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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214 Items found Print
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Addy Learns a Lesson
by Connie Porter
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Alamo All Stars
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by Nathan Hale
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
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Battle for Quebec
North Star Books #38
by F. Van Wyck Mason, illustrated by Victor Mays
from Houghton Mifflin
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Bay of the North
by Ronald Syme
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Beckoning Hills
Land of the Free Series
by Joseph H. Gage, illustrated by Floyd Torbert
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
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Biography for 1st-6th grade
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Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
from Hyperion/Madison Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
National Book Award Finalist
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Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
from John C. Winston
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Blowing-Wand
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Reif Ziegler, illustrated by Jacob Landau
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Book of Indians
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Book of Indians
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Boy Sailor with John Paul Jones
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
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Brady
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Lynd Ward
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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Calico Captive
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Captain of the Minute Men
Boys of Liberty Library
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Captive
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Hans Christian Anderson Award
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Caravan to Oregon
by Herbert E. Arntson
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Chariot in the Sky
Land of the Free Series
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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$35.00 (1 in stock)
Child Star
by Lydia Weaver
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Climb a Lofty Ladder
by Marion & Walter Havighurst, illustrated by Jill Elgin
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Codfish Musket
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
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1937 Newbery Honor Book
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
Come on Seabiscuit
by Ralph Moody
from Houghton Mifflin
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Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
1st edition from Scholastic Press
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Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
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$19.99
Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
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Cromwell's Head
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Garden City Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Dark Star of Itza
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Lowell Houser
1st edition from Harcourt, Brace & Company
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1931 Newbery Honor Book
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Davy Crockett
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1935 Newbery Honor Book
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Deep Treasure
by Charles Blackford, illustrated by Alexander Key
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Desert Harvest
Land of the Free Series
by Vanya Oakes, illustrated by Isami Kashiwagi
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Door to the North
Land of the Free Series
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Down Ryton Water
by E. R. Gaggin
from George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.
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1942 Newbery Honor
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Drums
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by James Boyd
1st edition from Atheneum
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Elijah Of Buxton
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Scholastic Inc.
Nursery Rhymes for 4th-6th grade
2008 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner, 2008 Newbery Honor Book
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$9.00 (2 in stock)
Elin's Amerika
by Marguerite de Angeli
for 3rd-5th grade
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Far Frontier
by William O. Steele; illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Harcourt
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Farmer Boy (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
from T. Nelson & Sons
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First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
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First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
1st edition from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Thomas Allen
from Dial Books for Young Readers
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Good Shepherd
by C.S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
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Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine
from Scholastic Press
for Nursery-1st grade
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
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$17.99
Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
from Scholastic Press
for Nursery-1st grade
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
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Hessian
by Howard Fast
from William Morrow & Company
for 11th-Adult
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High Towers
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-12th grade
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Horses of Anger
by James Forman
2nd Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
House Divided
by Ben Ames Williams, jacket & illustrations by Reginald Marsh
from Houghton Mifflin
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
I Heard of a River
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Singmaster, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Impossible Escape
by Steve Sheinkin
from Roaring Brook Press
for 9th-Adult
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$19.99
In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
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In the Heart of the Rockies
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
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)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Jack Wade, Fighter for Liberty
A Doubleday Signal Book
by Irving Werstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
January's Sparrow
by Patricia Polacco
from Philomel Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$16.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Tremain
Illustrated American Classics
by Esther Forbes
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 3rd-10th grade
1944 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-4th
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Tremain - Student's Edition
by Esther Forbes, illustrated by Lynd Ward, discussion guide by Ruth M. Stauffer
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-4th
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Kathleen: A Yankee Girl at Gettysburg
by Alice Turner Curtis
from Gramercy Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.50 (2 in stock)
Kings Mountain
by G. Clifton Wisler
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Kirsten and the New Girl
American Girls Short Stories
by Janet Shaw
First Edition, First Printing from American Girl
for 2nd-5th grade
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Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lafayette!
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #8
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$14.99
Last Fort
Land of the Free Series
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Edward Shenton
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zonderkidz
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Letters: The Story of Pocahontas, 1613
Liberty Letters
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zondervan
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House Series #1
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99
Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams
Book Club Edition from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (5 in stock)
Little House on the Prairie
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Little House on the Prairie (pictorial hardcover)
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Little Town on the Prairie (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Anna Marie Magagna
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Derek James
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Kate Aldous and James McGairy
First Edition from Parragon Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99 $9.50 (1 in stock)
Long Winter (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Lost Colony
by Jean Bothwell, illustrated by Edward F. Cortese
from John C. Winston
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Major Impossible
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #9
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$14.99
Meet Addy
by Connie Porter
for 4th-6th grade
in American Girl (Location: SER-AMGIRL)
Meggy MacIntosh
by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli
from Viking Press
for 7th-10th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Mighty Mastiff of the Mayflower
by Peter Arenstam, illustrated by Karen Busch Holman
from History Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
My Brothers' Flying Machine
by Jane Yolen
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Never Dies the Dream
by Margaret Landon
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
North of Danger
by Dale Fife, map and decorations by Haakon Saether
1st edition from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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