The community and the citizen

Front matter

i I

THE COMMUNITY

AND

Preface

The justification and aim of the present ^ook may be stated in the following words from Professor Dewey's "Ethical Principles Underlying Education " : '' The social work of the school is often limited to training for citizenship, and citizenship is then interpreted in a narrow sense as meaning capacity to vote intelligently, a disposition to obey laws, etc. . . . The child is to be not only a voter and a subject of law; he is also to be a member of a family. . . . He is to be a worker, engaged in some occupation which will be of use to society and which will maintain his own independence and self-respect. He is to be a member of some particular neighborhood and community, and must contribute to the decencies and graces of civilization wherever he is. . . . To suppose . . . that a good citizen is anything more than a thoroughly efficient and serviceable member of society . . . is a cramped superstition which it is hoped may soon disappear from educational discussion. . . . Training for citizenship is formal and nominal unless it develops the power of observation, analysis, and inference with respect to what makes up a social situation and the agencies through which it is modified."

The book is a departure from the traditional methods of presenting the subject of civics to young people. It has not been customary to diflferentiate between civics and civil government. The writer believes that such a differentiation may be made, and that, moreover, anything like a scientific analysis of the machinery and powers of government can profitably be undertaken not earlier than the last years of the high school, and then it may best be presented in close association with the work in American history. On the other hand, he believes that many elementary ideas regarding community life, the meaning of citizenship, the relations between the citizen and the community, and the services performed for the citizen by the government, not only can, but should, be presented to the pupil at an earlier period in his education.

The fiinction of the public school is to produce a good type of citizenship. There is no other sanction for the existence of the public school.

iii iv PREFACE

The entire course of study and the whole round of school life should be directed to this end. Unfortunately, the aim of education in the public school is too often considered from a purely individualistic point of view, as a means of aiding the individual to get a living. It is rare that we find any definite instruction given to arouse the pupil's consciousness of the meaning of community life and of his relations to it. The study of civil government in its usual form fails to accomplish this end.

" Observation, analysis, and inference " are the essentials of the pedagogical method adopted in this book. The aim has constantly been to make a vivid impression upon the consciousness of the pupil. The author has been more concerned about the interest that the pupil shall develop in the life of the community and in his relation to that life, than about the amount of systematic knowledge that he shall gain regarding the forms and working of government. The desideratum has been to stimulate a questioning attitude on the part of the pupil, and to leave him with an eager desire to know more.

At the same time, the author has not neglected government. Government is, indeed, introduced in every chapter of the book in its proper relations to the phase of civic life under discussion, and the last few chapters are devoted to the governmental machinery. The endeavor has constantly been to present government in its proper perspective. It must not be supposed, from the use of the word " community," that the book deals with local government alone. Local, state, and national organization are constantly emphasized throughout the text in such a way that not only is the relation of the citizen to each of them made vivid, but also the relations of the three kinds of government to each other are brought out with distinctness.

A feature of the book is the use made of local history. It is believed that a contribution is made toward the solution of the problem of how to employ local history effectively in the schools. Few local communities have a history that touches the main stream of national history in an intimate way, so that it is difficult to make use of local development in connection with the history of the United States. Still, every community has a history that may be made instructive. It is hoped that the method of handling the subject in this text may be useful, both in stimulating interest in the subject itself and as a means of illustrating the growth of community life and the relation between the community and the individual.

PREFACE V

Although conscious of imperfections in the book, the author presents it with some degree of confidence because of the test to which it has already been put, in a preliminary form, by a year's use in the schools of Indianapolis. He has had the benefit of the experience and criticism of thirty or forty practical teachers during this time. He takes this opportunity to thank these teachers for their searching but sympathetic criticism and suggestion. The author is indebted, also, to Professor Henry E. Bourne, of Western Reserve University, and to Dr. Henry Suzzallo, of Leland Stanford Junior University, for most helpful advice. For the suggestion of the method of approaching the subject, acknowledgment is due to Professors Albion W. Small and George E. Vincent, of the University of Chicago.

ARTHUR W. DUNN.

