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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100 African-Americans Who Shaped American History
by Chrisanne Beckner
from Bluewood Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
13 Colonies: Georgia
by Roberta Wiener and James R. Arnold
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1421: The Year China Discovered America
by Gavin Menzies
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1491
by Charles C. Mann
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1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
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1776
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1846 - Portrait of the Nation
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1861: The Civil War Awakening
by Adam Goodheart
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1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History
by Jay Winik
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500 Facts: American History for Kids
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500 Nations
by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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55 Men: The Story of the Constitution
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
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Abe's Honest Words
by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
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Abigail Adams Package (FACE)
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Abraham Lincoln
A Rookie Biography
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Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
by Earl Schenck Miers
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Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster
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Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
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Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
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Road Trip: National Parks
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Across America
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Across America, I Love You
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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
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Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Adventures of Davy Crockett
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
by John Bakeless
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Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
by Jamie Aramini
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Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
by Dave Webb, illustrated by Phillip R. Buntin
Revised from Kansas Heritage Center
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Africa Is My Home
by Monica Edinger, illustrated by Robert Byrd
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After the Dancing Days
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Age of Fighting Sail
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American Naval History for 8th-Adult
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Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
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Akavak
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
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Alexander Hamilton
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Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
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Algonquin
by Natalie M. Rosinsky
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Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
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Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Alone Yet Not Alone
by Tracy M. Leininger
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Alvin Ailey
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Amazing Mr. Doolittle
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Amelia Earhart
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America and Its People
by Laureat Bernard,Ralph Brande, Don Sharkey
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America At War: Korean War
by John Perritano
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America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson
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America In Korean War
by KidCaps
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America in the 1900s and 1910s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
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America in the 1930s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1950s
Decades of American History
by Charles A. Wills
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America in the 1960s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
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America in the 1970s
from Facts On File
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America in the 1990s
by George Ochoa
from Facts On File
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
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America in the Time of Lewis and Clark
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
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America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
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America Is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson
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1960 Newbery Honor Book
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America is....
by Louise W. Borden, illustrated by Stacey Schuett
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America the Beautiful
by Katharine Lee Bates, illustrated by Chris Gall
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America the Beautiful/ A Man of Destiny
by the editors of Country Beautiful Magazine
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America's Christian History
by Gary DeMar
2nd edition from American Vision Press
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
America's Fascinating Indian Heritage
by James A. Maxwell
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America's Longest War
by George C. Herring
2nd edition from McGraw-Hill
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
America's Lost Dream
by Tom Dooley
from Master Books
American History for 4th-6th grade
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America's Providential History
by Mark Beliles & Stephen McDowell
from Providence Foundation
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$8.00 (6 in stock)
America: A Patriotic Primer
by Lynne Cheney
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America: A Patriotic Primer
by Lynne Cheney
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American Adventures Part 1
by Morrie Greenberg
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American Adventures Part 2
by Morrie Greenberg
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
1st edition from Wilfred Funk, Inc.
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
American Children Through Their Books
by Sister Monica Kiefer
1970 printing from University of Pennsylvania Press
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American Civil War
by Robert K. Krick
from Osprey Publishing
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American Covenant
by Marshall Foster
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American Dream
by Stephen K. McDowell & Mark Beliles
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Faith
by Kevin Swanson with Joshua Schwisow, Daniel Noor, and Peter Bringe
2nd edition from Generations
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$31.50 (1 in stock)
American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 1
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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 4
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 5
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 6
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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 American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
American History for Young Students I
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-5th grade
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$17.50 (1 in stock)
American History for Young Students II
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-5th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
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$17.50 (1 in stock)
American History Stories Volume 2
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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$11.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
American History: Globalization 1977-2008
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American History: The Civil Rights Movement & Vietnam 1960-1976
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
American Indian Dances
by John L. Squires & Robert E. McLean
from The Ronald Press Co.
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American Indian in Words and Pictures
by Sydney Fletcher
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Indian Prayer Guide
by Danette Maloof, Dean Cozzens
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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$4.50 (3 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 Milestones: The U. S. Constitution (September 17, 1787)
by Carole Marsh
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Milestones: World War I
by Carole Marsh
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American Milestones: World War II (1939-1945)
by Carole Marsh
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American Passage
by Vincent J. Cannato
from Harper Perennial
for Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
American President
by Philip Kunhardt, Jr., Philip Kunhardt III, Peter Kunhardt
from Riverhead Books
for Adult
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Presidents & Presidential First Ladies Notebooking Pages
from Notebooking Pages
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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