History and civics, grade 5A, fifth year--first half

Preface

There has been a constant demand on the part of teach¬ er for definite plans of work in the various subjects of their grades. In arithmetic and some other subjects, this demand has been met by books giving work by terms. This book aims, in a similar way, to cover one term’s work in history and civics. It is designed to meet the require¬ ments of the Course of Study prescribed by the City of New York for these subjects in the first half of the fifth year. It supplies plan, method, and content.

A treatment of this kind, while definite, is not in any sense narrowing, for it permits the teacher to devote the time spent in the preparation of the lesson to acquiring illustrative and amplifying material from source books and collateral reading.

The form of treatment is biographical and narrative, be¬ cause children in this grade — usually ten or eleven years old — are most easily appealed to through story-telling and the living interest of biography. The grouping of the discoverers and explorers has been made according to na¬ tionality, and under each nationality according to chrono¬ logical order. The six colonies required to be taught in this grade, Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, have been treated in the order of their settlement. Life in each colony is treated incidentally in the narrative while the study of the colonies closes with a comparative treatment of their manners, customs, and mode of living.

iv

PREFACE

The two special merits claimed for the following pages are economy of time and definiteness. Economy of time is secured by the arrangement in lessons, with due regard for the amount of time at the teacher’s disposal, and the ability of the average pupil. Definiteness is obtained by the side notes, which help the pupil to get the thought, and by the summaries and questions at the end of each lesson, which call the pupil’s attention to what is essential in the lesson learned.

An additional advantage gained from the arrangement of this book is that substitute teachers taking the places of absent teachers may continue the teaching of history from the point where the regular teacher left off. They may make definite progress, and hand the class back to its teacher up to grade in this subject.

Maps and illustrations have been inserted profusely, as history cannot be studied properly without a clear knowl¬ edge of the place setting of events. The teacher should supplement these as far as possible by the use of wall maps, and by appropriate pictures culled from newspapers and magazines. Pupils will be glad to help in this and it is a good way to stimulate their interest in the subject.

Acknowledgment is due to Associate Superintendent William L. Ettinger and District Superintendent Benja¬ min Veit, for reading the manuscript and offering helpful suggestions. The author wishes also to acknowledge his indebtedness to his wife, for her assistance in the prepara¬ tion of the manuscript.

TO THE TEACHER

In the time schedule for this grade, from ninety to one hundred fifty minutes a week are allowed for the study of History and Civics. The author believes that one hun¬ dred twenty minutes of this time is not too much to devote to these subjects. Ninety minutes, divided into three thirty minute periods, should be allowed for the les¬ sons proper, while the remaining thirty minutes should be allotted to the preparation of the lessons — ten minutes* preparation for each lesson. At such times, the teacher should have the lesson read and any difficult words or expressions may be explained in advance, so that the his¬ tory or civics lesson itself may deal only with the thought involved. In a term of nineteen weeks, fifty-five les¬ son periods will be available, permitting the Civics to be covered in eleven lesson periods and the History in fortyfour.

Teachers should aim to give careful consideration to the summary and questions following each history lesson. These summaries and questions are not given for home work. They are meant to enable the pupil to get the pith of the lesson while the memory of its reading and discussion is still fresh in his mind. Ten or fifteen min¬ utes of the thirty minute period may profitably be devoted to the summaries and questions.

It is advisable to begin the Civics after the completion of the chapter on the Spanish explorers, making the third lesson of each week a Civics lesson.

For the convenience of teachers, the course of study for History and Civics, 5A, is given in the following pages.

v

COURSE OF STUDY FOR HISTORY AND CIVICS, GRADE 5A

American history from the discovery of America through the period of colonization, with important related European history.

Problems of city life in the home. Duties of young citizens.

SYLLABUS

Note. — The topics here given constitute a minimum syllabus for this grade. It is to be definitely understood, however, that teachers, with the approval of their principals, shall exercise their own judgment in determining to what extent each topic shall be elaborated.

