The United States; its history, government and institutions

Front matter

ITS HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS

Class.

Book.

Preface

This book is the outgrowth of many years of practical experience in educational work among our immigrant population. Much of the material found here has been written to meet the needs of classes conducted under the supervision of one or other of the authors. It has been tested thoroughly in the evening schools of several cities and towns and enthusiastically endorsed. Thus the authors have been encouraged to revise and enlarge the scope of the lessons and to make them available for general use.

The work has been carried out in the hope that it may contribute to inspiring a love for, and a knowledge of, American history, government, and institutions on the part of our future citizens. It aims to be a reader expressed in simple language for students beyond the elementary grade. It does not pretend to be an exhaustive treatise upon any one of the important topics with which it deals. It is not written to present a vast body of dry facts, but the authors have aimed to put into interesting and intelligible form a sufficient number of fundamental facts about the history of our country and its government and institutions to give those who read the book an intelligent and adequate conception of what our country is and what it stands for. The authors believe that along with such a conception there will develop a love for the country itself and an appreciation of the principles upon which the stability and worth of its government are seen to depend.

The book is the joint effort of two men whose long

Viii PREFACE

acquaintance with the educational and other needs of our immigrant population has given them sympathy with the immigrants, led them to a high appreciation of the excellent qualities found in a vast majority of these citizens in the making, and stimulated their desire to give our newcomers a really helping and guiding hand. The material presented is designed to give these people a proper knowledge of their civic rights, duties, and obligations. To help promote their prosperity and happiness and to aid them in making their proper contribution to the welfare of the America of the future is to the authors a real joy.

The book is submitted to the public in the hope that it may abundantly justify its existence and have an honorable part in helping to supply the need that caused it to be written.

D. H.

S. J. B.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

Interest is the key to success in teaching. If you can lead your pupils to become interested in their studies, they will learn. If, in addition, these studies deal with the most fundamental and the most important things in their lives, then you have a task supreme in importance and unparalleled in inspiration and attraction.

The teacher of foreign-born pupils or of ambitious natives whose early years were spent where the opportunities and advantages of education were not given them in liberal measure has an enviable privilege in these respects. You, fellow teachers, have this privilege in your opportunity to interest and instruct your pupils in the fundamental subject of their right relations to their daily tasks, their families, their friends, their neighbors, and the industrial, social, and political organization and administration of their local community and their state and nation.

The ultimate goal of this instruction is the development of intelligent, vigorous, active, patriotic American citizenship. The future welfare of your particular state and of our great nation as a whole is identified in large measure Avith the welfare of the foreign-born men, women, and children who constitute so large a part of our population. These must receive particular attention.

The present and the future are the result and outgrowth of the past. Therefore, seek first to know the past life of your pupils, whether that life has been lived in distant lands or in the less favored portions of our own land. Use this as the foundation upon which to build the future interests, ideals, and purposes of your pupils. Disparage

X SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

nothing that is good in the traditions of the life behind them. Displace everything that is undesirable in the old life by making attractive, appreciated, and loved the ideals of the new American life into which it is your happy privilege to lead them. Seek also to learn with equal care all that concerns the present life of your pupils in the home, in the shop, in society. Learn their likes and dislikes, their interests and aversions. Then lead by friendly advice and skillful suggestion to a knowledge of the best and wisest conduct on all occasions. Teach the foundation principles of health, morals, behavior, and duty as essentials for personal success and happiness as well as good citizenship.

In taking up the chapters on the institutions and government of the United States, compare the past and present experiences of your pupils with the experiences that the future is likely to bring in the process of adjusting their lives to the government and institutions under which they are henceforth to live. Deal little with abstract principles, but much with concrete and personal application of the principles that must direct their lives as good citizens. Let the pupils themselves apply the principles you teach to the life of the community in which they live. Lead them to see the significance and the worth to them personally and to the community generally of law and order, of schools and libraries, and of the agencies by which education, government, and social customs are guided and supported. Show your pupils that their best interests agree with the interests of their neighbors, that their happiness and welfare are promoted most and best when their fellows are also made happy, contented, and prosperous. Goodwill and friendship are the cement of good government and the surest guarantee of private prosperity and happiness.

Avoid the purely catechism method of training your

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS Ki

pupils for the naturalization tests. The organization of the Federal and state governments should be taught directly from copies of their respective constitutions in the hands of the pupils. The material herein presented has been designed to furnish our future citizens with an intelligent understanding of the history and the principles of our government. The Federal naturalization laws require that applicants for citizenship be familiar with this nuiterial. Your pupils will seek such information. During the school year conduct mock naturalization hearings as realistically as they can be made. Fellow pupils should act as Avitnesses for applicants for naturalization. The teacher, of course, should be familiar with the manner in which such hearings are actually conducted in court.

