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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79 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Perfectbound
ABC Book of Early Americana - Coloring Book
by Eric Sloane
2012 Dover from Dover Publications
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Alphabet Coloring Books (Location: COL-ALPH)
$10.95
African-Americans in the Thirteen Colonies
by Deborah Kent
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Alvin Ailey
by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Hyperion Books for Children
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in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
America - with CD
from Diana Waring Presents
for 1st-6th grade
in Diana Waring History Revealed (Location: OHIS-DWHR)
America At War: Korean War
by John Perritano
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Korean War (1950-1953) (Location: HISA-20KW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
for 2nd-5th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of Lewis and Clark
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
for 2nd-5th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Anne of Jamestown
by Anne Price-Hardister, illustrated by Ruby Gardner
from Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Bill of Rights
by R. Conrad Stein
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Bill of Rights
by Lucia Raatma
from Scholastic Inc.
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in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky
by Chief Seattle, illustrated by Susan Jeffers
from Puffin Books
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$8.99
Buffalo Bird Girl
by S. D. Nelson
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
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Building the Capital City
by Marlene Targ Brill
from Children's Press
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Calamity Jane
by Doris Faber
from Houghton Mifflin
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Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series
by Clark J. Evans
from Children's Press
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Chief Joseph: Leader of Destiny
by Kate Jassem
from Troll Associates
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by Yvonne Wakim Dennis and Arlene Hirschfelder
from Charlesbridge
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Civil Rights Movement in America
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Elaine Landau
Reprint from Children's Press
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Dear Benjamin Banneker
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Houghton Mifflin
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$7.99
Declaration of Independence
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by Elizabeth Raum
from Heinemann-Raintree
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Dreaming of America
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from Scholastic Inc.
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from Candlewick Press
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by Anita Yasuda, illustrated by Jennifer K. Keller
from Nomad Press
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by Philip Koslow
from KidsBooks, Inc.
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by Tonya Bolden
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
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George Washington You Never Knew
by James Lincoln Collier
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from Scholastic Inc.
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How and Why Wonder Book of the Civil War
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Grosset & Dunlap
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from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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by Sharlene and Ted Nelson
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by Jim Gigliotti
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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by David L. Harrison, Illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
from Random House
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from Chicago Review Press
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by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Matt Tavares
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Reprint from Children's Press
for 2nd-5th grade
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Marco Polo
by Struan Reid
from Heinemann Library
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Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder - with CD
Experience History Through Music
by Diana Waring
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by Robert San Souci, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Chronicle Books
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N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims
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from Red Chair Press
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National Parks of the USA - Activity Book
by Claire Grace; inspired by the book by Kate Siber, illustrated by Chris Turnham
from Quarto Publishing
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Our National Monuments
by Eleanor Ayer
from Millbrook Press
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by Margo Lemieux, Illustrated by Bill Nelson
from Silver Press
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from Holiday House
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from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
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Rosa
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2006 Caldecott Honor Book
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from Heritage House Publishing Company
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American History Through Primary Sources
by Sean Price
from Capstone Press
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Smokestacks and Spinning Jennys
American History Through Primary Sources
by Sean Price
from Heinemann-Raintree
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Spindle Whorl
by Nan McNutt, illustrated by Roger Fernandes and Susan Point
from Sasquatch Books
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Step Into the Aztec & Maya Worlds
by Fiona Macdonald
from Hermes House
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Step Into the Inca World
by Philip Steele
from Hermes House
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Storm in the Night
by Mary Stolz
from HarperCollins
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Story of the Mayflower Compact
from Children's Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
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Story of the Thirteen Colonies
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True Book: The Constitution of the United States
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from Children's Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Government & Civics Resources (Location: GOV-REF)
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Vietnam War
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from Heinemann
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in Vietnam War (1957-1975) (Location: HISA-20VIE)
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Westward Ho! - with CD
Experience History Through Music
by Diana Waring
from Diana Waring Presents
for 1st-6th grade
in Diana Waring History Revealed (Location: OHIS-DWHR)
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What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
by Jean Fritz
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for 2nd-6th grade
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When Washington Crossed the Delaware
by Lynne Cheney
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Who Were the First North Americans?
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from Usborne
for 1st-6th grade
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$2.25 (1 in stock)
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by Peter & Connie Roop
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
by Will Cleveland & Mark Alvarez, illustrated by Tate Nation
2nd edition from Goodwood Press
for 1st-5th grade
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Colonist!
by Written by Peter Cook, Peter Hicks, Fiona Macdonald, and Jacqueline Morley, and Illustrated by David Antram
from Scholastic Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
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