Indianapolis, April 15, 1907.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER

For the successful use of a text-book, it is necessary that the teacher get into the spirit of the book. This is best accomplished by familiarity with the book itself. If it has a distinctive spirit expressing itself through a definite and consistent plan, this spirit should readily be imparted to the reader. It is hoped that this may be true of the present text.

" The Community and the Citizen " is, however, prepared on a plan so different from what the teacher may be expecting in a text on civics that an introductory word emphasizing the central idea of the book and offering a few suggestions relative to method may be helpful. In this connection, the attention of the teacher is called to the preface. No better preparation can be made for the use of the text in the spirit in which it is intended than by a careful reading of Professor Dewey's " Ethical Principles Underlying Education," quoted in the preface, and " The School and Society " by the same author.

Certain well-known principles of educational .psychology are indispensable in the teaching of civics. The first of these is that the pupil's interest must, first of all, be secured. It is far better to stimulate interest and to impart very little detailed information than to fill the mind with more or less well-understood' facts at the expense of interest. Interest, once killed, is hard to regain ; while with the interest thoroughly kindled, the facts will easily follow. Furthermore, it is the individual's interest, and not his knowledge, that leads to action. The right kind of interest behind a very few facts will lead to good citizenship, while any number of facts without the interest will fail to do so.

It is also a matter of common knowledge that the surest way to kindle and maintain the child's interest is to build on his own experience, passing constantly from the facts of his experience to related facts just beyond his experience, and back again to his own experience. This method has been adhered to, as far as possible, throughout the book. Many of the topics appended to the chapters are intended to bring the pupil back from the consideration of principles to the appli-

SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER vii

cation of these principles to the simple facts of his own experienpe. The first five chapters of the book are intended to fix the pupil's attention on the simple facts that lie at the foundation of civic life, by approaching these facts through the interests or desires which the child himself feels in common with all other people (chapter IV).

In pursuance of this method, the spirit of community life should be stimulated in the class itself in every possible way. The pupil should be led to consider himself not merely as an individual who is trying to acquire a certain number of facts, but as a member of a class-community to whose progress he is expected to contribute. The class makes an excellent illustration of community life. Here are a number of people, with differing interests, associated together for a common purpose. The welfare of each member depends upon all ; each is responsible for the welfare of all. The class-community is subject to laws, or rules, in order that the best interests of all may be served. These rules should not be arbitrarily imposed, but the class should be induced to formulate their own rules of conduct from their own recognition of the needs of the class. It is not meant that the class-community should be taken up for formal study, but that it be referred to illustratively throughout the study. The whole school is a larger type of community composed of the several class-communities. Its interests are broader, its organization more complete. It illustrates, to some extent, the federal idea.

Pursuing still further the method of building on the pupil's own experience, he should be led constantly to apply the ideas of each chapter of the book to his own community — neighborhood, city, county, state, nation, as the case may be. The suggested topics at the ends of the chapters are intended to aid in accomplishing this ; but the application should be made all along in connection with the text itself. For this reason care should be taken to see that the pupil never fails to recognize the relation between the topics and the text. It is often well to assign the topics in connection with the reading of the paragraphs which are related to them. Do not allow the pupil to feel that he is studying one thing in the text and another unrelated thing in the topics. The pupil should be kept as far away as possible from the idea that he is studying a book. The real object of his study is the community in which he lives : the text is a guide to the facts of his own community life and an interpretation of them.

Right along this line, and for the same purpose, the teacher is urged viii SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER

to piake use of local history. The meaning of community life will be much clearer if its origin and gradual development are seen.

The topics at the ends of the chapters are intended as aids in the study of the real community in which the child lives. If any of them prove otherwise, they should be omitted or modified, or others should be substituted for them. Some topics may be used for general class work, others for individual reports. They cannot all be used effectively in every community. The teacher should fit the topics to the needs of the class and to the conditions of the particular community. Do not expect the same results from all pupils, but lead each to expect to make his contribution to the progress of the class.