The method of instruction should be based on observation of the making and the working of laws in your community as well as in the nation, and developed through class discussions. Let the pupils do most of the talking. Reading should be supplementary. Bring into the classrooms newspapers, clippings containing announcements of legislation, documents, ballots, pictures, and everything available that A\ill help make more vivid and real the conceptions you wish to develop.

Seek through the recitation evidence that your efforts to impart information and guidance have been successful. Questions have been provided for this purpose at the close of each chapter. From time to time invite speakers to explain to your pupils the work of various government departments and to give inspirational talks. In order to teach simple parliamentary procedure, have a class organization with elected officers.

Always assume that your pupils are honest, sincere, worthy of your best efforts, and destined to play an important and honorable place in the life of their and your United States of America.

Contents

PAGE

PREFACE vii

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS ix

Introduction 3

Part I American History Chapter

I. Columbus and the Discovery of America 7

II. Early Spanish Explorers 15

III. Fernando De Magellan 19

IV. English Explorers 22

V. French Explorers 25

VI. Settlements in the United States 29

VII. The First Written Constitution 44

VIII. Life in the Colonies 48

IX. Wars With the French Colonies 59

X. Early Life of George Washington 65

XI. Causes of the Revolution 70

XII. The Revolutionary War 73

XIII. Nathan Hale 87

XIV. Some Good Friends of America 96

XV. President Washington 100

XVI. Thomas Jefferson 104

XVII. Benjamin Franklin 109

XVIII. The War for the Freedom of the Seas. 117

XIX. The Mexican War 120

XX. Abraham Lincoln 122

XXI. Ulysses S. Grant 131

XXII. William McKinley 137

XXIII. Theodore Roosevelt 142

XXIV. Great American Achievements 150

XXV. America in the World War 160

xiii xiv CONTENTS

Part II American Government Chapter Page

I. The Constitution of the United States 179

II. The Legislative Department 203

III. The Executive Department 217

IV. The Judicial Department 229

V. State and Local Government 232

VI. City or Municipal Government 244

VII. Political Parties 255

VIII. Law and Justice 263

IX. Education 270

X. Useful and Respected Citizens 284

XI. Naturalization 294

XII. Religion 306

XIII. Employment 308

XIV. Business Methods 314

XV. The United States Postal Service 323

XVI. Days to Remember 333

XVII. The United States Flag 334

index 341

ITS HISTORY, GOVERNMENT

AND INSTITUTIONS

Flag of the free heart's hope and home, By Angel hands to valor given;

Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, And all thy hnes were born in heaven. — Joseph Hodmax Drake.

Dear Reader :

You love the American fiajr. We know this because we know that you love America and want to learn to read its history. The history that has made America is tlic same history that has made its flag. Therefore, where this book tells you about the one, it tells about the other.

When vou learn how America has grown, YOU learn how the flag has grown. When you learn what America stands for, you learn what the flag stands for.

This flag stands for everything that we love. It stands for freedom ; it stands for opportunity ; it stands for a government under whicli the people make their own laws and choose the men and women whom they want to govern them.

Let us read the following pages together. They tell us liow our country came to be what it is. They tell us of the hardships and struggles, the achievements and successes of those who have helped to make the United States of America. They show us why it is a good country to live in. They show us also how we can help to make our good country a still better one. We hope you will enjoy reading and studying what we have enjoyed writing.

The Authors

PART I AMERICAN HISTORY

Chapter I Columbus And The Discovery Of America

Columbia, Columbia, to glory arise,

The queen of the world and the child of the skies.

— Timothy Dwight.

Knowledge of the World in the Fifteenth Centunj. — The real history of America began when the New World was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Fifty years before that time the inhabitants of Europe knew very little about any peoples outside their owai continent. They knew something about the countries of northern Africa, because those countries bordered on the Mediterranean Sea. It was easy for the Europeans to visit them in their boats. They also knew something about India, for European traders purchased all sorts of goods that were brought to them from India and beyond.

Marco Polo. — Marco Polo, a traveler from Venice, had returned to Europe in 1295 with wonderful stories about the countries he had visited in Asia. He had spent many years in China and had learned something of Japan. Such stories furnished all the information that Europeans had about distant countries. No ships then crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and no man in Europe knew that America existed.

How did Europeans happen to discover this New World ? They did it while trying to find a new route to India.

Trade with India. — Before the year 1453 three routes between Europe and Asia were used by the traders. The merchants of Genoa used one. Their ships went to Con-

THE L'NITED STATES stantinople, where they met traders that had come overland by caravan from Central Asia. These caravans brought silks, spices, perfumes, pearls, and precious stones from India and neighboring countries. The mercliants of Venice used the other two routes. Some of their vessels went to Alexandria and Cairo, in Egypt, where they met traders who brought them goods received from India by way of the Red Sea and the waters beyond. Others

MiiliUe Route

Southern or Venetian Route —

:.--^' INDIAN

' f o c E A $r

Trade Routes between Europe and the East in the Fifteenth Century

went to Antioch, where they met caravans that had come from the head of the Persian Gulf across the Arabian desert.

In 1453 the Turks from Asia captured the city of Constantinople. The Turks were enemies of the Christians, and they would not let the ships of Genoa come to their city to trade with the caravans. So the trade of Genoa was ruined. The Turks continued to move by land and sea towards tlie Red Sea. Venice saw that in a few years her route Avould be in the hands of the Turks

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 9

and her trade also would be ruined. The people of Europe knew that they must stop trading with India or find a new route to that country.

The king of Portugal thought that ships could go around Africa and reach India in that way. He did not think that Africa was as large as it really is. When his sailors went a long distance down the west coast without coming to the end, they became frightened and discouraged and returned home. They feared they could never reach India in that way, and even if they could, they thought the route would be too long and dangerous. They wondered whether anyone could find a shorter route.

Columhus. — Christopher Columbus said he believed he could find a shorter way to India by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly everybody thought this a foolish idea. There were a few learned men in Europe who believed the earth to be round like a ball. Columbus had studied geography, and he, too, believed the earth to be round. Most people at this time, however, were positive that the earth was fiat like the top of a table. When one reached the edge of it, down he dropped. No one knew where he went.

If the earth were round, Columbus was sure a ship could sail around it and reach countries on the other side of it. So he felt certain that he could find India in that way. He was a sailor and had made many voyages. He was not afraid to sail out upon the great ocean where no ship had ever sailed before.

But Columbus was a poor man. He had no money and no ships. He asked the people of his native city, Genoa, to help him, but they thought he was crazy. Then he went to Portugal to get help from the king of that country. The king would do nothing for him. He next went to Spain and for eight years tried to get help from Ferdinand and Isabella, then king and queen. The learned men laughed at him, and tlie king and queen could not be interested because they were too busy with their war against the Moors, who still held a part of their country. When at last the war Avas over, they had more time to listen to Columbus, but he could not persuade them to help him. He was discouraged and decided to go to France. But just as he was about to set out, some friends sent for him. They had persuaded Queen Isabella to give him help. Other friends in Palos lent him money, and soon he had three small ships ready to sail. He had much trouble in finding sailors brave enough to go with him. Few people would take such an aAvful risk. But at last ninety sailors and thirty adventurers and priests agreed to go.

They sailed from Palos, Spain, on August 3rd, 1492. "When they had sailed for Aveeks and weeks and found no land, the sailors were afraid. They thought they would never see home again. Columbus encouraged them to go on and on until, on the morning of October 12th, they reached an island. How happy they were ! Columbus and many of his men went ashore. Kneeling, he kissed the ground, while tears of joy ran down his cheeks. Then he raised a cross and the royal banner of Spain and took possession of the land in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella. The island was one of the Bahamas. Columbus named it San Salvador. He thought that he had reached India. So he called the people whom he found there "Indians." For three months he explored the waters near San Salvador, discovering many islands. The largest of these were Cuba and Haiti. Everywhere he went he asked for spices, gold, and precious stones, but he could find only a few gold ornaments worn by the natives in their noses. These they gladly gave to the Spaniards in exchange for beads and bells.

In January, 1493, Columbus left about forty of his

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 11

men on the island of Haiti and sailed back to Spain. Tlie people Avere Avild with joy when they heard of his discovery. AVherever lie went bells were rung and crowds of people gathered to see him. The king and queen listened to his story and saw the gold, the strange birds and new plants, and the nine Indians that he had brought witii liim. Then they fell on their knees and thanked God

Columbus Taking Possession of the New World in the Name of THE King and Queen of Spain

for Avhat Columbus had done for their kingdom. They at once claimed for Spain all the lands that had been discovered.

Later Voyages. — Columbus made three other voyages to America and discovered more islands and the coast of South America. He died in 1506, shortly after returning to Spain from his fourth voyage. His last days were full of sorroAv. Queen Isabella, who had been his friend, was dead, and King Ferdinand, disappointed because Columbus had not found rich mines of gold, treated him meanly and let him die in poverty and neglect. What a shame that the man who had found a new world for Spain should have been left by her selfish king to suffer in his old age !

America's Name. — ^Was the New World named after its discoverer? Among the many explorers who followed Columbus was Americus Vespucius, an Italian. The stories of his voyages were printed and read by many persons. In one account Vespucius declared that what we call South America was not a part of Asia. Columbus, as you know, believed that the land he had discovered was a part of Asia.

In 1507 a German professor published a geography in which he suggested that the new world discovered by Americus Vespucius be named "America" in his honoi\ The professor did not know of Columbus' earlier discovery. The name thus given to the New World has remained.

Americans will always be proud of Columbus, the Italian discoverer whose courage and perseverance led him to cross the Atlantic and add America to the known world. He was the greatest discoverer the world has produced. When he started on his long voyage, his friends feared that he would be lost at sea. But because Columbus knew no fear and sailed on and on after his ideal, the New World of America was made known to the Old World of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The sons and daughters of every other country under the sun have since crossed the wide oceans to find new homes in this new land.

In the United States we celebrate October 12th as Columbus Day in honor of this great and fearless discoverer.

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

IS discovery

merchant

Genoa

Africa

adventurer

Indians

Atlantic

Word DriU

inhabitant

island

Venice

Columbus

banner

proud

encourage

India

Constantinople

Portugal

voyage

explore

listen

Europe

1. When did the real history of America begin?

2. Before that time what did the inhabitants of Europe know

about other countries?

3. "Who was Marco Polo and wliat did he do?

4. How did Europeans liai)pen to discover America?

5. Wliy were they anxious to find a new route to India?

6. What trade routes Avere used before 1453?

7. What happened in 1453?

8. How did this affect trade with India?

9. How did the King of Portugal think that ships coukl reach

India ?

10. Why did he fail to reacli India ?

11. What did Christopher Columbus believe about a route to

that land?

12. What did the people of his time believe about tlie shape of

the earth?

13. Wliat was Columbus' belief?

14. How did Columbus try to get help? Did he succeed? Who

helped him?

15. Describe his voyage.

16. When did Columbus discover America?

17. What part of America did he discover?

18. What did he call the peoi)le he found?

19. Describe his return to Spain.

20. How was Columbus rewarded?

21. How did America receive its name?

22. How do Americans feel toward Columbus and wliy?

23. What holiday do we celebrate because of Columbus' dis-

covery? What is its date?

Eakly Explorations ix the New World 14

CHAPTER 11

EARLY SPANISH EXPLORERS

SpciJiisJi Adventurers. — Although Columbus had not discovered gold mines, the people of Spain believed they eould find them. Many sailed to the Ne\v World hoping to become rich quickly. The large islands of Haiti, Cuba, Porto Rico, and some others were soon settled by these adventurers.

Bdlboa. — One l)old adventurer was Vasco Balboa, born in 1475. While yet in his youth, he joined an expedition to the New World, where he soon became a leader among the early Spanish settlers. His wanderings finally led him into a search for gold on the Isthmus of Panama^ There he learned from the natives that he was crossing a narrow strip of land. Beyond this, he Avas told, lay a great body of -^vater.

Early in September, 1513, Balboa set out in search of this water. He was guided by trusty Indians and accompanied by a small band of his own men. To reach the mountains from the top of which they could view the western ocean, Balboa and his party were obliged to make their way through a very dense forest, a most dangerous journey.

Three weeks later, on September 29th, Balboa looked down upon the vast Pacific Ocean which lies west of America. He was the first white man to behold this great sight. Climbing down the other side of the mountain, he made his way to the shore. There he struck the water Avith his sword and claimed the ocean and all the lands washed by its waters as the property of the kingdom of Spain.

Ponce de Leon. — In the year 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon, another Spanish adventurer, went to the mainland from Porto Rico. He had been appointed governor of that island, but he was not successful, and the king removed him from office. An Indian told him that toward the north lay a land where he could find much gold and a fountain that would make him young again if he bathed in its waters. With three ships he set sail for this marvelous country. He searched many islands but found neither the promised riches nor the "Fountain of Youth." But he did discover a land bright with flowers, which he named Florida, "Land of Flowers." After sailing for some distance along its shore, he sailed back to Porto Rico.

In 1521 Ponce de Leon went to Florida again, intending to make his home there. This time he had a fight with the Indians in which he was so badly wounded that he died.

