American Historical Association 
 
 >>* ' % ij 
 
 PROVISIONAL REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 A Course of Study in History 
 
 COMMITTEE OF EIGHT. 
 
 J. A. JAMES, Northwestern University, Chairman. 
 
 H. E. BOURNE, Western Reserve University. 
 
 E. C. BROOKS, Supt. Schools, Goldsboro, N. C 
 WILBUR F. GORDY, Supt. Schools, Springfield, Mass. 
 
 MABEL HILL, Lowell Normal School, Mass. 
 
 JULIUS SACHS, Teachers’ College, N. Y. 
 
 H. W. THURSTON, Chief Probation Officer, Chicago. 
 
 J. H. VAN SICKLE, Supt. Schools, Baltimore. 
 
 The chairman of the Committee of Eight, Professor 
 J. A. James, will be glad to receive criticisms and sugges- 
 tions. He may be addressed at Northwestern University, 
 
 Evanston, Illinois. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 The general principles upon which these lists are based 
 were made the subject of a report at the last meeting of 
 "the American Historical Association (see pp. 137-139, vol. 
 I, Report for 1905). The specific recommendations have 
 been modified by restricting this particular work to the last 
 three, instead of the last four, grades. In the report re- 
 ferred to, it was explained that if American history is to 
 be the principal subject of study in the elementary school, 
 we must take this history in no narrow sense. We must 
 remember that our task is to give an historical interpreta- 
 tion of our national life rather than recount merely the 
 events which have happened on this 1 continent since early 
 colonial times. One of the most important duties of the 
 teacher is to put the national history into its place in the 
 history of the world. With younger pupils this must be 
 done not through didactic explanations, but by means of 
 impressions conveyed by a series of descriptive pictures or 
 suggestive §tories arranged in chronological order. 
 
 In the following list of topics all are not of equal value. 
 Some topics may occupy a class five minutes, others the time 
 of a whole exercise, others still longer, according to the 
 judgment of the teacher. The minor topics are intended 
 to indicate to the teacher the principal elements of the 
 subject. Many of them would be covered in an ordinary 
 text-book in a few lines. 
 
 In the list of topics submitted for the sixth grade those 
 features of ancient and mediaeval life have been illustrated 
 which explain either important elements of our civilization 
 
or which show how the movement for discovery and coloni- 
 zation originated. A few great incidents .or typical charac- 
 ters of the ancient and mediaeval world have been added 
 because these memories are a part of the universal heritage 
 of mankind. It is not at all the intention to teach Greek, 
 Roman or Mediaeval history, though the topics are selected 
 from these fields. It is natural that the topics seem to call 
 for more time than that assigned for their treatment, be- 
 cause the reader recalls the richness of the material which 
 lies all about them and feels irresistibly that somehow all 
 these things must be included. 
 
 It should be added that these lists have been tested in 
 regard to the time required to complete them in their respec- 
 tive grades. It has been found that if they are interpreted 
 as suggested they do not ofifer an excessive amount of work. 
 
SIXTH GRADE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 General topics I, II, III. 
 
 The purpose of these introductory topics is to utilize 
 the child’s experience and knowledge in such a way as to 
 impress upon his mind the elementary fact that Americans 
 came originally from Europe and brought with them all 
 that Europeans up to that time had learned ; in other words, 
 that the beginnings of American ways of living are to be 
 sought far back in the story of the world. The pupil in 
 the fifth grade cannot be expected to appreciate the signifi- 
 cance of this fact, but the impressions which he receives 
 will turn his awakening curiosity in the right direction. It 
 is not essential that all teachers use exactly the minor topics 
 suggested, if they can accomplish the purpose better by 
 means of other topics. 
 
 The second of the three general topics aims to empha- 
 size the idea that the world which the pupil sees on his 
 maps has changed and grown, and to lead him back to the 
 places where the foundations of what we call civilization 
 were laid. 
 
 After this preliminary work, the child should be ready 
 to learn something of each of the peoples which have con- 
 tributed a part to the stock of knowledge, of skill, and of 
 character, with which the Americans started. 
 
 I. Where Americans came from. 
 
 Newcomers . Are there persons in the community not 
 born in America ? Make a list of the lands from which 
 they came. Find these lands on the map. What con- 
 tinent contains nearly all these lands? 
 
 How emigrants come . Picture of an ocean steam- 
 ship. How emigrants are admitted, for example, at 
 
 3 
 
New York. How they reach the places where they 
 settle, using illustrations of local interest, if possible. 
 
 Earlier Americans as emigrants. This may be taught 
 by taking a story, from local history, of the emigration 
 of a group ; for example, the Pilgrims in the May- 
 flower. 
 