History. Discovery and Exploration: Selections to be made from the following list: Columbus, the Cabots, Vespucius, Balboa, Magellan, Cortez, De Leon, De Soto, Drake, Raleigh, Cartier, Champlain, Hudson.

The Beginning of Colonization: The history of the founding of New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Pennsyl¬ vania, with important related European history.

1. The story of the settlers — what kind of men they were and why they came.

2. Leaders — Peter Minuit, Peter Stuyvesant, John Smith, Governor Bradford, Miles Standish, William Penn, the Calverts.

3. Location of each colony — its climate and general physical fea¬ tures.

4. Early days in the colonies — typical stories of hardships, manners, customs, and occupations. Enlivening anecdotes and special incidents of persons and places should be related by the teacher; they should be illustrated as far as possible by pictures.

The following dates, and the event associated with each of them, should be memorized:

1492, Columbus 1609, Hudson River

1588, Drake and Spanish Armada 1620, Pilgrims

1607, Jamestown 1623, Settlement of New Amsterdam

1664, English Conquest of New Amsterdam

Historic Landmarks and Monuments in the City of New York : To be identified and connected with the historic events, such as Bowling Green, the Bowery, St. Mark’s, and any statues, houses, and tablets commemo¬ rating persons and events studied in this grade.

Current Events: Any important occurrence that is closely related to the topics of the grade, and any other occurrence that may become historical in significance.

COURSE OE STUDY

Vll

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

The teacher may profitably arrange related topics of each grade around a central thought. When thus presented the topics reenforce and em¬ phasize one another like the successive stages of an unfolding plot of a story.

The relation of each topic to this general idea as well as to the topics already presented affords opportunity for reviews from different points of view, far more effective than the mere rehearsal of facts usually termed drill.

As a result of such organized treatment, the children are not bewildered by a mass of fragmentary facts as is the case when they have been taught a series of unrelated stories. The power thus gained may be tested by their ability to give short summaries of a topic or of the entire work of the term.

Civics. — Problems of city life in the home. Duties of young citizens.

Note. — The topics here given constitute a minimum syllabus for the grade. It is to be definitely understood, however, that teachers, with the approval of their principals, shall exercise their own judgment in determining to what extent each topic shall be elaborated.

Food : Visit, if possible, the markets and milk stations. Great amount of food needed in large city. Distance it is brought; the way it is handled; necessity for care and cleanliness; selling of spoiled food criminal. What the city is doing to protect its citizens from spoiled or tainted food; inspectors; expense of this care and watchfulness to the city. Who pays for it, and how ?

Reciprocal duties, to demand clean service from the milk dealer, grocer, fish man, butcher, and baker; to report careless handling of food or the selling of spoiled food.

Water : Supply throughout the city; needed everywhere; begin with supply in house. Where does it come from ? Trace from faucet to stream. Who pays for piping and reservoirs ? How is water paid for ? Why is it cheap ? Uses of water. Importance of purity. Meters. No leaks should be allowed.

Reciprocal duties of citizens, not to waste water because it is freely supplied; to report leaks to teachers; to keep water pure; to use freely for cleanliness.

Housing the People : Advantages of light, cleanliness, and ventila¬ tion ; people protected by building laws; gas and its uses; the burner, the gas pipe, meter, street pipes, the central plant of manufacture. Treat in same way electricity; telephone; sewerage in each house. Expense to the city of arranging for and supervising all public service. Paid for in taxes.

Reciprocal duties of citizens, to use public property with care and to protect it.

PART II. CIVICS Departments of Health, Water, Tenements

and Parks .

