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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117 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Perfectbound
13 Colonies: Georgia
by Roberta Wiener and James R. Arnold
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in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Across America
by Jacqueline Morley
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African-Americans in the Thirteen Colonies
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Alamo!
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
America - with CD
from Diana Waring Presents
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in Diana Waring History Revealed (Location: OHIS-DWHR)
America At War: Korean War
by John Perritano
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American Adventures Part 1
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American Adventures Part 2
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
American Indian Prayer Guide
by Danette Maloof, Dean Cozzens
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in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$4.50 (3 in stock)
Anne of Jamestown
by Anne Price-Hardister, illustrated by Ruby Gardner
from Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
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in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
from British Museum Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by R. Conrad Stein
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Big Book of the Civil War
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Bill of Rights
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Bill of Rights
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Boys' War
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Building the Capital City
by Marlene Targ Brill
from Children's Press
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Building the New York Subway
Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series
by Andrew Santella
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Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
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Children of Native America Today
by Yvonne Wakim Dennis and Arlene Hirschfelder
from Charlesbridge
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Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier
by R. Conrad Stein
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Colter's Run
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Cut & Assemble the Mayflower
by A. G. Smith
2020 Reprint from Dover Publications
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Daily Life in a Plains Indian Village 1868
by Michael Bad Hand Terry
from Clarion Books
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Day Pearl Harbor was Bombed
by George Sullivan
from Scholastic Inc.
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Declaration of Independence
History Speaks
by Douglas M. Rife
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Don't Know Much About American History
by Kenneth C. Davis
from HarperCollins
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Dreaming of America
by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Ben Stahl
from Scholastic Inc.
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Drums
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Early American History for Intermediate Grades - Guide
by Rea Berg & Rebecca Manor
3rd edition from Beautiful Feet Books
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$29.95
Electrical Wizard
by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez
from Candlewick Press
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Ellis Island
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Melissa McDaniel
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Flags to Color from the American Revolution
by Whitney Smith
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General Washington's Army
by Marko Zlatich, Illustrated by Peter F. Copeland
2003 Printing from Osprey Publishing
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George Washington Carver
by Tonya Bolden
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George Washington Carver: Botanist
Black Americans of Achievement
by Gene Adair, introduction by Coretta Scott King
from Chelsea House Publishing
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George Washington You Never Knew
by James Lincoln Collier
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Gettysburg Address
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Great Explorers
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Hear that Train Whistle Blow!
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How and Why Wonder Book of the Civil War
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by John Holzmann
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Cornerstones of Freedom series
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Jedediah Smith
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Jesse Owens: Gold Medal Hero
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Joseph, Chief of the Nez Perce
by Dean Pollock
from Binford & Mort Publishing
Picture Book Biography for 5th-7th grade
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Kid's Guide to Native American History
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from Chicago Review Press
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Kinderlager
by Milton J. Nieuwsma
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Last River
by Stuart Waldman, illustrated by Gregory Manchess
from Mikaya Press
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$15.99
Lincoln Memorial
by Deborah Kent
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Magellan and the Exploration of South America
by Colin Hynson
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Marco Polo
by Struan Reid
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Mayflower II
from Plimoth Plantation Publication
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Musical Memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder - with CD
Experience History Through Music
by Diana Waring
from Diana Waring Presents
for 1st-6th grade
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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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$10.99
Nations of the Northwest Coast
by Kathryn Smithyman and Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
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People Could Fly
by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
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Prairie Primer
by Margie Gray
2nd edition from Cadron Creek Christian Curriculum
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by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
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Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
History Speaks
by Douglas M. Rife
from Teaching & Learning Company
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$1.50 (1 in stock)
Remember the Alamo
from National Geographic
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Seaman's Journal
by Patricia Reeder Eubank
from Ideals Children's Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Secrets in Stone
by Laurie Coulter, illustrated by Sarah Jane English
from Hyperion/Madison Press
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Smithsonian American History
by David C. King
from DK Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Sourcebook on Colonial America: Battles in a New Land
by Carter Smith (editor)
from Millbrook Press
for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sourcebook on Colonial America: Governing and Teaching
by Carter Smith (editor)
from Millbrook Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sourcebook on Colonial America: The Arts and Sciences
by Carter Smith (editor)
from Millbrook Press
for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Step Into the Inca World
by Philip Steele
from Hermes House
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Story of Fort Sumter
by Eugenia Burney
from Children's Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Geronimo
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Maureen Ash
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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 the Alamo
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Battle of Bull Run
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Battle of Midway
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Tom McGowen
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the California Gold Rush
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by R. Conrad Stein
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Constitution
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Marilyn Prolman
from Scholastic Inc.
American History Reference 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)
Story of the Declaration of Independence
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by R. Conrad Stein
from Scholastic Inc.
American History Reference for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$5.95
Story of the Election of Abraham Lincoln
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Erie Canal
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-6th Grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
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)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of the Great Republic
by Helene Guerber
from Nothing New Press
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in U.S. History Curriculum (Location: HISCUR-US)
Story of the Jamestown Colony
by Gail Sakurai
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Library of Congress
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Gail Sakurai
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Lone Star Republic
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 Lone Star Republic
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Story of The Monitor and the Merrimac
by R. Conrad Stein
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-6th Grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Story of the Panama Canal
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Barbara Gaines Winkelman
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Reconstruction
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Brendan January
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of the Roaring Twenties
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by R. Conrad Stein
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of the Rough Riders
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Saigon Airlift
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Spanish-American War
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Mary Collins
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Surrender at Yorktown
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 Thirteen Colonies
by Helene Guerber
from Nothing New Press
History Reference for 3rd-8th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Story of the Titanic
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Deborah Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
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