 II. When America was unknown; three views of the 
 
 world. 
 
 EIozv the world looked when the Christian era began. 
 A study, with a map, showing that at that time most 
 peoples lived about the Mediterranean, though they 
 had names different from the names their present day 
 successors bear — English called “Britons,” French 
 called “Gauls,” Italians called “Romans.” The inhabi- 
 tants of Greece were even in that time “Greeks,” and 
 many Greeks lived in cities around the eastern and 
 southern shores of the Mediterranean. Add ancient 
 notions of the shape of the world, “Ultima Thule,” the 
 “Antipodes.” 
 
 How the world looked just before Columbus discov- 
 ered America, using a blackboard sketch based upon 
 reproductions of the Behaim globe, or upon Toscanelli’s 
 supposed theories. The idea of the Burning Tropics 
 and the Sea of Darkness. 
 
 III. What Americans .started with, a study of some 
 
 ancient inventions. 
 
 Some recent inz/entions. The teacher may by ques- 
 tioning make a list of the most important modern in- 
 ventions, like the telephone, the telegraph, the locomo- 
 tive,, or the steamship, which Americans or modern 
 Europeans have invented. 
 
 Inventions made before Columbus discovered Amer- 
 ica. Attention may be concentrated on one, like print- 
 ing with movable types, or may be divided between this 
 and the compass and gunpowder, concluding with ques- 
 tions about the relative value of such inventions and 
 of the more recent inventions. 
 
 Still older inventions , like the way to record our 
 words, that is, through letters, or the way to build 
 houses or ships. If the alphabet is chosen, our letters 
 
 — 4 — 
 
may be compared with Greek letters, with a simple 
 explanation of Egyptian hieroglyphics or Babylonian 
 cuneiform; if books are chosen, ancient forms of these 
 may be explained; the same method may be pursued if 
 houses or ships are taken, with the simple aim of show- 
 ing the child that we Americans started with many 
 things which had been invented or discovered ages 
 before our ancestors arrived. 
 
 No peoples did more to begin the ways of living which 
 we have, and which our forefathers brought to America, 
 than the Greeks and the Romans who lived about the shores 
 of the Mediterranean when the Christian era began. The 
 aim of the topics selected from Greek and Roman history is 
 to illustrate the characteristics of Greek and Roman life, 
 and, at the same time, to interest the pupil in a few of the 
 greatest memories which the Greeks and the Romans have 
 left for all mankind to cherish. Emphasis should also be 
 laid upon their work as spreaders of civilization wherever 
 their cities were built or their rule was extended, for it was 
 in this way that there came to be a world. 
 
 IV. The Greeks, why we remember them. 
 
 Famous stories already learned through supplemen- 
 tary reading. With children who have learned these 
 stories well, it is enough to ask them which ones they 
 remember, with the aim to recall to their minds such 
 stories as the Golden Fleece, Hercules, Siege of Troy, 
 Wanderings of Ulysses. It is not intended to teach 
 the stories, such work belongs rather to English work. 
 
 Famous Greek cities which still exist. With a map, 
 point out Marseilles, Alexandria, Constantinople, and 
 Athens. Use pictures. Tell something about each. 
 
 Unforgotten memories of Greek courage. Tell the 
 story of Leonidas and the Three Hundred, or the Story 
 of Marathon, or the Story of Salamis. 
 
 V. How the Greeks Lived. 
 
 Athens , the most splendid of ancient Greek cities. 
 Show pictures of the ruined temples of Athens, giving 
 
 — 5 — 
 
simple explanations of the purposes which the buildings 
 served. 
 
 Study of a beautiful Greek temple. Pictures of the 
 Parthenon, simple explanation of its structure, its sculp- 
 tures ; tell where some of them may be seen. 
 
 An ordinary house. The parts of the house may be 
 explained. Something may be said of the home life, the 
 slaves, etc. If preferred, this time may be occupied in 
 showing pictures of famous statues, like the Venus of 
 Milo, the Hermes, the Thrower of the Discus. 
 
 VI. Greek roys and Greek men. 
 
 The Greek boy , training and amusements, at Athens, 
 at Sparta, the Olympic games. 
 
 Greek men , their love of ruling themselves. The ex- 
 planation may pursue the following line. The Greek 
 city included not only a large number of houses sur- 
 rounded by a wall, but also much of the countryside, 
 as far as the mountains which separated it from the 
 neighboring city. The men, shut off from their neigh- 
 bors in this way, loved to manage their own affairs. 
 Add a description of a Greek assembly in the open air, 
 with a Pericles or a Cleon trying to persuade the citi- 
 zens to do as he wishes. 
 
 The story of Socrates , one of the greatest of the 
 Greeks ; how he questioned men about what they 
 thought was true, story of his death. 
 
