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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172 Items found Print
Active Filters: Historical Fiction, 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Hardcover
Addy Learns a Lesson
by Connie Porter
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Bay of the North
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Beckoning Hills
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Blowing-Wand
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Brady
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Chariot in the Sky
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Child Star
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Climb a Lofty Ladder
by Marion & Walter Havighurst, illustrated by Jill Elgin
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Come on Seabiscuit
by Ralph Moody
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Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
1st edition from Scholastic Press
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Cromwell's Head
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Houghton Mifflin
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
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Dark Star of Itza
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Lowell Houser
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1931 Newbery Honor Book
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1935 Newbery Honor Book
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Deep Treasure
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Desert Harvest
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by Vanya Oakes, illustrated by Isami Kashiwagi
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Door to the North
Land of the Free Series
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Down Ryton Water
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1942 Newbery Honor
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Drums
Scribner Illustrated Classics
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Nursery Rhymes for 4th-6th grade
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Far Frontier
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Farmer Boy
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First Four Years
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Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
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Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
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I Heard of a River
Land of the Free Series
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In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers
by G. A. Henty
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In the Heart of the Rockies
by G. A. Henty
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Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
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1961 Newbery Medal Winner
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Jack Wade, Fighter for Liberty
A Doubleday Signal Book
by Irving Werstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Doubleday & Company
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January's Sparrow
by Patricia Polacco
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Johnny Tremain
Illustrated American Classics
by Esther Forbes
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 3rd-10th grade
1944 Newbery Medal winner
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Kathleen: A Yankee Girl at Gettysburg
by Alice Turner Curtis
from Gramercy Books
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Kings Mountain
by G. Clifton Wisler
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Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
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Lafayette!
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #8
by Nathan Hale
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Last Fort
Land of the Free Series
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Edward Shenton
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Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
by Nancy LeSourd
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Letters: The Story of Pocahontas, 1613
Liberty Letters
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zondervan
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams
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by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Little House Series #2
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Little House Series #7
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1942 Newbery Honor Book
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Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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1942 Newbery Honor Book
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Little Women
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Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Derek James
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Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Kate Aldous and James McGairy
First Edition from Parragon Publishing
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Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
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Long Winter (Pictorial Cover)
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by Jean Bothwell, illustrated by Edward F. Cortese
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Major Impossible
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #9
by Nathan Hale
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Meet Addy
by Connie Porter
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Mighty Mastiff of the Mayflower
by Peter Arenstam, illustrated by Karen Busch Holman
from History Press
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My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
North of Danger
by Dale Fife, map and decorations by Haakon Saether
1st edition from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
North to Freedom
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt, Brace & World
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Oak's Long Shadow
by Olive W. Burt, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Ojibway Drums
by Marian Magoon, illustrated by Larry Toschik
from Longmans, Green & Co.
for 5th-8th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Om-kas-toe of the Blackfeet
by Kenneth Thomasma
Later Printing from Baker Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House Series #4
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1938 Newbery Honor Book
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$18.99
On to Oregon!
by Honore Morrow
1946 Edition from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-7th grade
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One Dead Spy
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #1
by Nathan Hale
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$14.99
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Patriots' Gold
by Virginia Frances Voight, illustrated by H. Tom Hall
from Macrae-Smith Company
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Patsy Jefferson's Diary
by Miriam Anne Bourne
First Edition from Coward McCann
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Peacemaker
by Joseph Bruchac
from Dial Press
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$16.99
Pearl Harbor is Burning!
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski, illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Viking Press
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Phoebe and the General
by Judith Berry Griffin
from Weekly Reader
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Place to Hang the Moon
by Kate Albus
from Margaret Ferguson Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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$17.99
Prisoner of the Indies
by Geoffrey Household, with map and decorations by Warren Chappell
from Little, Brown & Company
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Raid of No Return
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #7
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$14.99
Railroad to Freedom
by Hildegarde H. Swift, illustrated by James Daugherty
1960 printing from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 5th-8th grade
1933 Newbery Honor Book
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Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
from Golden Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
from Golden Press
for 6th-9th grade
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Redskin and Cowboy
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$20.00
River-Boy
by Isabel Proudfit
1958 Printing from Julian Messner
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
12