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's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and 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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180 Items found Print
Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13), Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
by Earl Schenck Miers
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1930s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
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in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1960s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
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in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1970s
from Facts On File
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in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
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America in the 1990s
by George Ochoa
from Facts On File
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
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$36.00 (1 in stock)
America's Fascinating Indian Heritage
by James A. Maxwell
from Reader's Digest
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
1st edition from Wilfred Funk, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Faith
by Kevin Swanson with Joshua Schwisow, Daniel Noor, and Peter Bringe
2nd edition from Generations
for 7th-8th grade
in Miscellaneous History Curriculum (Location: HISCUR-MISC)
$31.50 (1 in stock)
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 2
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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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$9.60 (1 in stock)
American Indian Tales and Legends
by Vladimir Hulpach, illustrated by Miloslav Troup
from Paul Hamlyn
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
American Yesterday
by Eric Sloane
15th Printing from Funk & Wagnalls
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$9.60 (1 in stock)
Apache Land
by Ross Santee
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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$11.20 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
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$6.40 (2 in stock)
Bad News for Outlaws
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
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in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$21.24 $14.40 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
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in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Betsy Ross and the Flag
Landmark #26
by Jane Mayer, illustrated by Grace Paull
from Random House
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
1st edition
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Boston
from Crescent Books
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
from Kingston House
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Captive
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Hans Christian Anderson Award
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Carver: A Life In Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
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2002 Newbery Honor Book
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Character for Life
by Don Hawkinson
for 7th-12th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Charles A. Lindbergh
by James Cross Giblin
from Clarion Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Child Star
by Lydia Weaver
from Viking Press
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Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Citizen's Handbook
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Civil War Battles
by Curt Johnson
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Colonial American Home Life
by John F. Warner
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Colonial Governor
by J.G.E. Hopkins, illustrated by William Wilson
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Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
1st edition from Scholastic Press
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Cry from the Earth
by John Bierhorst
from Four Winds Press
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient America
by Marion Wood
1st edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Maya & Aztec Civilizations
by Marion Wood
3rd edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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Dime a Dozen
by Nikki Grimes, Illustrated by Angelo
from Dial Books for Young Readers
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DK Eyewitness: Explorer
by Rupert Matthews
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Explorer
DK Eyewitness Series
by Rupert Matthews
1st edition from DK Publishing
HIstory Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
by James F. Hinkle
from Unknown Publisher
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Eating the Plates
by Lucille Recht Penner
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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Escape from Corregidor
by Edward D. Whitcomb
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
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Escape or Die
by Ina R. Friedman
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European Land Battles 1939-1943
by Trevor Nevitt Dupuy, Col. U.S. Army, Ret.
from Franklin Watts
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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Explorers
by Alasdair Macleod
from DK Publishing
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set
from UXL Publishing
biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers, Missionaries, and Trappers
by Kieran Doherty
from Oliver-Nelson Books
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Facing West
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
for 4th-7th grade
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Fields of Fury
by James M. McPherson
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Fishermen
by Daniel Jacobson, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
from Franklin Watts
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Fortune's Bones
by Marilyn Nelson, notes and annotations by Pamela Espeland
from Front Street
for 4th-8th grade
2005 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
From Ballots to Breadlines
Young Oxford History of Women in the United States Volume 8
by Sarah Jane Deutsch
from Oxford University
for 6th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
From Colonies to Country with George Washington - Book Only
My American Journey
by Deborah Hedstrom
from Multnomah Books
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$1.60 (1 in stock)
From Log Cabin to White House with Abraham Lincoln - Set
from Multnomah Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington
by Heather Lehr Wagner
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington: Soldier and Man
by North Callahan
from William Morrow & Company
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Good Ol' Cowboy Stories
by Jack Terry
from Harvest House
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$5.60 (3 in stock)
Grand Canyon
by Tom Vail
from Master Books
for 5th-Adult
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$14.44 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Great Explorers
by Joyce Grosseck & Elizabeth Attwood
for 4th-8th grade
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Gristmill
Historic Communities
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
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$1.60 (1 in stock)
Harriet Beecher Stowe
by Suzanne M. Coil
from Franklin Watts
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in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Haym Salomon: Liberty's Son
by Shirley Milgrim, illustrated by Richard Fish
from Jewish Publication Society
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
History of the United States and Its People
by Edward Eggleston
1st edition from Lost Classics Book Co.
for 7th-9th grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
History of US - 11 Volumes (hardcover)
by Joy Hakim
2nd edition from Oxford University
for 5th-9th grade
in Old Edition History & Geography (Location: OHIS)
$65.00 (1 in stock)
History of US - 11 Volumes (hardcover)
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
for 5th-9th grade
in Joy Hakim's A History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$110.40 (1 in stock)
History of US Book Concise Edition B
by Joy Hakim
Concise from K12
for 5th-9th grade
in Joy Hakim's A History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Homesick: My Own Story
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Horses of Anger
by James Forman
2nd Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Irish Americans
by James Mullin
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-9th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fictio for 5th-8th grade
1961 Newbery Medal Winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
James Fenimore Cooper
by Donald A. Ringe
from Twayne Publishers
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
John James Audubon: Painting America's Wildlife
by Janet Stevenson, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Joseph, Chief of the Nez Perce
by Dean Pollock, author and illustrator
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 5th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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Kathleen: A Yankee Girl at Gettysburg
by Alice Turner Curtis
from Gramercy Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
Kennedy Assassinated! The World Mourns
by Wilborn Hampton
from Candlewick Press
for 5th-9th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Kids at Work
by Russell Freedman, photographs by Lewis Hine
from Clarion Books
for 6th-9th grade
1995 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Kit Carson: Folk Hero and Man
by Noel B. Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Leaders of the North and South
Civil War Chronicles
by Bill Sell
from MetroBooks
for 7th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Liberty or Death
by Margaret Whitman Blair
from National Geographic
for 4th-9th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (2 in stock)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrator unknown
Undated from M. A. Donohue & Company
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Lone Bull's Horse Raid
by Paul and Dorothy Goble, Illustrated by Paul Goble
from Bradbury Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Long and Uncertain Journey
by Joan Goodman, Illustrated by Tom McNeely
from Mikaya Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
M. C. Higgins, the Great
by Virginia Hamilton
from Simon and Schuster
for 6th-10th grade
1975 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Making of America
by Robert D. Johnston
from National Geographic
for 6th-9th grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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