The rhythmic dance book

Front matter

I O ^6

A TEXT-BOOK IN PREVOCATIONAL CIVICS

BY

Contents

Suggestions to Teachers ......

CHAPTER

I. How Old Is Uncle Sam? ....

Chapter I How Old Is Uncle Sam?

Uncle Sam as People Usually See Him. — How old is Uncle Sam ? The answer to this question is not so easy as it first seems, because many people do not know who Uncle Sam really is. Do you know? If some one should ask you to describe him, how would you do it ? No doubt you would describe him as a tall, lanky old gentleman, dressed in striped trousers, blue swallow-tailed coat, and a high hat decorated with stars. Probably you would also add a beard and long hair. Such a picture of him appears facing this page. It was made to represent him during the Great War. Here he seems to have a very stern and serious face. His eyes look right into yours and his finger points straight at you. He seems to say earnestly, "I want you!" This is the way he appears to most people.

The Real Uncle Sam. — But in real life Uncle Sam hardly ever looks like the pictures which we usually see of him. Sometimes in parades and other celebrations he is fond of dressing up in his holiday clothes. But in real, every-day life he is just like common, ordinary folks, just like you

2 PREPARING FCR THE WORLD'S WORK

and me. For Uncle Sam is only an imaginary figure which stands for US, that is, the people of the United States. Boys and girls have usually thought of him as representing their fathers and mothers; or, at any rate, only those people who are old enough to vote. But this is not true. He really represents all the people, old and young, who belong to this large family which we call the United States. The members of this family we call citizens, and Uncle Sam stands for the citizens of the United States.

Boys and Girls Are Citizens. — He therefore may stand for you as well as for the adults of your community, for boys and girls may become citizens of our country long before they are old enough to vote. Let us see how this is true.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of our country says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." There are several hard words in that sentence, but its meaning is very simple. If you were born in this country you are a native-born citizen, no matter how old you are. Adults who were born in other countries may become citizens of this country by doing certain things that are required by the laws regarding citizenship. They are then called naturalized citizens. Before they become naturalized, such people are called aliens. When a man becomes a naturalized citizen of our country, his wife and all of his children who are at that time under twenty-one years of age also become citizens of our country.

HOW OLD IS UNCLE SAM ?

So you see that probably each of you is a citizen of the United States now. Uncle Sam stands for you as he does for other citizens. So Uncle Sam is really just as old as you are, for you are Uncle Sam. Even as a boy or girl you have an important part in the work of making ours a greater and better country; and, of course, as a good citizen you should want to play this part well. So for a little while we are going to study about some of your rights and duties as citizens of this great country.

The Rights of Citizens. — As citizens of the United States you have a great many rights.

Of course, it is

necessary for you to wait several more years before you can have all of them. You must be twenty-one years of age, for example, before you can vote; and then, in some States, you can vote only if you pay taxes. You cannot be a member of Congress before the age of twenty-five; nor of the Senate before the age of thirty. You cannot be Presi-

Naturalization Bureau, Where Adults Who Were Born in Other Countries Take the Oath of Allegiance and Become Citizens of This Country dent of the United States before the age of thirty-five; and even at that age you cannot be President unless you were born within the United States.

Thus many of the rights of citizenship are held back until you are older and wiser. But you should understand that there are many rights for you to enjoy now. Some of these we are going to study about in this book. This study will help you to understand how good a country this is, and how much it does for you.

The Duties of Citizens. — But as good citizens you are not so anxious to know what your country does for you as you are to know what you can do for your country. For citizens have duties as well as rights. This is especially true in a country like ours where the people have so many rights. This country does not belong to a king or emperor; it does not belong even to our President. This is your country and my country. That is why we like to sing "America." And when we sing it, we should emphasize that first word and say:

"My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing."

You should remember, however, that this country of ours cannot be great and good unless every one of us helps to make it great and good. It is not only the President of our country, and the Congress, and the Governor of your State, and the Mayor of your city, and the officials of your town or township who carry all the duties of the nation.

HOW OLD IS UNCLE SAM ? 5

Each man and woman and each boy and girl has important duties also; and when we do our duty we help to make our country greater and better.

The Purpose of this Book. — The purpose of this book is to help you to understand some of your rights and duties as citizens of this great country. From this study you should become a better citizen and help to make a greater and better country. We shall study how men and women work together in the world to do the many things that are necessary to make life happy. This we shall call the "World's Work." Some day you will want to do an important part of this work. As you study this book you will learn about the many different kinds of work which men and women do, so that you may later on in life decide upon the kind of work which you can do best. You will find that it is very important for you to become as thoroughly educated as possible in order to do your part of the World's Work well. If you realize that you are now a citizen of the United States, and that this is your country, you will want to begin at once to be as good and as useful a citizen as you can.

How Old Is Uncle Sam? — So it is not hard to find Uncle Sam's age, after all, is it? If some one should ask you the question, "How old is Uncle Sam?" just square your shoulders, hold your head high, and proudly answer: "He is just as old as I am, for I am Uncle Sam." This simply means that you are now a citizen of the United

States, or will be as soon as you can ; and that you will try your best to be the right kind of citizen.

Note to the Teacher: — Discussion of many of these topics and investigations will be more effectively and speedily carried on if they are assigned to individuals or small committees of the class, rather than to the class as a whole. The development of responsibility through investigating in behalf of the class will in itself be excellent training in democracy. This plan should be followed wherever possible throughout the book.

i. Describe the costume of some one who represented Uncle Sam in a pageant or parade that you have seen.

2. Make a collection of cartoons of Uncle Sam from newspapers and magazines. Do you think that they truly represent him? Why or why not?

3. Find how Uncle Sam got his name. Encyclopaedias and many school histories contain this information.

4. How many boys and girls of your class were born in America? How many were born in other countries?

5. How many of the boys and girls who were born in America have fathers and mothers who were also born in America? How many of the fathers and mothers were born in other countries?

6. In the same way find how many of the boys and girls of your class have American-born grandfathers and grandmothers, and how many have foreign-born grandfathers and grandmothers.

7. Trace back the ancestors of your class until you find the countries of Europe from which all these ancestors came. Locate these countries on the map.

8. Find out why your parents or grandparents came to this country.

9. How many of the members of your class have parents who have been naturalized? Some of these members might ask their fathers to tell what they were required to do before they could become naturalized citizens, and report to the class.

10. According to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution,

HOW OLD IS UNCLE SAM ? 7

may a Chinaman be an American citizen? May a Chinaman become naturalized?

ii. In what ways have immigrants benefited our country by coming to it?

12. Read "Makers of Our Flag," by Franklin K. Lane. Most collections of patriotic literature contain this excellent selection.

Chapter II How People Help Us In Our Own Community

The Part of Mother and Father in Doing the World's Work. — Did you ever stop to think how much your mother does for you? Most of the time we do not think about this. We just go along day after day eating our meals, sleeping in our clean beds, and wearing out our clothes, without thinking that for all these things our mothers must work and plan all the time.

But perhaps one day mother was not able to get things started in the morning, and you may have had to get along without her. How different the house seemed ! The food did not taste right, and nobody seemed to know where to look for the things you needed. Everything went wrong, and it was hard to keep from asking mother how to do this, or where to find that, or when to do something else. Then you began to understand that you could not live very well without the help and care that your mother gives you. The work which our mothers do is a very important part of the World's Work. All the work of our farms and factories, our mills and our mines, our schools and our churches would be of very little value if it were not for the work which our mothers do in our homes.

Mother cannot help us alone. While she is busy at home father is busy in the mill, in the mine, at the office,

HOW PEOPLE HELP US IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY Q

or on the farm. He may work in a store, or on the railroad, or in some one of a great many other different kinds of work. In this way he earns the money that is necessary to provide food, clothing, shelter, and many other things for his family. He, too, is doing part of the World's Work, and he is helping to care for you.

How Others Help Our Parents. — There are many other people besides mother and father who help to satisfy your needs. You may think that you could live all alone by yourself, as Robinson Crusoe did on an island, and have nobody to help you. But you know that Robinson Crusoe saved a great deal of food and other materials from the wreck of his ship, and he could not have lived very long if he had not done so. In this way he was really helped by many people who had prepared these things and had filled the ship with them, even though they lived far away from his island home. And you could not live very long entirely by yourself, for many people must help you all the time.

Helping to Provide Food. — Think, for example, how other people must help your mother to supply your food. In the towns and cities, before most boys and girls are awake in the morning, some milkman has been leaving bottles of fresh milk on the door-steps of their homes, and it is not necessary for each family to keep its own cow. The baker probably stops at your home daily with fresh bread. The grocer and butcher bring food into your home or keep a large supply at their stores so that mother ma} send you for butter, meat, or vegetables at any time. For

IO this reason she does not need to keep a large supply in the house, and she can provide a greater variety of food for you. Perhaps not far from your home is a dealer in fruit who keeps on hand always a large supply of fresh fruit and

nuts for people who may need them. Even in country villages there are stores where men and women are busy supplying the food which people in the neighborhood need and cannot supply for themselves.

So you see that before your mother could prepare that good dinner for you the milkman and the baker and the grocer and the butcher and the fruit-

Milkman Leaving Milk at the Door-Step seller probably all have of a City Home Before Most Boys and Girls Are Awake in the Morning helped her. And as you

eat the food which she has

prepared you are really being helped by a large number of

men and women who do not live in the same house with you.

Helping to Provide Clothing. — It also requires a great many people to provide your clothing. Your mother or some one in the family may do the patching and darning and sewing of buttons. She may even make your dresses, if you are a girl, or your blouses, if you are a boy; although

HOW PEOPLE HELP US IX OUR OWN COMMUNITY II she may ask a dressmaker to do this work for her. In either case, however, she uses materials that she bought at the dry-goods store not far from your home; and this dry-goods merchant always keeps on hand a large stock of these materials for mothers to use.

Most of our suits, overcoats, and shoes are now made in large factories. In the towns and villages, however, as well as in the cities, merchants must carry in their stores a large assortment of suits and coats and shoes from

which people may choose what they need and like. As you sit in the store you notice the high shelves and tables filled with many styles and sizes so as to satisfy all who come to buy.

Thus you can easily see that mother and father could not clothe you very well if many others did not help them. The merchant, the dressmaker and the tailor, the shoe-dealer and the shoemaker are all helping the parents of your neighborhood to keep themselves and their children properly clothed. While they do not live in the same house with you, they are like members of your family because they do so much to help you.

The Grocer Keeps a Large Supply of Food at His Store That One May Send eor at Any Time

Helping to Provide Shelter. — The third of our great needs is shelter, and here again your parents need the help of others. It is not very likely that your father built the house in which you live. Even if he helped to build it, many others must have had a share in the work. When there is a leak in the roof or a broken water-pipe, your father probably does not try to repair it himself, but sends for a plumber. If he wants to make an extension to the house or to repair a window or a door, he sends for a carpenter. There are other men in every town, such as painters and plasterers and electricians, all of whom are ready to help in making our homes more comfortable and cheerful.

All of these people are helping you. Even if your parents do not own your home but rent it, they pay for these improvements and repairs as part of the rent. These men are, therefore, helping your parents to provide a better home for you. So in order to provide proper shelter for their families our mothers and fathers must have the help of many others in the community.

Helping in Your Education. — There are helpers for your education also. From the time that you were a baby, your parents have been guiding you as you have been learning one thing after another. They were your first teachers. After a few years you learned so fast, and there was so much for you to learn, that they found it ve*ry much wiser to send you to school. Here there are men and women who give all their time to this important work and have become specially prepared for it. Your parents still in-

HOW PEOPLE HELP US IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY 13

struct you, but they know that there are many things which they cannot teach you so well as your teachers. Thus j'our teachers are helping your parents to make you happy and useful; and they, too, are doing an important part of the World's Work.

There are others who help your parents in another part

Boy Scouts on a Hiking Expedition One of the organizations which help in your education as a citizen.

of your education. Most families are connected with some church. The pastor or rector of your church is one of the best friends you can have. He shows you what is the right kind of life to live, and he helps you to understand what is your duty to God and to others. Your Sunday-school teacher is another good friend. So is your Scoutmaster or Captain or your Camp-Fire Leader, if you are old enough to join either of these organizations. All of these people desire to work with your parents to help you grow up as a clean, useful, intelligent, and happy citizen of your community.

Other Helpers. — There are many others who come to your home to help your parents satisfy your needs. The doctor and the nurse help to keep you well.- The coalman

helps to heat your house and to cook your food. The iceman helps to prevent your food from spoiling.

The postman carries the mail to your door or to your box at the roadside, so that you do not need to go to the post-office for it.

The laundryman or the washwoman helps to keep your clothing clean. A servant may help your mother all the time, or she may come in to help a few hours each week. All of these are really your helpers.

Then there are some who help you without coming into your homes. The firemen are always ready no matter how serious or small the fire may be ; and our homes would not be very safe for us if they did not help us care for them. In the small towns and villages, volunteer fire-companies are organized. These men are not paid for what they do. In the cities, however, the firemen are paid regular salaries, because they must give all of their time to this important

The Firemen Are Always Ready No Matter How Serious or Small the Fire May Be

HOW PEOPLE HELP US IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY 1 5

work. In case of fire in the rural districts, the firemen from the near-by towns will rush out with their apparatus to help protect the property of the farmers.

The policemen and the constables help you by preventing the people from breaking the laws and by compelling them to regard the rights of other people. If it were not for the policemen and constables we should find that many more people would steal and damage property than now. The men who clean and repair our streets and roads, the ash and garbage collectors, the lamplighters and cleaners are all helping you in one way or another

In Some Parts of the Country Mail Is Now Carried Over Long Distances by Aeroplane

Doing the World's Work for You. — It is very important for you to understand that all the work which is done by the people mentioned in this chapter helps in some way to make your life more happy and useful. Of course, no one of them does his work entirely for you and for you alone. Even your mother and father work for each other and for your brothers and sisters, as well as for you. But all this work is done by people for people. You can see and understand this best if you see clearly how men and women are working together to satisfy your needs.

If you lived upon a lonely island somewhere, as Crusoe did, with no other living soul to help you, don't you think you would be very miserable ? Long ago a great man, St. Paul, wrote these words: "No man liveth unto himself." He meant just what you have come to understand from this chapter: that we are all doing things for one another. Don't you feel, since so many people are doing things to help you, that you want to do an important part of the World's Work and to be of real service in the world? In the later chapters of this book we shall study many of the ways in which you can do this.

i. Make a list of all the things, big and little, that your mother did for you yesterday during the whole day.

2. Make a list that will include everybody who did anything for you yesterday.

3. You probably pass some kind of store on your way to school. In what way does the owner of that store serve the people of that neighborhood? If he did not have a store there, what would the people have to do?

4. Suppose there were no stores of any kind in your community. What difference would it make in the way people lived?

5. Make a list of all the different people who were needed to build your school, such as carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, etc.

6. Make a similar list of the people who helped to build your house.

7. Make a list of all the people who help in any way in your education.

8. How many doctors are there in your ward, or in your town, or in the town near your home?

9. Have you read " Robinson Crusoe "? If not, your teacher will

HOW PEOPLE HELP US IN OUR COMMUNITY 17

give some of you the story to read and to tell to the class. Do you think you would like to live like that?

10. Do you know of any one in your neighborhood who lives alone? Can such a person live entirely by himself? Who must help?

11. How many things can you do entirely by yourself without having others help you directly or indirectly?

Chapter III

Our Helpers from Outside. — You have learned that many men and women in your community who do not live in the same house with you must help your parents to provide the things that you need. In this chapter you will study how it is necessary for other men and women in other communities to help you also. Some of them live near by, others live far away, and most of them you never see. But your mother and father and all your other helpers in your home community could not do very much for you without the help of others outside.

