THE RISE OF THE PEOPLE. STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY, FOR YOUNG READers. BY CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN. THE STORY OF LIBERTY. Illustrated. Svo, Cloth, $3.00. OLD TIMES IN THE COLONIES. Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $3.00. THE BOYS OF '76. A History of the Battles of the Revolution. Illustrated. BUILDING THE NATION. Events in the History of the United States, from PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. HARPER & BROTHERS will send any of the above works by mail, postage prepaid, to any part EDUC.- LIBRARY Copyright, 1882, by HARPER & BROTHERS. GIFT PREFACE. To the Boys and Girls of the United States: IN reading this volume, you will notice that the men who began to Build the Nation had no model by which to fashion it. There never had been a government of the people-never a written Constitution. There were no finger-posts in history to point them to the right way; but they were actuated by a deep and abiding love for liberty, justice, and equal rights, and did what seemed to them best for the general good. The Constitution is an embodiment of the political wisdom of the ages; yet, as you will notice, the people were reluctant to adopt it, fearing that in its workings-in consenting to have Congress make general laws for the country-there would be a loss of sovereignty on the part of the States. It will be seen that the men who began the building were not far enough advanced from the ideas of the feudal age to recognize all men, irrespective of race and color, as entitled to the privileges of the Constitution. They excluded those who had African blood in their veins. It was agreed that slaves should not be classed as citizens entitled to vote, but that they should, at the same time, be counted as inhabitants, which, with the idea that the sovereignty of a single State is greater than that of the nation, has had a great deal to do in giving direction to the course of our country's history. At the time the Constitution was adopted slavery was dying out in the Northern States, and it was supposed that it would soon come to an end in all the States; but the inventions of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright in spinning; the invention of the steam-engine by James Watt; the beginning of manufacturing in Great Britain; the demand for cotton; the invention of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney, made the cultivation of cotton very profitable. In consequence more slaves were wanted to cultivate the fields of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi; and, instead of dying out, slavery became a permanent institution. peculiar to the Southern States, affecting society in all its relations. Slavery was a degradation of labor. So it came about that there were classes-planters who owned slaves, who were rich and influential; and people who had little money, who owned no slaves---who felt that it would be a losing of their manhood to work for a living. The planters could educate their children, but there were no commonschools where the children of the poor white people could obtain an education. Ignorance is weakness; knowledge, power. The planters became the governing class-making and executing the laws. In this way slavery became a great political power-from 1820 to 1860-making itself felt in all the affairs of state. There have been great changes in manners, customs, ways of living, travelling, and the transmission of information, brought about by discovery and invention by setting rivers to turning wheels, by burning coal in steam-engines, relieving men from toil and hardship, and adding to their comfort and happiness. -- There has been the coming in of new ideas in morals. Duelling, which once was regarded as honorable, has become a crime. Not now, as in other days, can men drink intoxicating drinks till they fall helpless to the floor, and yet occupy exalted positions in society. With the diffusion of intelligence-the rising to a higher civilization— there has been, at the same time, a quickening of religious life—an increasing sense of obligation to help the poor, the unfortunate, and the degraded, by establishing schools, churches, hospitals, asylums, sending out missionaries to the destitute and degraded of every land, with the sole purpose of giving them the blessings of a Christian civilization. Soon after the adoption of the Constitution the United States began to teach other nations by example-lighting the torch of liberty in France, South America, and Mexico-becoming the leader of all the nations, and introducing a new order of things in government. From small beginnings the nation has become great and strong; its flag the emblem of the world's best hope. The question, I doubt not, will come to you, as to the future of the nation--what it is to be; the measure of influence it is destined to exert upon other nations; the part it is to play in the great drama of Time. If, as you study these pages, there shall come a deepening of love for our country, its prosperity and welfare-for liberty-for the Constitution and the Union; if there shall come a more ardent aspiration that in the future, as in the past, our country may still be teacher and leader of the nations toward a higher and nobler civilization-toward justice, right, and liberty -the object I have had in view, in preparing this volume, will be accomplished. BOSTON, 1882. CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN. |