If some object to certain topics on the ground that material for their answers is not available, it may be said : (i) If a topic is manifestly impracticable for a given class or community, do not waste time over it. There are plenty of other topics that will do. (2) The fact that a topic cannot be answered completely or correctly does not necessarily invalidate it. In real life many of our questions remain wholly or in part unanswered. This does not mean that the correct answer should not be sought ; but the chief aim is to arouse a questioning attitude on the part of the pupil. To set the question in the mind of the pupil is the important thing. It does not matter so much, after all, whether the child can describe the details of the water system or the organization of the school board, but it is important that the coming citizen should have a consciousness of the magnitude of the work the community does for him to supply him with pure water and with an education.

It is not intended that pupils in this grade of work shall do a great deal of reading. It is preferable, where possible, to get the desired information at first hand. At the same time, some reading from books and current literature will be necessary. The daily papers and the current magazines are fiill of illustrative material. The references at the ends of the chapters will often be helpful to the pupils. They are intended fully as much, however, as aids to the teacher. Hart's " Actual Government " (Longmans) and Forman's '■ Advanced Civics " (The Century Company) are referred to throughout the text-book, and will prove excellent for the reference table.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Beginning of a Communitv . . . . i

II. What is 'a Community? 7

Chapter I The Beginning Of A Community

About seventy years ago a company of people in New York thought of founding a settlement in the far West. Their purpose was to build a college for the y^^ythe education of Christian ministers. Their first settlement step toward actual settlement was to appoint w^s™^*^ an exploring committee to search for a suitable site, and a committee to find families who were willing to go.

The exploring committee was given instructions to examine the following points :

1. What is the quality of the water in wells

, ■' What the

and sprmgs .? exploring

2. Do the streams in the neighborhood rise committee in, or pass through, swamps .' Or do they rise ^^* *" '""^ from springs .-• Are they rapid or sluggish .'

3. Are there marshes in the vicinity .''

4. Is the land level or rolling .'

5. What is the quality and depth of the soil .'

6. Is there a convenient and abundant supply of timber and fuel .'

7. Is there water power .-' If not, is there coal .'

8. Are there navigable streams, or canals and roads already built or proposed .■'

After three months' search a suitable location was found in a beautiful rolling prairie country, on the watershed be- The site tween two large rivers, neither of which was selected more than fifty miles distant. The prairie land was very fertile. Near at hand was a large tract of woodland containing oak, black walnut, and other fine trees, which afforded shelter during the first hard winter, before substantial houses could be built upon the open prairie, and supplied building material and fuel. There were numerous springs and streams which furnished water and good drainage. Since the settlement has become a city, one of these streams has become a menace to health because of the refuse drained into it. Near by an abundance of coal was found, and in the course of time there was discovered a great deposit of shale, good for the making of paving brick, which is one of the chief industries of the city at the present time. The settlement was made before the day of railroads, and there were few wagon roads and no canals in the region. But the location was such that it was felt that roads were certain to center there in the near future.

The committee to find families was also successful. Thirty families, comprising one hundred and seventy The families Persons, were found who would go to the new for the settlement the first year. The settlement

settlement founded by these families still takes pride in the fact that it is a city of homes.

The purpose of those who planned the settlement, as we have seen, was to found a college to educate Christian Common ministers. The famiUes chosen to make up the interests of settlement were selected, therefore, with a view the settlers ^^ getting people who would take an interest in this purpose. The community was noted for its zeal for

THE BEGINNING OF A COMMUNITY 3

education and religion. But this was not all that concerned them. If you will examine the instructions given to the exploring committee, you will see that care was to be taken to find a site favorable to health ; it must also be favorable to the production of wealth ; and there must be easy means of communication among themselves and with the outside world. Which of the instructions refer to these different things ?

The little colony not only planned to build a church, a college, and a common school; they also built houses for shelter, they began to cultivate the soil, they put up a sawmill and a gristmill. Many of the necessary occupations, such as making clothing and shoes, repairing tools, and making furniture, were at first carried on in each household, but soon carpenters, a black<5mith, a shoemaker, and other tradesmen settled in the community. For social life, the people had their singing schools and quilting parties.