Food, 261 — Water, 271 — Housing of the People, 281 — Gas and its Uses, 286 — Electric Lights, 290 — The Telephone, 292 — The Sewer, 296 — Care of Public Property, 297o

PAGES

1-62

63-105

106-123

124-260

261-301

303-309

PART I—HISTORY

Chapter I The Spanish Explorers

LESSON I

COLUMBUS. —Most of us have sometime or other wondered when the first people came to this land of ours and where they came from. Our country to-day has many millions of people, many cities and farms, railroads, steamships, and thousands of other signs of civilized life. Strange in¬ deed it seems that a little more than four hundred ye^rs ago no white men

o+ oil liirorl in

America. Indians Columbus

America

before came

X o

Birth and education

Boyhood lived in scattered villages or roamed through the forests, hunting the deer, foxes, bears, and other animals that abounded everywhere. At that time the number of Indians in this whole country was scarcely more than one twelfth of the number of people now living in New York City. But the Indian tribes owned all the land, for there was no other race to dispute their ownership.

Columbus. Early Life. — However, the land of the Indian was not to be his forever, but it might have belonged to him a great deal longer if Christopher Columbus had never lived.

Columbus was born at Genoa, Italy, about 1446. His parents were humble people; his father, Dominico Columbus, was a wool comber by trade. In his early years, Christopher naturally helped his father in the business of wool combing, but he also learned to read and write and became quite skillful at drawing maps and sea charts.

When he had time to spare, he wandered down to the! docks of his native city to play about the ships that were there being loaded and unloaded, for Genoa was one

Birthplace of Co¬ lumbus of the principal seaports of Europe, and had been the busy center of a rich trade with India and China for many years. The sight of the ships coming and going at the wharves, the stories he heard from the sailors, and the inviting smell of the salt sea air, made young Columbus want to be a sailor, and. when fourteen years of age he sailed as cabin boy with a certain Captain Columbus, not related to him, though having the same name.

Some of his early voyages were little more than pirate or robbing expeditions, and during one of these, the ship Columbus was on caught fire after a fight that had lasted a whole day. He was obliged to jump overboard, but with an oar to hold him up, he swam to land on the shore of Africa, six miles away. This experience did not keep Columbus from going to sea again. The sailors he met told wonderful stories of far-off China and Japan.

What these stories were like we may judge from the book of Marco Polo, a native of Venice, who jour¬ neyed overland to China in 1271; in this book Polo speaks of Cambalu (Peking), where the great ruler Kublai Khan had his winter palace with a roof of gold, and a stable containing five thousand ele¬ phants. He says, too, that in the empire of the Khan nuts grew to the size of melons, and that rich spices, silks, and precious stones could be had in plenty. Polo also told of Cipango (Japan), island of pearls, where the streets were paved with gold and

Columbus becomes a sailor

Marco Polo’s story of the East where the floors of palaces were made of gold “ two fingers in thickness.” Southeast of Asia were is¬ lands of “ the Indies ” famed for their spices, which were then highly prized in Europe, both to flavor and to preserve food.

The Known World in 1490, and Trade Routes

Trade Routes to the East. — Is it any wonder

that men wanted to see these lands, and braved the

ocean in their little ships to get a share of their

treasures of silks, spices, and jewels ? Now, however, Turks •

block the °ld ways by ship and caravan were blocked at the land route eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea by the hated

Turk. So Prince Henry of Portugal, the ruler most interested in voyages at that time, encouraged his sea captains to try to reach India entirely by ship, sailing around the southern end of Africa. In 1471, a Portuguese navigator sailed south beyond the equator, and in 1487, Bartholomew Dias, another bold sailor, was driven out of sight of land by a furi¬ ous storm while sailing down the African coast. When the weather cleared he sailed east; but not coming to the coast, he turned northward. He thus went around the southern end of Africa without at first knowing it. After following the coast some distance east and northeast, he returned to report his great success. Columbus’s brother was one of those who made this wonderful voyage. Indeed, the great discoverer himself may have sailed far down the African coast with some Portuguese ex¬ pedition, for he was in Portugal at times from 1470 to 1484.

The Belief in a Westward Route to the East. —

When on land Columbus made his living by drawing charts and sea maps. He studied the charts of others, and also read accounts of their voyages. Little by little he came to believe that the earth is round and that he could reach eastern Asia by sailing westward across the ocean.

Columbus was not the only man who believed that the Indies, as the southeastern parts of Asia were called, could be reached by sailing westward. The

Portuguese sail around Africa

Signs of land west of Europe

In Por¬ tugal natives of the Madeira Islands told him about small boats of strange shape and of bodies of people dark in color that had been washed up on their western shores. Columbus was strengthened in his beliefs, also, by reading in some ancient writings that the earth is a sphere and that the distance to China and the Indies going westward from Europe was only half as great as it was going eastward. Besides this, his friend, the Italian astronomer Toscanelli, had sent Columbus a map and had written him letters in which he showed that Asia could be reached by sailing westward from Europe across but one ocean.

Columbus Seeks Help. — Most of those, however, who believed that land lay to the westward, thought it impossible to sail to the Indies across the Atlantic Ocean, with the ships then in use. Columbus de¬ clared it was easy and could be done in thirty or forty days. It was one thing to believe this, and quite a different thing to make others believe it. Portugal, as we have seen, was the country that paid most attention to voyages of exploration; so Co¬ lumbus, in 1484, spoke to the Portuguese king, John II, about his ideas and plans. John listened and seemed to think well of the navigator’s scheme. Then he asked the advice of the learned men of his court, who said that Columbus was dreaming. The king, however, secretly sent out a ship to see if Columbus was right. This ship soon came back because the sailors were afraid to go out upon the unknown ocean.

Hearing of this secret expedition, Columbus would have no more to do with John, and with his young son, Diego, started for the court of Spain. On the

At the Convent way, he begged bread and water at the gate of a convent near Palos. He was invited to come in, and the Father Superior of the convent listened to his strange story. He found a friend in the good priest.

Columbus at Court who gave him a letter to a priest of the Spanish court, confessor to the queen.

Upon his arrival at the court, Columbus presented the letter to the priest. His heart beat high with hope, but the priest, after reading the letter and listening to what its bearer had to say, shook his head, to show his disbelief, and coldly bade the great sailor good-day. Columbus did not give up. He waited six long years for a hearing with the queen of Spain. In the X meantime, he sent his brother Bartholomew to Henry VII of England, but that king would not help him. Finally, he gained the ear of the queen’s treasurer, and soon by his aid received an audience with the king and queen.

King Ferdinand called a council of wise men just as King John of Portugal had done. These wise men, like the others, said that the scheme of Colum¬ bus was impossible; they did not even believe the earth to be round. If it were, they said, people on the other side would walk with their heads down¬ ward, snow and rain would there fall upward, and trees grow upside down. A second meeting of wise men said that Columbus’s ideas were foolish. Then, disappointed and discouraged, he set out for Paris, as the king of France had sent him an invitation to come to his court. On the way, the weary navigator stopped again at the convent. His friend the Father Superior could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw Columbus once more at his gate after all the years

Years of waiting

Sends to England for aid

Asks help from Spain

Columbus and the queen of Spain

Columbus starts for France of waiting, as poor as ever, and no nearer the ful¬ fillment of his hopes.

The priest promised to go himself to see the queen of Spain, who was now at the military camp at Granada. At her command, Columbus went to the royal camp. When asked his terms, he de¬ manded to be made an admiral, ruler of the lands he might discover, to receive one tenth of the revenue from them, and one eighth of the profits of his ex¬ pedition. At first the monarchs would not consent to his terms, and he sadly set out again for France. But after he had gone, they changed their minds and sent a swift courier to overtake him. Columbus was halted at the little bridge of Pinos, six miles from Grenada, and persuaded to return.

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. He learned to read and write, to make maps and sea charts. He also learned the trade of wool combing, lie lived near the sea and early in life became a sailor. He went on many voyages and heard wonderful stories of the coun¬ tries in the East.

Certain cities of Europe were made rich by trade with the Indies. At the time of Columbus, the routes for this trade, by ship and cara¬ van, were blocked by the Turks.

