THE UNITED STATES BY EMERSON DAVID FITE, PH.D. FREDERICK FERRIS THOMPSON PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE IN PREFACE IN teaching American history, whether in the secondary school or in the college, there are many problems in connection with the division. of the subject, method of treatment, and emphasis. It has been my aim, in this short history, to add my contribution toward the solution of some of these problems from the practical standpoint of one who has had many years of experience both as teacher and as examiner, acquainted in the first capacity with the difficulty of presenting the subject, and in the second, with the unsatisfactory results often obtained. Some of the subjects of special emphasis in the present volume are, in the period of exploration and discovery, the development of geographical knowledge; and in the colonial period the dependence of events in the colonies upon contemporary English history, and the close connection between the West Indies and the mainland as parts of the same colonial empire. Less space than usual has been given to military history, the attempt being to present the broad outlines of campaigns, the general plans with their successes and failures, rather than descriptions of battles in detail; while the social and industrial development of the country, economic progress, sources and effects of immigration, conditions on the ever-receding frontier, and changes in governmental forms, both national and local, have received special attention. The peace movement and foreign relations, particularly the Pan-American movement, have been stressed. Recent history, which is often slighted for the period since 1865, occupies more than one-fourth of the book, a large share being devoted to the period since 1900. In fact, one of the objects of the book, constantly kept in mind, has been to introduce the student to present-day conditions and problems. I desire to recognize my debt of gratitude to my colleagues, Professors Hill and Shattuck for various illustrations, and Professor Bracq, for permission to use his original Hondius-Mercator map; to Archibald Freeman of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, who has lately read the entire manuscript in its completed form and offered much valuable criticism; and to my wife, whose criticism and aid at every stage of the work has been a constant source of inspiration and profit. 462233 EMERSON DAVID FITE III. SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA IV. ENGLISH AMERICA UNDER QUEEN ELIZABETH AND THE EARLY STUART V. DUTCH, SWEDISH, DANISH, AND RUSSIAN AMERICA VI. ENGLISH AMERICA. INFLUENCE OF THE UPRISING OF THE ENGLISH VII. ENGLISH AMERICA UNDER THE LATER STUART KINGS, 1660-1688 VIII. ENGLISH AMERICA. INFLUENCE OF THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF |