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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Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Used Books & Materials
13 Colonies: Georgia
by Roberta Wiener and James R. Arnold
from Raintree
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in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
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1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
from National Geographic
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20th Century Wars
by Robert W. Smith
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Abe Lincoln
Landmark Series
by Sterling North
from Random House
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg, illustrated by James Daugherty
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Across America
by Jacqueline Morley
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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
by Dave Webb, illustrated by Phillip R. Buntin
Revised from Kansas Heritage Center
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After the War
by Carol Matas
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Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
by Theodore Taylor
1st Gulliver Books pbk. ed from HMH Books for Young Readers
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Airplanes of the Second World War - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
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Akavak
by James Houston
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Alamo!
by George Sullivan
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Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
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America At War: Korean War
by John Perritano
from Scholastic Inc.
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in Korean War (1950-1953) (Location: HISA-20KW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
America from the Beginning - Student Manual
by Joshua Franklin, Debbie Lawrence
from Answers in Genesis
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in U.S. History Curriculum (Location: HISCUR-US)
$29.00 (1 in stock)
America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1900s and 1910s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
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$25.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1930s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
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$35.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1970s
from Facts On File
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America in the 1990s
by George Ochoa
from Facts On File
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
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
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
America's Lost Dream
by Tom Dooley
from Master Books
American History for 4th-6th grade
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American Adventures Part 1
by Morrie Greenberg
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American Adventures Part 2
by Morrie Greenberg
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 1
from Dell Publishing
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 10
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 12
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 2
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 4
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 5
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 6
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 7
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 8
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 9
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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American Heroes of the 20th Century
Landmark Giant #14
by Harold & Doris Faber
from Random House
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Indian in Words and Pictures
by Sydney Fletcher
from Grosset & Dunlap
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American Indian Prayer Guide
by Danette Maloof, Dean Cozzens
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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$4.50 (3 in stock)
American Indian Tales and Legends
by Vladimir Hulpach, illustrated by Miloslav Troup
from Paul Hamlyn
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Presidents & Presidential First Ladies Notebooking Pages
from Notebooking Pages
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolution
Landmark Series
by Bruce Bliven
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
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American Revolution
America at War Series
by Alden Carter
from Grolier Publishing
Historical Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
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American Revolution
Revolution!
by R. G. Grant
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
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1952 Newbery Honor Book
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Amethyst Ring
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
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Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
by Walter Dean Myers
from Puffin Books
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Among the Plains Indians
from Lerner Publishing Group
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Ancient Maya
by Lila Perl
from Children's Press
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank, translated by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt
Book Club Edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
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Anne of Jamestown
by Anne Price-Hardister, illustrated by Ruby Gardner
from Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
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Apache Land
by Ross Santee
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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Appomattox
by Burke Davis
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Arrow Over the Door
by Joseph Bruchac
from Puffin Books
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Art of Keeping Cool
by Janet Taylor Lisle
from Scholastic Inc.
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2001 Scott O'Dell Award
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$2.50 (2 in stock)
Art of the Southeastern Indians
by Shirley Glubok
from Macmillan
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Art of the Woodland Indians
by Shirley Glubok
from Macmillan
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Atlas of North American Exploration
by Glyndwr Williams, William H. Goetzmann
Oklahoma Paperbacks Ed from University of Oklahoma Press
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Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
from British Museum Press
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Aztecs
Journey Into Civilization
by Robert Nicholson and Claire Watts
from Chelsea House Publishing
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
from HarperCollins
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Bat 6
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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Battle of Salerno
Italy, September 1943-1945
by Irving Werstein, with maps by Ava Morgan
First Edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-10th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by Mark Henckel
1st edition from Falcon Press Publishing
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of Valcour Bay
Triangle Histories: The Revolutionary War
by Scott Ingram
from Blackbirch Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
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Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Before the Gold Rush
from McClelland & Stewart Limited
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
from William Morrow & Company
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Behind Enemy Lines
Sterling Point Books
by H.R. DeMallie
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in WWII: European Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2E)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Behind the Bedroom Wall
by Laura E. Williams
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Behind the Blue and Gray
by Delia Ray
from Scholastic Inc.
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Behind the Blue and Gray
by Delia Ray
from Puffin Books
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in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark Series
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer
by Augusta Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Bentwood Box
by Nan McNutt
from Sasquatch Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Best Bad Thing
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Best Little Stories from World War II
by C. Brian Kelly
1996 Printing from Montpelier Publishing
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in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Betsy and Joe
by Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrated by Vera Neville
15th Printing from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-9th grade
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
1st edition
for 4th-7th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
from Hampton-Brown
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Big Book of the Civil War
by Joanne Mattern
from Courage Books
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in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
from Golden Books
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Billy Yank - Coloring Book
by Alan Archambault
from Bellerophon Books
Coloring Book for 4th-8th grade
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Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
from A Beka Books
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$9.50 (1 in stock)
Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
from Hyperion/Madison Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
National Book Award Finalist
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
from Hyperion/Madison Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
National Book Award Finalist
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bite of the Gold Bug
by Barthe DeClements
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$4.99 $2.50 (2 in stock)
Black Courage
by A. E. Schraff
from Macrae-Smith Company
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Black Elk's Vision
by S. D. Nelson
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
from John C. Winston
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Black Hawk, Sac Rebel
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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