Portugal tried to find a new eastern route to China around the southern end of Africa.

Columbus believed the earth to be round, and that if he sailed west¬ ward he would reach the rich cities of India in half the time re¬ quired for the voyage around Africa.

Columbus tried to get help from Portugal, but failed. After he had made several attempts and had waited for years, Spain con¬ sented to help him in his plans.

1. Where and when was Columbus born? Why was his nativ e city important ?

2. What did Marco Polo say about China in his book ?

3. Why did the old routes from Europe to India become dangerous ?

4. Give several reasons why Columbus thought there was a westward route to India. What route did Portugal look for ?

5. To whom did Columbus go for help in his plans for a voyage ?

6. What did Columbus think about the shape of the earth ?

What did the wise men of Portugal and Spain say about Columbus’s ideas ?

7. How did Columbus at last get the Spanish sovereigns to listen to him ?

8. What were the demands of Columbus ?

LESSON II

Preparations for the Voyage. — Columbus was brought before Ferdinand and Isabella, and they Spain now agreed to all his terms, especially as Columbus gives ships offered to pay one eighth of the cost of the expedi- andmone y tion. He was then made an admiral, and, armed with his commission, went to the port of Palos to prepare ships for the voyage. Two ships were easily obtained, but sailors did not want to go out on an ocean they did not know anything about, and many of them fled. Then friends of Columbus, Martin The Pinand Vincent Pinzon, came forward and furnished a zons third ship. They offered their own services to se¬ cure men, and volunteered to command two of the caravels in person, Martin, moreover, gave Colum-

The ships

Stop at Canary Islands bus the money with which to pay his one eighth of the cost.

First Voyage of Columbus. — On Friday, the 3d of August, 1492, Columbus bade farewell to his friend, the superior of the convent, and as the rela¬ tives of his men stood on the shore weeping and wav-

The Embarkation of Columbus

ing good-by, the two little caravels Nina and Pinta, and the carrack Santa Maria, slowly sailed out of the harbor of Palos — never to return, the people on shore believed.

The little ships headed for the Canary Islands, where repairs were made and fresh supplies of wood, water, and food were obtained.

King John had sent several ships to the Canaries to stop Columbus, but the Admiral succeeded in escaping them, and soon he was leaving the last island in the distance. Some of his sailors cried at the thought of family, friends, and home, left behind, perhaps forever.

Day after day the little fleet sailed westward,

The Ships of Columbus

without sighting any land. Columbus saw that the

compass no longer pointed to the east of the north

star, as in Europe, but slightly to the west of it.

When the sailors noticed this, he calmed their fears _ .,

. Trouble on

as best he could. Ihe ships sailed into immense the voyage fields of seaweed, and the sailors were sure that their vessels would run aground, to lie there and rot, while they themselves starved to death. As they were in the belt of trade winds, the breeze was ever from behind, blowing them farther and farther from home. Martin Pinzon, who commanded the Pinta, and his brother Vincent, who commanded the Nina, joined the others in asking the Admiral to turn back, but he would not. Finally the sailors threatened Co¬ lumbus; they would throw him into the sea, they said. But he replied that the sovereigns of Spain had sent him and he would go on. Every little while some one would shout “ Land! ” only to find that what he had seen was a bank of clouds. For the one who should first sight land, the Admiral promised a velvet cloak, in addition to the prizes that the king and queen had offered, and all hands kept a sharp lookout.

What a brave man Columbus was! Think of sailing across an unknown ocean without a true Courage of chart, and with only an hourglass to tell time by;

Columbus w ithout an instrument to measure the distance cov¬ ered, and with only the foam at the vessel’s bow to show how fast it was sailing. Even the compass seemed to be wrong, but the faith and courage of Columbus were chart, clock, and compass enough to take him safely across the vast Atlantic.

