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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195 Items found Print
Active Filters: Biographies, 4th grade (Ages 9-10), Hardcover
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abigail Adams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson, illustrated by Betty Fraser
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln
A Discovery Book
by Anne Colver
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln
Initial Biography
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
America in the Time of George Washington
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
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
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America's Robert E. Lee
by Henry Steele Commager, illustrated by Lynd Ward
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Amerigo Vespucci
by Nina Brown Baker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Calkins Creek
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$19.99
Balboa:
by Jeannette Mirsky
from Harper & Row
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Betsy Ross: Girl of Old Philadelphia
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ann Weil, illustrated by Al Fiorentino
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Book of Famous Explorers
Young Folks Library
by Edwin Erle Sparks, editor
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 3rd-9th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Booker T. Washington
A Discovery Book
by Lillie G. Patterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Delacorte Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Captain Cook: Pacific Explorer
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Cartier Sails the St. Lawrence
by Esther Averill, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
from Harper & Brothers
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Charles Lindbergh
A Discovery Book
by David R. Collins
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Choosing Brave
by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
from Roaring Brook Press
for 1st-4th grade
2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Biographies
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Governor
by J.G.E. Hopkins, illustrated by William Wilson
from P.J. Kenedy & Sons
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Come on Seabiscuit
by Ralph Moody
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Commodore Perry in Japan
by Robert Reynolds
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Corrie Ten Boom: Shining in the Darkness
Heroes for Young Readers
by Renee Meloche
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Heroes for Young Readers (Location: BIO-HERO)
Crispus Attucks: Boy of Valor
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Dharathula H. Millender
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Garden City Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Davy Crockett
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Constance Rourke, illustrated by Walter Seaton
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-7th grade
1935 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Drake: The Man They Called a Pirate
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Brothers
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
by Jean Lee Latham
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Emancipation Proclomation
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 4th-9th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration of Africa
by Thomas Sterling
from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Explorer's Handbook
by Marilyn Tolhurst
from Dutton Children's Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Explorers for God
by Nathan Aaseng
from Augsburg Fortress
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
For You They Signed
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$27.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Forging Freedom
by Hudson Talbott
from Putnam Juvenile
for 3rd-6th grade
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Fortunate Grandchild
by Miss Read
1st US Edition
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Forward March to Freedom
by Barbara Kay Greenleaf
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Francisco Pizarro and the Conquest of the Inca
by Gina DeAngelis
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
George Rogers Clark: War in the West
Events of the Revolution
by Susan and John Lee, illustrated by Richard Wahl
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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 Carver: America's Scientist
Heroes of History for Young Readers
by Renee Taft Meloche
from Emerald Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Heroes for Young Readers (Location: BIO-HERO)
Girl From the Tar Paper School
by Teri Kanefield
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Golden Book History of the United States
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States - 12 Volume Set
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 1
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Great Explorers
by Joyce Grosseck & Elizabeth Attwood
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
1st edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (2 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)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Haym Salomon: Son of Liberty
by Howard Fast
from Julian Messner
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Homesick: My Own Story
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
by Rosalyn Schanzer
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How I Learned Geography
by Uri Shulevitz
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 2nd-5th grade
Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$21.99
How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Indian Chiefs
by Russell Freedman
from Holiday House
for 4th-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Inventing the Future
by David Edward Sloane, Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Jane Addams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Jeb Stuart
Historical American Biographies
by Lynda Pflueger
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Jed Smith, Young Western Explorer
by Olive W. Burt
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Joe Meek
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John Alden
by Olive W. Burt
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John Charles Fremont
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
John F. Kennedy
A Discovery Book
by Charles P. Graves
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John Paul Jones
A Discovery Book
by Stewart Graff, illustrated by William Hutchinson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John Paul Jones
by Norma Jean Lutz
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John Paul Jones
Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee, illustrated by Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
John Wesley
by May McNeer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Abingdon Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Journey to Freedom
by Charles W. Carey Jr.
from Child's World
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Nina Baker; illustrated by Robert Doremus
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Tamara Green
from World Almanac Library
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Kate Douglas Wiggin
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Dharathula H. Millender
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Kit Carson
A Discovery Book
by Nardi Reeder Campion, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Kit Carson: Folk Hero and Man
by Noel B. Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
La Salle of the Mississippi
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
La Salle, River Explorer
Makers of America
by Alberta Powell Graham
from Abingdon Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Lafayette, Friend of America
Makers of America
by Alberta Powell Graham
1st edition from Abingdon Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$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)
Linda Richards
A Discovery Book
by David R. Collins
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lindbergh Alone
by Brendan Gill
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 4th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Lotta Crabtree
by Lois V. Harris
from Pelican Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lucretia Mott
A Discovery Book
by Doris Faber
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Madam President
by Catherine Thimmesh, Illustrated by Douglas B. Jones
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Elise Primavera
First Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Many Thousand Gone
by Virginia Hamilton
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Manual Komroff, illustrated by Robin Jacques
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Marco Polo and the Medieval Explorers
by Rebecca Stefoff
from Chelsea House Publishing
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
A Discovery Book
by Marian T. Place
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Meet Christopher Columbus
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Meet Christopher Columbus
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Meet John F. Kennedy
by Nancy Bean White
from Random House
for 1st-4th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Meet the Men who Sailed the Seas
by John Dyment, Illustrated by Victor Mays
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
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