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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132 Items found Print
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AIO Imagination Station Book #06
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by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
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by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
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by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
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$5.99
America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
American Army of Two
On My Own History
by Janet Greeson
Reprint from First Avenue Editions
for 1st-3rd grade
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Andrew Jackson
Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
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Angel Child, Dragon Child
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Apples to Oregon
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Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki
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$9.95
Billy the Union Soldier with 24 Stickers - Activity Book
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
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Blue Feather's Vision
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Blue Feather's Vision
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
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Book About Christopher Columbus
by Ruth Belov Gross, Illustrated by Syd Hoff
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Bracelet, The
by Yoshika Uchida
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by Taylor Morrison
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Colonial America
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from Scholastic Inc.
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Colonial Town: Williamsburg
by Bobbie Kalman
Revised from Crabtree Publishing
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1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
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Crossing Bok Chitto
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by Carol Greene
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by Patrick O'Brien
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Dust for Dinner
by Ann Turner
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by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Voyager Paperbacks
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by Jeanne Bendick
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$1.50 (1 in stock)
Famous Figures of the American Revolution
from Figures in Motion
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in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$12.00 (3 in stock)
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Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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by L. Somerville
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$2.25 (1 in stock)
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Step into Reading Level 3
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Native American Legends for Kindergarten-2nd grade
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by Kate Waters
from Scholastic Inc.
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from Puffin Books
Historical Non-Fiction/Picture Books for 1st-3rd grade
1984 Caldecott Medal winner
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Kalideoscope Kids Book
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Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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from Troll Associates
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from Beautiful Feet Books
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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by A. G. Smith
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Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
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Adventures in Colonial America
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in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
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$7.99
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1st edition from Putnam Juvenile
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from Holiday House
Historical Non-Fiction for 1st-4th grade
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by Lucille Recht Penner
from Random House
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Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by James T. de Kay
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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from Random House
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from Crabtree Publishing
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by David L. Weitzman
from Sandpiper Books
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
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by Kate Waters
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for 1st-3rd grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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by B.G. Hennessy
1st ptg thus from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd grade
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Patchwork Quilt
by Valerie Flournoy
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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by Steven Kellogg
from William Morrow & Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for
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People of the Breaking Day
by Marcia Sewall
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
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$8.99
Picture Book of Christopher Columbus
by David A. Adler
from Trumpet Club
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
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Picture Book of Sacagawea
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Dan Brown
from Holiday House
for 1st-3rd grade
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$7.99
Picture Book of Sojourner Truth
by David A. Adler
Ill from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Pilgrims of Plimoth
by Marcia Sewall
from Aladdin Paperbacks
History Reference/Picture Book for 1st-4th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$8.99
Plains Indians - Coloring Book
from Spizzirri Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Pledge of Allegiance
by Scholastic, Scholastic Inc.
Cmv from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Presidents Sticker Book
by John P. Holms
from Learning Horizons
for 1st-4th grade
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Rain Player
by David Wisniewski
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.95
Raven
by Gerald McDermott
from Harcourt Children's Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1994 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Riding the Pony Express
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from Avyx, Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Sailing to America
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Salem Days
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Salem Days
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Samuel Eaton's Day
by Kate Waters
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for Nursery-2nd grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Sarah Morton's Day
by Kate Waters
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for Nursery-2nd grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Seventh and Walnut
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Seventh and Walnut
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Sky Boys
by Deborah Hopkinson
from Dragonfly Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Sod Houses on the Great Plains
by Glen Rounds
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Spanish-American War
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Squanto's Journey
by Joseph Bruchac
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Start Exploring the American West
by Emmanuel M. Kramer, illustrated by Helen I. Driggs
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for 1st-5th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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