De Narvaez. — In 1528 another Spaniard named Panfilo De Narvaez started with four hundred men to explore Florida. The Spaniards under Hernando Cortez had already conquered Mexico and found gold there, and they hoped to find more in the "Land of Flowers." They found nothing but swamps and forests, the huts of savage, unfriendly Indians, and sickness. Only four of them lived to tell the story of their misfortunes to their friends in Mexico.

De Soto. — In 1539 another company sailed for Florida from Cuba. Their leader was Hernando De Soto. He had six hundred men, two hundred horses, a herd of hogs for food, and bloodhounds to hunt the Indians. When he asked for gold, the Indians told him it was just ahead. He went on and on, stealing from the Indians, fighting

EARLY SPANISH EXPLORERS r

Avith them, and burning their villages. Many of the Spaniards in his party died from fever, lack of food, and other hardships.

Two years they wandered and found no gold. But in the spring of 1541 they came to a great river. They had discovered the Mississippi, the ** Father of Waters." A few months later De Soto died of fever and was buried in the river that he was the first white man to behold.

Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto

Those who were left of his party then sailed down the Mississippi and joined their friends in Mexico.

Coronado. — Indians told the Spaniards in Mexico about their rich villages to the north of Mexico. In 1540 Francisco Coronado with a large company of men set out to find these rich towns, which they called the "seven cities of Cibola. ' ' Coronado and his followers traveled hundreds of miles. In what is now New Mexico they found large Indian villages, but no cities and no gold. They discovered the Colorado River and explored the country north and oast as far as the present states of Kansas and Nebraska.

Thus within fifty years of the discovery of America by Columbus the Spaniards had explored a large part of what is now the United States, but they had not yet made a settlement north of Mexico.

Panama

Balboa mountain fountain governor

Ponce de Leon

Mexico

Florida

Mississippi

Kansas

Colorado

Nebraska dense

Pacific Ocean appointed

1. What did the people o£ Spain hope to find in the Xew World?

2. What islands were soon settled?

3. Tell what Balboa did.

4. What did Ponce de Leon try to find? What did he discovert

5. What part of the country did De Narvaez explore?

6. What did De Soto discover?

7. What did Coronado try to find? What did he discover?

Chapter III Fernando De Magellan

t'ernando de Magellan, or Ferdinand Magellan as he is more commonly called, was a famous Portuguese navigator, born about 1470. Unable to secure in his native country necessary financial assistance for voyages of exploi'ation, he went to Spain. There, in 1517, he laid his plans for making discoveries before King Charles I, the grandson and successor of Ferdinand. Magellan was well

Route of Magellan's Voyage Around the World received at the court and was shortly afterward employed to find a route to the East by sailing westward.

On September 20th, 1519, he set out with five ships and about two hundred and fifty men. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, he sailed along the whole eastern coast of South America and then around the southern point of the continent, through the strait that bears his name. From here Magellan sailed northward for a few days and then headed west across the vast Pacific Ocean.

What a frightful voyage it must have been, with nothing in sight but water and sky. You, reader, may have had a bit of this experience when on your way to this country,

Statue of Magellan at Punta Arenas, Chile but think of the horrors of a trip lasting many, many months in the small and cramped vessels of those days. Magellan's crew suffered unimaginable hardships

FERNANDO DE MAGELLAN 21

through hunger and disease. It has been told that at times they were compelled to eat leather and even rats.

At last, early in 1521, they reached a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean now known as the Philippine Islands. In a fight with the native chief of one of these islands ^Magellan was killed on April 26th of that year. Deprived thus of their leader, the remainder of Magellan's crew continued to sail westward and at last brought one of his ships around the southern point of Africa and back to Spain. They had been gone just three years.

Magellan's voyage was the first around the world. He proved beyond doubt that the earth is round, and also that there is a very wide body of water between South America and Asia.

A monument to Magellan has recently been erected in the world's most southerly city, Punta Arenas. Chile. This is to commemorate the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan. The unveiling took place on December 17th, 1920.

Magellan Portuguese Philippine Islands

financial assistance grandson

successor hardship anniversary

1. Why did Magellan go to Spain ?

2. What did he try to find ?

3. Describe his voyage.

4. What islands did he discover?

5. What happened to Magellan?

6. What became of his ships?

7. What did he prove?

8. What ^reat ocean was he the first to explore?

9. What is named after Magellan? Where is it?

Chapter IV English Explorers

The Cahots. — As soon as the other great nations of Europe heard of the discoveries that Columbus had made for Spain, they too wanted to make discoveries. In 1497 England sent John Cabot on a voyage of exploration. His purpose was to find the way to India that Columbus had failed to find. He believed he could sail north of America and get to India by that route. So he tried to find a northwest passage to Asia.