The colonists had acquired a township of land. Three sections were reserved for the site of the village and the college. The village was laid out in lots to be ^^^ neonie sold to those who wished to build homes and united with places of business. The college land was t'**'^"* fenced in, and lots were reserved for the church, an academy, and a common school. Outside of the village the land was sold in half-sections and quarter-sections for farming. These farms were fenced in and improved by cultivation and by the erection of permanent buildings. The more the settlers improved the land, and the more they invested in their homes and business, the more certainty was there that the community would be permanent and prosperous.

The early life of this little community was very simple.

Each man, with his neighbors' help, chopped and hauled

^^ ,.^ ^ the logs with which to build his cabin. In the The life of ° .

the early edge of the grove there were " a dozen or two community j^^ cabins, some built without a nail or a pane of glass ; with the spaces between the logs chinked with mud ; with outside chimneys made of clay and sticks ; with boxes, barrels, and short logs for chairs, a large box for the table, and a one-post bedstead ^ for an honored guest." Each man was his own mechanic, some were their own cobblers, and the wives were the tailors and dressmakers. A family in " average circumstances " is described as having "enough money to pay taxes and postage." Servants were rare and were on equal terms with the family. The cabins were adorned by such simple means as sticking four balls of clay upon the corners of the chimneys. It is said that it was strange " how quickly, under the good taste and deft fingers of the ladies of the colony, these cabins took on a cozy air and an appearance of beauty and refinement." Books and papers were few, and were handed about from house to house. Money was scarce, so that the exchange of goods took place by barter. Farm produce had to be hauled in wagons straight across the prairie to the nearest large town, fifty miles away. When any great undertaking was proposed, like the building of the church, all the men of the community united in the work. They chopped and hauled the logs from the grove, they hewed out the timbers, they put the frame together, and raised the building.

The people in this little community, selected as they had been with great care by a committee, were at first remarkably harmonious. They were of one nationality ;

1 A one-post bedstead was built in the corner of the room, the two walls serving as two sides of the bed.

THE* BEGINNING OF A COMMUNITY 5

they were of Puritan principles. They all rallied around the idea of the Christian college. If any differ- government ences arose, they were at first settled by the of the church organization. But with the coming of '=°™™"°'*y more settlers, and the development of new interests, it became necessary to form a government.

Such was the beginning of this community, which has developed until to-day it is a thriving city with handsome homes, busy streets, noisy factories, churches, schools, and libraries. It is an important railroad center, and is thus brought into the life of the world outside. It is a center of culture and refinement, and a pleasant place in which to live.

This chapter is the true story of the founding of a community in Illinois. Every community, including your own, has had a beginning more or less like that of the one described here. In reading this chapter, think whether it would fit your own community — in what points it is like it, and in what points it differs.

1 . Can you find out how the site of your community happened to be selected ?

2. Take the list of instructions given to the exploring committee mentioned on page i, and answer the questions there asked with reference to your own community.

3. From what localities did the early settlers in your own community come? What led them to found a new community? How did they make the journey from their old homes to the new settlement?

4. Find true stories of pioneer life in your own community, or in your own state.

5. When Virginia was colonized, did the character of the site influence the life of the colony? Did the character of the people do so? Answer these questions with reference to the other colonies.

6. What were the purposes that led the colonists to settle in New England? Compare with the purposes of the settlers described in this chapter.

7. Describe the life of the people in Massachusetts during the first few years of the colony. Compare- with the life of the settlement described on page 4 of this chapter, and with the pioneer life of your own community.

1. Where possible, the pupil should gather information from old settlers of his acquaintance.

2. Where available, local histories should be made use of. County histories, reports of old settlers' meetings, etc., are useful.

3. Use any stories of pioneer life, like that of Lincoln's boyhood, to supplement local history. McMurry's "Pioneer History Stories" (Macmillan) is good.

4. For questions 5-7, the ordinary school histories will usually suffice where other books on colonial life are not available.

5. There is an excellent series of books on colonial life, suitable for pupils, by Alice Morse Earle. These will be useful throughout the study. Some of the titles are : " Colonial Dames and Good Wives '' ; " Stage Coach and Tavern Days " ; " Home Life in Colonial Days " ; " Child Life in Colonial Davs."

Chapter II What Is A Community?

The story of the founding of the colony in the West illustrates certain things that we should know about communities. Each one of us is a member of a community. We wish to know just what our community is, and how it grew. We wish especially to know what it does for us, and what we owe to it.