The Discovery of America. — During the middle of September, sea birds were seen. Later, land birds appeared, and a carved stick floated by. On the night of October 11 the moon was bright; Columbus was on watch. Suddenly he saw a light in the distance. It seemed to bob up and down. Land dis He called two companions, who also saw it. This covered happened at ten o’clock; at two o’clock in the morning a gun was fired on the Pinta. The look-

The Landing on San Salvador

out had sighted land, but Columbus was awarded the prizes because he had first seen lights on the shore. The men who had threatened the Admiral now kissed his hands, begged forgiveness, and promised not to disobey him again.

In the morning a landing was made. Columbus had on a scarlet suit, embroidered with gold. In

Columbus takes pos¬ session

The

Indians

The land¬ fall of Columbus

Discovery of Cuba his hand he bore the royal standard. Next came the Pinzons, also carrying banners. The whole party, having landed, kissed the earth and gave praise to God. Then Columbus drew his sword and took possession of the land in the name of the Spanish sovereigns.

Meanwhile, the natives, with wonder and fear, watched the strangers who they thought had de-

scended from heaven. First they ran away and hid in the forest, then growing bolder they came back, threw themselves down upon the ground, and worshiped the Admiral and his men. Columbus called these savages Indians, believing that he had reached the Indies.

The first landing was on one of the Bahama Is¬ lands ; which one we are not sure, as Columbus did not mention its latitude or longitude. It is now generally believed, however, that it was the one now known as Watling Island.

From here he sailed to Cuba, which he thought was China, and afterwards to Haiti, which he mis¬ took for Japan. While at Cuba Columbus saw the

Lands Found by Columbus in Four Voyages (lands shown in black)

Indians smoking tobacco, a plant that was unknown in Europe at that time. On the shore of Haiti, the Santa Maria was shipwrecked on the sands. A little while before this, Columbus had been deserted by Martin Pinzon with the Pinta.

Columbus fitted out three ships for the voyage, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. They set sail in August, 1492, and stopped at the Canary Islands for repairs.

On the voyage, the ships ran into seaweed. The sailors were dis¬ couraged and afraid. The trade winds blew them away from home. The compass seemed wrong. Columbus alone was brave and hopeful.

They sailed sixty-nine days and discovered land. On the morn¬ ing of October 12, Columbus landed on one of the Bahama Islands. He took possession of the land for Spain. He thought that he had reached the Indies, and he called the natives Indians.

He sailed to Cuba and thought he had reached China. He landed on Haiti, which he believed was Japan. Here the Santa Maria was shipwrecked. He had already been deserted by the Pinta.

1. How large a fleet did Columbus have, and when did he sail on his first voyage ?

2. Give a short account of the voyage.

3. Why was Columbus very brave to make this voyage ?

4. What signs of land finally appeared ?

5. Where did Columbus land ? How did the natives receive him ? For whom did he claim the land ?

6. What lands did Columbus think he had reached ?

LESSON III

Columbus Returns to Spain. — In the early part of January, 1493, Columbus turned the little Nina

Reception of Columbus at Court toward Spain. She had a rough passage, and once, when the Admiral thought all was lost, he put a record of his voyage into a barrel which he threw overboard.

But the Nina, at last, reached Portugal safely, sailing into the Tagus River in March. Columbus sent a messenger to the Spanish king and queen, telling them of his success. After being received and honored by the king of Portugal, he set out for Palos, where he arrived seven months and twelve days after his departure from that port.

How different was the home-coming from the departure! Now there was joy in place of weeping. People ran through the streets, spreading the news; others hurried to the wharves to see the great navi¬ gator and his ship. At night, there were illumina¬ tions in celebration of his return. That evening, the Pinta sailed into the harbor of Palos, and when Martin Pinzon, its commander, saw the Nina in port he hid himself until Columbus had left the town, for he feared that the Admiral would accuse him of treachery. When the king and queen heard of Pinzon’s wicked desertion of Columbus, they sent him an angry letter, and shortly afterward he died of a broken heart, killed by shame and disap¬ pointment.