W

E are the people of the United States. Most of us are citizens; and those who are not may easily become members of this great body of people by the easy process called naturalization. We know that our fathers and brothers and friends are millions in number; that their fathers have worked and saved and stored up wealth, that they have filled the land with cities and towns and farms and mills and shops and mines and schoolhouses. Naturally we wish to know how it came about that we are gathered together on the big portion of the earth's surface which is called the United States of America.

they built up little colonies and states and combined them into the mighty Federal Government that we call the United States of America. We shall see how our forefathers sixty years ago differed among themselves, and finally fought each other in a civil war; and again came together as a nation one and indivisible," which has come to be

one of the most powerful countries on earth.

The History of the United States is the account of ourselves-ho w our fathers came to this continent, how they lived, and how they hoped and planned and brought things to pass. That means something about their wars and conquests; but much more of their daily lives their ships. and farms, their shops and factories, their banks and railroads and corporations, their parties and elections. History is not just events, it is what people were doing that was worth while, in all the various parts of their lives as citizens of a common country.

The purpose of this book is to make clear, as simply as may be, how in the course of four hundred years our nation has arisen from small beginnings, out of many peoples and races,-immigrants from all quarters of the earth. We shall need to touch on many things. We must know something about the European nations whose people discovered and colonized America; and how they fought with the Indians and with each other and divided the territory of the present United States among themselves. We shall try to find out what kind of life our elders lived and how they worked, and especially how

Recent History

Out of this story-now four hundred years long-the most important period to us is the last sixty years of our history, which come so close to us that the old people can remember the chief

events.

The most importan: thing in this period of our history is to find out how and why we Americans have faced and settled so many difficult questions in our own land. That must include the many hard questions which have arisen, been discussed and decided since 1865, both in our home concerns and in our relations with foreign countries.

Throughout the book we shall from time to time take up the way in which Americans have built up their governments for towns, counties and cities, for the state and for the nation, with constitutions and laws and elections and congresses and legislatures. To understand that, we must get acquainted with the great men of the country-senators and generals and presidents, writers, artists, teachers and captains of industry. To understand them and their work we must study the manner of life of those who have gone before us, their social customs, their education, their work and play and their way of thinking. How people lived and what they thought is as much a part of history as wars and governments and laws and congresses.

Outline of American History By seeing clearly and studying this variety of events and policies and persons as we go along, we shall see when we reach the end that the greatest things in American history have been the following:

(1) Discovery of America The United States was planted in a region in North America which was unknown to Europe

till 1492; and its first form was a group of colonies planted by the English people.

(2) Colonies and Revolution The English colonies, made up chiefly of emigrants from England and their descendants, but including men and women of several other races, spread back from the coast. In 1775 they revolted and set up state and national governments of their own. The thirteen colonies which took part in this American Revolution joined in 1789 in one Federal Union of States.

(10) E Pluribus Unum The strongest force toward a common national life is the great American principles of personal rights, self-government, and freedom of occupation. During the last three hundred years, the people who have come to the United States, whether from England or from other countries, have been busy in opening up a new country abounding in untilled or cheap land. Now they are trying to keep together, and govern themselves in cities. and thickly settled areas, where people have not the same opportunities to make their own way as the original farmers and pioneers.

Five Territorial Belts

The first thing that we must know about our country is how it lies upon the round globe of the earth. For the history of nations is closely connected with the mountains, the rivers, the soil, the plants and the products of the land. Look carefully at the physical map of the United States and you will see that it is divided by nature into five belts running from north to south.

(1) The first of these is the Atlantic Coast Strip from Maine to Florida.

(2) Second is the Central West and South, lying between the mountains and the Mississippi River. These two belts together make one of the parts of the earth that has the best and most regular rainfall; and that is the

reason why they were covered with forests when the country was discovered, and are now a rich farming

country.