The community whose beginnings we noticed in the last chapter consisted of a group of people who settled together in a single locality, and who were jjgg^;_ bound to each other by common interests. They tion of a were also subject to common laws. This may be '°™™""'y taken as a definition of any community.

Communities may be large or small ; that is, the people may be many or few, and the locality in which they live may include a large area or a small one. A group of neighboring farmers with their families may smau comconstitute a community. In this case the area """"*'®s occupied may be large, while the people are few in number. Or the community may be a city, with a dense population in a comparatively small area. Each state in our Union is a community, and so is our nation, because each is composed of a group of people occupying a common territory and governed by common interests and common laws. The nation is composed of state communities, and each state is made up of many city and rural communities.

You may live in a small city which is a community in itself, with its group of people, its boundaries, its common

Communi- interests, and its common laws. A few miles

ties unite outside of vour citv is a community of farmers,

into larger , ' ■' ^ •' , , ,

ones whose houses are far apart, but who have common

interests, such as keeping up the roads and the bridges in their neighborhood. The farmers bring their produce to the city for the use of the people there, and in turn depend upon the city for many of their necessities and pleasures. The country and the city communities thus have certain interests in common, and their dealings with each other are regulated by common laws. You are, therefore, a member not only of your city community, but also of a larger community including the farmers. You belong also to the community of the whole state, and to a still larger one including the nation.

No community ever began its existence fully formed, but each has grown from small beginnings. It is like the Communi- growth of a plant from the seed. You may have ties grow gggjj ^ tangled mass of vines growing from a beginnings common root, with the branches and tendrils so interwoven that it is difficult to trace one of them back to the main trunk. So in a great community like a city, or like our nation, we find the structure and the organization so complicated that it is often difficult to understand them. It is easier to take a community in its earlier and simpler stages, like that of the last chapter, for a beginning of our study, and then to trace its growth into the more complicated forms.

Being a member of a community means that each one Member- °^ ^^ takes part in, and contributes to, its life, ship in a The heart and the arm are members of the human communi y ^^^y xhey receive life from the body, and contribute to its life. In a similar way your life is closely inter-

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY? 9

woven with the life of the community in which you live. You can imagine yourself shut off from mankind, like Robinson Crusoe, and living ; but what a narrow life it would be ! The best of your life comes from participation in the life of your community. When we speak of citizenship, we usually mean this membership in the community, with its giving to, and receiving from, the *^'*'^*°^'^*P community's hfe. Citizenship carries with it certain privileges and certain duties.

1. Talk over in class the four essentials of a community •— the group of people, the site, the common interests, and the common laws. Apply these essentials to your own community.

2. Is your class a community? Explain. What are its common interests? Are its laws written or unwritten?

3. Show how the different classes in your school are bound together by interests common to the whole school. Compare this union of classes into a school with the union of states into a nation.

4. What are some of the things in which your family and your nearest neighbors have a common interest because of living close together?

5. What are some of the things in which the people of a city and the neighboring farmers have a common interest?

6. Name some things in which all the cities of a state have a common interest. What are some things in which the whole nation has a common interest?

7. Show how an injury or a benefit to one person may be an injury or a benefit to the whole community of which the person is a member. Show how an fnjury or a benefit to a community will injure or benefit the individual members of the community.

8. Can you be a member of your class without doing it either good or harm? If a member of a community contributes nothing to its welfare, can he avoid being harmful to it? Explain.

9. What are some of the things that a citizen receives from his community?

10. Think of some ways in which a citizen may contribute to the welfare of his community.

Chapter III The Site Of The Community

In beginning our study we must remember that the people and the locaHty both contribute something to make our community what it is.

The geographical features of the land enter into the life of the community in many ways. In its relation Importance to the land, we may compare the growth of a of the land community to the growth of a plant. The plant derives its support from the soil. Some kinds of plants flourish in one kind of soil, other kinds in other soils. In the case of all plants, their size and fruitfulness depend not merely on the kind of seed sown, but also on the character of the soil. It is the same with communities. Whether a community shall live or die may depend entirely on the character of its site.