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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Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$21.95
Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
from Chapman Billies, Inc
American Naval History for 8th-Adult
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America and Vietnam
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from Beautiful Feet Books
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America's Christian History
by Gary DeMar
2nd edition from American Vision Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
America's Providential History
by Mark Beliles & Stephen McDowell
from Providence Foundation
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
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American History in Verse
by Burton Stevenson
from Bob Jones University Press
Poetry for 3rd-Adult
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$11.00
Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
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Battle Cry of Freedom
Oxford History of the United States
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from Oxford University
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$24.95
Boys of '76
by Charles Coffin
from Maranatha Publications
Historical Reference for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
Child's First Book of American History
by Earl Schenck Miers, James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Beautiful Feet Books (Location: HISCUR-BFB)
$32.95
Colonial Experience
A Basic History of the United States Volume 1
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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Colonial Wars
America at War Series
by Alden Carter
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Discoverers
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Dust Bowl
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Echoes of the Civil War: The Blue
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Europe Finds the World
Cambridge Introduction to World History
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Everything You Need to Know About American History Homework
by Anne Zeman & Kate Kelly
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Explorers Who Got Lost
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Explorers Who Got Lost
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Forever Free
by Eric Foner, illustrations edited with commentary by Joshua Brown
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From Sea to Shining Sea
by Peter Marshall & David Manuel
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American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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From Sea to Shining Sea for Children
by Peter Marshall, David Manuel & Anna Fishel
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American History Reference for 4th-6th grade
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George Washington's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
History Reference/Biography for 7th-10th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
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George Washington's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster and edited by Rea Berg
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History Reference/Biography for 7th-10th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
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Gray & Columbia's River
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Great Depression
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Great Fire
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1996 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Great Fire
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Growing Up in Coal Country
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest
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History of US Book 1
History of US Book 1
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3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 10
History of US Book 10
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3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
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History of US Book 10
History of US Book 10
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4th edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 2
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History of US Book 2
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History of US Book 3
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3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 3
by Joy Hakim
3rd edition from Oxford University
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History of US Book 4
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History of US Book 4
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History of US Book 5
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History of US Book 6
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History of US Book 6
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History of US Book 7
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History of US Book 8
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History of US Book 8
History of US Book 8
by Joy Hakim
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History of US Book 9
History of US Book 9
by Joy Hakim
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History of US Book 9
by Joy Hakim
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Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
by Rhoda Blumberg
from Scholastic Inc.
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Indian Wars
Perspectives on History Series
by Mary Alice Burke Robinson, editor
1st edition from History Compass
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Iron Horses Across America
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Kids at Work
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Land of Hope
by Wilfred M. McClay
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$49.99
Landmark History of the American People
by Daniel & Ruth Boorstin
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Landmark History of the American People Volume I
by Daniel J. Boorstin, Ruth F. Boorstin
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Landmark History of the American People Volume II
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Light and the Glory for Children
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Light and the Glory for Young Readers
by Anna Wilson Fishel, David Manuel, Peter Marshall
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Lone Star
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Making of American California
by Dorothy Dimmick
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Mayflower Pilgrims
by Edmund J. Carpenter
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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Mexican War
Perspectives on History Series
by William Coleman, editor
from History Compass
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The American Story Series
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
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$11.99
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
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Mourt's Relation
by Dwight B. Heath, editor
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Nation Torn
by Delia Ray
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Naval War of 1812
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
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Now Is Your Time!
by Walter Dean Myers
from HarperCollins
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1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Of Courage Undaunted
by James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
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On the Edge
by David D. Lee, David Horowitz, Peter N. Carroll
1st edition
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Only the Names Remain
by Alex W. Bealer
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Orphan Train Rider
by Andrea Warren
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Our Heritage of Freedom
by B Elane clegg, Darlene P Stoker
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Outbreak of the First World War
Studies in European History
by David Stevenson
from Palgrave MacMillan
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Picture History of Great Explorers
by Gillian Clements
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Portraits of African-American Heroes
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Prairie Visions
by Pam Conrad
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1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Profiles from History Volume 1
by Ashley M. Wiggers
from Geography Matters
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Pueblo
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Rebels Against Slavery
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Reconstruction: Binding the Wounds
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Road to San Jacinto
Perspectives on History Series
by Mary Dodson Wade, editor
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Rough Riders
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Dover Publications
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Search for the Northwest Passage
by Lucile McDonald
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Sounding Forth the Trumpet for Young Readers
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Spanish-American War
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Stories of America: Volume 1
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Stories of America: Volume 2
by Charles Morris, Sonya Shafer
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Stories of Young Pioneers
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Story of Liberty
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Historical Reference for 10th-Adult
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Sweet Land of Liberty
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Tall Tales
Tales of the Wild West Volume 13
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Tet Offensive
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This Independent Republic
by R. J. Rushdoony
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American History Reference for
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$17.00
Treasure Legends of the West
by Choral Pepper
1st edition from Gibbs M. Smith
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Victory in the Pacific
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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$13.95
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