alter
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Devil in Massachusetts
by Marion L. Starkey
from Anchor Books
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Evangelical Reassessment
by Georg Huntemann
from Baker Books
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Early American Republic: 1789-1829
by Paul E. Johnson
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men
by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
1st edition from Open Court Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
FDR
by Jean Edward Smith
from Random House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Forever Free
by Eric Foner, illustrations edited with commentary by Joshua Brown
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
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)
$14.95 $6.50 (1 in stock)
Founding Brothers
by Joseph J. Ellis
from Vintage Classics
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Girl in the Picture
by Denise Chong
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in Vietnam War (1957-1975) (Location: HISA-20VIE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Glorious Cause
The Oxford History of the United States
by Robert Middlekauff
Revised from Oxford University
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
God and Ronald Reagan
by Paul Kengor
Reprint from Harper Perennial
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.29 $7.20 (2 in stock)
Good-Bye To All That
by Robert Graves, introduction by Paul Fussell
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Grand Canyon and the Southwest
by Ansel Adams
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
for 7th-Adult
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Great Battles of the Civil War
by John Macdonald
from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Guide to America's Greatest Historic Places
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 9th-Adult
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Higher Call
by Adam Makos with Larry Alexander
from Dutton Caliber
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$18.70 $8.80 (1 in stock)
History of the American People
by Paul Johnson
from HarperCollins
for 11th-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$19.54 $11.20 (1 in stock)
Hubbell Trading Post
by Erica Cottam
from University of Oklahoma Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Importance of the Electoral College
by George Grant
from Vision Forum
in Government & Civics Resources (Location: GOV-REF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
In My Father's House
by Corrie Ten Boom
Book Club Edition from Power Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
In the Land of the Head-Hunters
by Edward Curtis
Reprint from World Book
for 9th-Adult
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
In the Name of the Father
by Francois Furstenberg
from Penguin Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer
from Anchor Books
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
from Quality Paperback Book Club
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Island at the Center of the World
by Russell Shorto
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Jamestown and the Founding of the Nation
by Warren M. Billings
from Thomas Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Jonathan and Sarah
by Edna Gerstner
from Soli Deo Gloria
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Kingdom Strange
by James Horn
from Basic Books
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.80 (1 in stock)
Labor's Untold Story
by Herbert M. Morais, Richard O. Boyer
3rd edition from United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer
for 9th-Adult
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Land of Hope
by Wilfred M. McClay
from Encounter Books
for 10th-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$42.49 $20.00 (1 in stock)
Land That I Love
by Bobbie Ames
from Nordskog Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Last Bookshop in London
by Madeline Martin
from Hanover Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Lee's New School History of the United States
by Susan Lee
1995 reprint from Grapevine Publications
for 9th-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Lost World of Thomas Jefferson
by Daniel J. Boorstin
from Beacon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Man Who Would Not Be Washington
by Jonathan Horn
from Scribner
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Midshipman Bolitho
by Alexander Kent
from McBooks Press
for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Miracle at Philadelphia
by Catherine Drinker Bowen
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Monuments Men
by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter
from Center Street
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Mornings on Horseback
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
National; Book Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$18.66 $9.60 (1 in stock)
Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
by David Crockett
Reprint from Bison Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.41 $6.80 (1 in stock)
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)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Night
by Elie Wiesel
Revised from Hill & Wang
Autobiographies & Memoirs for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.00 $4.00 (9 in stock)
No Less Than Victory
by Jeff Shaara
1st edition from Ballantine Books
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
North American Indian Burial Customs
by Dr. H. C. Yarrow
First Edition from Eagle's View Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
On the Edge
by David D. Lee, David Horowitz, Peter N. Carroll
1st edition
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
One Nation Under God
by Dr. David C. Gibbs, Jr. with Jerry Newcombe
from Christian Law Association
for Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail, Yesterday and Today
from Caxton Press
for 6th-Adult
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Paris 1919
by Margaret Macmillan
from Random House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Pioneer Children on the Journey West
by Emmy E. Werner
from Westview Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Prayin' to Be Set Free
from John F. Blair Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Red River to Appomattox
The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 3
by Shelby Foote
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Revolution & Regeneration
by Peter Charles Hoffer
from University of Georgia Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Revolutionary Period: 1750-1783
American History by Era Volume 3
by Bruce Thompson (Book Editor)
from Greenhaven Press
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$10.40 (1 in stock)
River and the Gauntlet
by S. L. A. Marshall
from Time-Life Books
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Robert E. Lee
Heroes in Time
by John J. Dwyer
from Broadman & Holman
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Rough Riders
by Theodore Roosevelt
from University of Nebraska
Historical non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sergeant York and the Great War
by Alvin C. York
from My Father's World
Autobiography for 7th-Adult
in World War I (1914-1919) (Location: HISA-20WW1)
$18.70 $8.00 (2 in stock)
Seven Wonders of the World
by Ron Tagliapietra
from Bob Jones University Press
for 8th-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$11.01 $6.40 (1 in stock)
Shiloh: A Novel
by Shelby Foote
from Vintage Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: The Deep South
by William B. Logan and Vance Muse, with photography by Mary Z. Jenkins
from Stewart, Tabori, & Chang
for 9th-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Smoke and Ashes
from Holiday House
for 9th-Adult
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Somewhere There is Still a Sun
by Michael Gruenbaum with Todd Hasak-Lowy
from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-Adult
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Songs of My People
by Dudley M. Brooks & Eric Easter
from Little, Brown & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Soul of the Lion
by Willard M. Wallace
Reprint from Stan Clark Military Books
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
South in Modern America
by Dewey W. Grantham
from University of Arkansas Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Spiritual Heritage
by David Barton
2nd edition from WallBuilder Press
for 11th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Liberty
by Charles Coffin
from Maranatha Publications
Historical Reference for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$16.97 $8.00 (2 in stock)
Such Troops as These
by Bevin Alexander
from Dutton Caliber
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Sugar and Slaves
by Richard S. Dunn, foreword by Gary B. Nash
from University of North Carolina Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Survival in Auschwitz
by Primo Levi
1st edition from Touchstone
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.29 $7.20 (2 in stock)
12