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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158 Items found Print
Active Filters: Picture Books, 5th grade (Ages 10-11), Hardcover
America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America's Lost Dream
by Tom Dooley
from Master Books
American History for 4th-6th grade
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$12.79 $10.00 (2 in stock)
Black Elk's Vision
by S. D. Nelson
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Blizzard!
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Press
for 4th-6th grade
2001 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Captain Cook: Pacific Explorer
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Cats in Krasinski Square
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Freedom Over Me
by Ashley Bryan
1st edition from Atheneum
for 3rd-6th grade
2017 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Good Ol' Cowboy Stories
by Jack Terry
from Harvest House
for 4th-7th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
1st edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
1969 printing from Macmillan
for 5th-9th grade
1930 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
How I Learned Geography
by Uri Shulevitz
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 2nd-5th grade
Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$21.99
If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War
by Kay Moore
from Perfection Learning
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$16.60
Indian Summer
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperTrophy
for 2nd-5th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
John Hancock
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee, illustrated by Chuck Mitchell
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Joseph, Chief of the Nez Perce
by Dean Pollock
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 5th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Let's Go to the Battle of Gettysburg
by Judith Spiegelman, Illustrated by Charles Dougherty
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lewis and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
from Henry Holt and Company
Fictionalized Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty
by Lynn Curlee
from Atheneum
for 4th-6th grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lindbergh
Classic Starts
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
from NorthSouth
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Long Ago in Oregon
by Claudia Lewis, illustrated by Joel Fontaine
from Harper & Row
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Lost Colony of Roanoke
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Hudson Talbott
from Putnam Juvenile
for 2nd-6th grade
in New World Colonization (Location: HISA-17NW)
$18.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Luba
by Luba Tryszynska-Frederick
from Tricycle Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
Madam President
by Catherine Thimmesh, Illustrated by Douglas B. Jones
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Many Thousand Gone
by Virginia Hamilton
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Moonshot
by Brian Floca
Expanded Edition from Atheneum
for 1st-5th grade
2010 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$19.99
My Fellow Americans
by Alice Provensen
1st edition from Harcourt Children's Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$5.00 (3 in stock)
My Secret Camera
by Mendel Grossman
from Harcourt
for 4th-8th grade
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
One Thousand Tracings
by Lita Judge
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-5th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
Panama Canal
by Elizabeth Mann
from Mikaya Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Patrol
by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vietnam War (1957-1975) (Location: HISA-20VIE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Paul Revere's Ride
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Charles Santore
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Pilgrim Voices
by Connie Roop, Peter Roop, eds.
from Walker and Company
for 2nd-6th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrims Plantation
by June Behrens and Pauline Brower
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Prince Henry the Navigator
by Leonard Everett Fisher
1st edition from Atheneum
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Seder
by Doreen Rappaport
1st edition from Hyperion Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Sieur de La Salle
by John Paul Zronik
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
So You Want To Be President?
by Judith St. George
from Philomel Books
for 2nd-5th grade
2001 Caldecott Medal winner
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$4.00 (3 in stock)
So You Want To Be President?
by Judith St. George
Rev Upd from Philomel Books
for 2nd-5th grade
2001 Caldecott Medal winner
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
Story of Arlington National Cemetery
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein & Richard Wahl
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Arlington National Cemetery
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Arlington National Cemetery
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein & Richard Wahl
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Booker T. Washington
from Children's Press
Biography for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Child Labor Laws
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Christopher Columbus
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of D-Day
by R. Conrad Stein & Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of D-Day
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of D-Day
by R. Conrad Stein & Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Ellis Island
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Ellis Island
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Flight
by Mary Lee Settle
from Random House
for 4th-7th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Story of Ford's Theater & the Death of Lincoln
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Fort Sumter
by Eugenia Burney
from Children's Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Henry Ford & the Automobile
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Jamestown
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Marilyn Prolman
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Jamestown
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Marilyn Prolman
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Lexington and Concord
by Keith Neely, R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Marquette and Jolliet
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Monticello
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Monticello
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards, Illustrated by Chuck Mitchell
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Mount Vernon
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Natalie Miller
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Old Ironsides
by Norman Richards, illustrated by Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Sitting Bull
by Jill C. Wheeler; illustrated by Liz Dodson
from ABDO Publishing Co.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Story of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Barbary Pirates
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Battle for Iwo Jima
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Battle of the Bulge
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Battle of the Bulge
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Bill of Rights
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Black Hawk War
by Jim Hargrove
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Black Hawk Wars
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Bonhomme Richard
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Bonhomme Richard
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Boston Tea Party
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Brooklyn Bridge
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Burning of Washington
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Capitol
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Marilyn Prolman
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Capitol
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Andrew Santella
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Chicago Fire
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Chisholm Trail
by Andrew Santella
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Conestoga Wagon
by Kenneth Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Conestoga Wagon
by Kenneth Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Constitution
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Marilyn Prolman
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Constitution
by Marilyn Prolman
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Constitution
by Marilyn Prolman
Revised from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Declaration of Independence
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Election of 1860
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Freedom Riders
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Deborah Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Gettysburg Address
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Kenneth Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Gettysburg Address
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Kenneth Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Gettysburg Address
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Kenneth Richards & Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Gold at Sutter's Mill
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Golden Spike
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Stein Conrad
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Great Depression
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Great Society
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Leila M. Foster
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
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