 VII. Men who carried Greek Ways of Living to other 
 
 Lands. 
 
 Sailors , traders , and colonists, a Greek ship, products 
 sought on shores of Black Sea, why the Greeks called 
 it “Euxine.” With map show how widespread were 
 the Greek colonies, pointing out Cyprus, Naucratis, 
 Cyrene, Syracuse, the cities of Magna Graecia, Mas- 
 silia (Marseilles), pausing to say a word about the 
 relation of the Egyptians to the Greeks, or about Greek 
 traders in what is now France. 
 
 Alexander the Great, stories of his boyhood, his great 
 march to India, with brief description of the battle of 
 Issus. 
 
 Alexandria, the greatest of the Greek cities founded 
 
 — 6 — 
 
by Alexander, its great Museum and Library, what 
 some of its scholars were studying about, Ptolemy, for 
 example. 
 
 The Romans were the people which received what the 
 Greeks had learned, added to it, and carried the new knowl- 
 edge to what is now France, England, Spain, and to a part 
 of Germany, countries from which the discoverers and 
 colonizers of America came. In this way the Romans are 
 to be considered as one of the makers of America. Their 
 work was chiefly conquering and organizing as one world 
 all the lands about the Mediterranean and in Western 
 Europe as far as the borders of Scotland and the German 
 forests. The wonderful thing about them is that they began 
 as an obscure tribe dwelling on the banks of the Tiber. 
 
 VIII. How the Romans began. 
 
 Stories about the Romans already learned. Recall, 
 for example, Romulus and Remus, Horatius at the 
 Bridge, Coriolanus. As in the case of the Greek stories, 
 they are not to be taught, simply recalled. They are 
 not a part of the history of Rome, being only stories 
 the Romans told about their early days. 
 
 What the Romans started with ; size of the early city 
 and of the region over which it ruled. Patricians and 
 Plebeians, tell briefly the story of the Secession of the 
 Plebeians. 
 
 Early struggles with warlike neighbors, illustrated 
 by one story, either that of Cincinnatus or that of the 
 Caudine Forks. 
 
 No attempt should be made to explain in detail the 
 development of the Roman power in Italy. The im- 
 pression naturally conveyed by these stories is sufficient. 
 
 IX. How the Romans conquered the lands about the 
 
 Mediterranean. 
 
 Rome and Carthage ; story of Hannibal, his youthful 
 oath, his march from Spain to Italy, the passage of the 
 Alps ; description of one battle, either that of Lake 
 Trasimenus or of Cann?e, showing how skilful in 
 
 -7 — 
 
strategy was Hannibal. Add that the Romans finally 
 defeated Hannibal in Africa. 
 
 The Romans and the Greeks of Alexander’s Empire. 
 Here, as in the case of Italy, there should be no attempt 
 systematically to describe the conquest of the eastern 
 Mediterranean. One striking incident, like the battle of 
 Cynocephalae, with a map study showing the lands the 
 Romans conquered, Asia Minor, Syria (with Jerusa- 
 lem) and Egypt, is sufficient. In the battle story, a 
 Roman legion should be compared with the Macedonian 
 phalanx, and it should be explained how the legion 
 formation was successful. 
 
 X. The Romans in the West. 
 
 Their greatest general , Julius C cesar, and the Gauls, 
 ancestors of the French. After the pupils have located 
 Gaul on the map, illustrate simply with the story of 
 Vercingetorix and the siege of Alesia. 
 
 No attempt should be made to mention the names of 
 the Gallic tribes or to relate more than the simple inci- 
 dent of Vercingetorix. 
 
 C cesar and the Germans , simple story of the Ariovis- 
 tus incident, how the Romans were frightened by the 
 immense size of the Germans, how Caesar’s camp fol- 
 lowers wanted to return to Italy. The bridge Caesar 
 built over the Rhine, its purpose, why Ariovistus had 
 crossed into Gaul. 
 
 C cesar and the Britons , why Caesar wanted to invade 
 Britain, the Druids, how he crossed the Channel, his 
 landing, why he did not subdue the Britons. 
 
 These are the simple elements of the story, which is 
 brief. With the other two, it will serve to teach the 
 lesson of the Roman relation to Western Europe. 
 
 XI. Rome, the Imperial City. 
 
 Why the Romans came to be ruled by Emperors; at 
 first they governed themselves as did the Greeks, by 
 assemblies of the people, afterwards leading politicians 
 tried to win these voters by giving great gladiatorial 
 shows, or by reducing the price of bread, politicians 
 also sometimes gathered followers and fought for con- 
 trol of the city ; Caesar was also a politician, and in a 
 
 — 8 — 
 
quarrel with his rivals he led his army to Rome and 
 became its master, founding the empire. His suc- 
 cessors called emperors. 
 