How People Lived in Walled Cities. — You can best see how much people in other communities do for you if you imagine that a high wall were built around your own community. All important towns and cities had such walls many years ago. People were not so orderly and civilized then as they are now, and there was always danger that robbers and enemies might attack. So people lived, for the most part, in cities and towns around which they built high, strong walls. There is a picture of one of these walls facing this page. Notice the heavy gates. These gates were closed every evening at sunset, and no one was allowed to enter after they were closed unless he could explain clearly why he was late. People who worked outside the city walls on the surrounding farms, and travellers in their journeys from one city to another, always hastened to get inside the gates before they were closed for the night.

Promptly at sunrise, however, the gates were opened again. All day long people passed in and out with food supplies, building materials, and many other things that the city needed, or with many things that had been made for the people of other cities. It was always necessary to have the gates open during the day, for the people within these walled cities could not have lived very long if they had been cut off entirely from the people outside.

Attacks Upon Ancient Cities. — Sometimes these people were cut off entirely from the people outside. You have very likely read stories in the Bible or in other books that told how enemies attacked these cities. They would surround a city with soldiers and prevent any one from entering or leaving it. This kind of attack is called a siege. How long the people could hold out depended upon how much food they had before the enemy came, or how soon a helping army could come from the outside. In the Siege of Paris by the Prussians, in 1870, the French people held out for five months. During the last few weeks of the siege thousands died of starvation, and those who lived were willing to eat all kinds of animals for food. At last the French had to surrender and the Prussian army entered the famous city.

The Siege of a Modern City. — Cities are not built now with high walls about them. But imagine, if you can, that your community is surrounded by a large army. Suppose every railroad and every other road is carefully guarded. No food can be brought in, and no coal or other materials for your factories; and the things that these mills and factories make cannot be shipped away. How long

Copyright, Underload &" Underwood

Fifth Avenue, New York City, During the Snow-Storm of February, 1920

Left — A tractor snow-plough, which is used in clearing city streets.

do you think the people of your community could hold out before they would have to surrender?

We all hope that none of our communities will ever be attacked by that kind of enemy. They are frequently attacked, however, in other ways. In February, 1920, for example, the whole northeastern section of our country was buried beneath the worst snow-storm of many years. Railroads a*nd other roads were completely blocked for several days. In our large cities and even in our small towns there was much suffering, because food and fuel became scarce. In the rural villages and on the farms men could not send out the milk and other farm products, or get from the towns the food and other things that they needed. It was really like a siege. Did your community suffer?

We recently had another experience very much like this one. In April, 1920, there was a great railroad strike in our country. The men who worked on the railroads had asked for higher pay; and when it was refused a large number of them quit work at once. Almost no freight-trains and very few passenger-trains could be run for several weeks. Children could not get enough milk, and grocers, fruit-sellers, and butchers could not get other food supplies. Mills and factories could not get coal and other materials, and they could not ship the things they had made. Thus thousands of people were thrown out of work, and other thousands who worked in the cities and lived outside could not get to their work. People were happy when the strike was over and the trains were run as usual.

How People in Other Communities Help You. — These experiences show clearly how people in other communities help to satisfy your needs. Your parents would not want to have a high fence built around your house, and to say they would have nothing more to do with other people in your community. And you would not want to have a high wall built around your community, and to say you would never have anything to do with people in other communities. These people do so much for you that you could not get along without them.

In order to understand how people in other communities help you, visit your grocer. Here you will see baskets of fruits and vegetables. Some probably came from farmers who live not far away; some came from a near-by county or State; and some from a distant State or even from a distant country. The shelves are loaded with cans and bottles of various kinds. Notice the labels upon them showing where they were prepared. How far away from your home are these places? In this store you will also find sugar, rice, spices, tea, coffee, cocoa, and many other articles of food that were grown in other States or perhaps in other countries half-way round the earth.