 This story should follow these simple lines, and 
 should not occupy more than the time of a single exer- 
 cise. No attempt should be made to explain the titles 
 of officials or the names of assemblies ; general descrip- 
 tive words are sufficient. 
 
 How Rome looked; pictures of the Forum, a Roman 
 Arch of Triumph, the Coliseum, a Roman aqueduct, 
 a Roman road, with a few words of explanation in 
 each case. 
 
 Roman books; how the Roman boy was taught; a 
 famous book, the TEnCid of Virgil, with a little of its 
 story. 
 
 XII. Rome and Christianity. 
 
 At this point it is well to connect the Empire with 
 Christianity by pointing out that Jesus was born when 
 all the Mediterranean world was at peace under Roman 
 rule. Judea was a Roman province, and at the time of 
 the death of Jesus, Pontius Pilate was the Roman 
 governor. Paul was born in a town in which all men 
 were regarded as Roman citizens, a privilege which 
 enabled him to appeal for a special trial at Rome. 
 
 It is not expected that the story of Jesus will be told. 
 
 Roman emperors treat the early Christians as public 
 enemies , the Christians persecuted for not uniting in 
 the imperial religion and for forming an almost secret 
 organization; story of Nero’s persecution, pictures of 
 the catacombs. 
 
 The Roman Empire is called Christian; the Emperor 
 Constantine adopts Christianity as the religion of the 
 empire, story of the “Sign of the Cross.” 
 
 The Church in Constantine’s day was managed by 
 bishops in the cities, archbishops over several cities, 
 with a “pope” at Rome, a “patriarch” at Constanti- 
 nople, another “patriarch” at Alexandria. 
 
 This should be limited to a statement of the fact, 
 accompanied by answers to such questions as the pupils 
 are prompted to ask. Controversial matters should be 
 avoided. 
 
 — 9 — 
 
WESTERN EUROPE. 
 
 In topics 13-19 the pupil will learn more of the 
 peoples which were to have a direct share in the mak- 
 ing of America. These peoples were taught by the 
 Romans, though they did not preserve all that they 
 had seen or been told. The pupils should learn of the 
 typical characters of the Middle Ages and something 
 of the modes of life. At the close of the group are a 
 few topics which have an immediate relation to the 
 discoveries and form a necessary introduction to them. 
 
 XIII. The Germans. 
 
 Names of German tribes which reappear in modern 
 names — Angles, Saxons, Franks. Simple descriptions 
 of German life, why many emigrated to Roman cities 
 and how they were employed. 
 
 German invaders ; story of Hengist and Horsa, story 
 of Clovis. 
 
 Famous stories which illustrate traits of the Germans 
 or which grew up about the incidents of the invasions ; 
 recall the Niebelung tales, or the tales of King Arthur. 
 
 If the pupils do not know them, one from either 
 group may be selected for telling. 
 
 XIV. How the Germans came to rule over the West ; 
 
 Charlemagne. 
 
 As king of the Franks , a German tribe which had 
 conquered Roman Gaul, impressions from Einhard of 
 his appearance, manner of living, and interests ; his 
 efforts to make Frank boys love knowledge. 
 
 How Romanised Germans extend their ways of living 
 into the older Germany ; story of Boniface and his 
 preaching, the “Oak of Geismar” ; Charlemagne con- 
 verts the Saxons, compelling them to be baptized as 
 Christians. 
 
 This may be taken as a type of the German move- 
 ment of colonization which later extended beyond the 
 Elbe, and may be compared with the movement of 
 Americans westward across the plains. 
 
 Charlemagne crowned emperor at Rome, Christmas, 
 
 — 10— 
 
8oo; simple description of the incident, with the ex- 
 planation that his empire was not as large as the older 
 Roman empire, but included only France, part of Ger- 
 many, and Italy, with a small part of Spain. 
 
 XV. Alfred and the English. 
 
 The English of Alfred's day , explaining in a simple 
 manner that the German tribes, of which the followers 
 of Hengist and Horsa were part, had conquered the 
 island to the borders of Wales and Scotland, and that 
 they had finally come under the rule of a single king. 
 Story of St. Augustine of Canterbury. 
 
 The Vikings , also called Danes or Northmen, attack 
 the English. Description of the Vikings and their 
 ships. 
 
 Alfred and the Danes; stories of the hardships of 
 King Alfred in his struggle, with the Danes; from his 
 victory came as a result the union of the Danes and 
 English as one people. 
 
 Alfred as king; helps in the spread of good books, 
 his just laws. 
 
 In treating Alfred, as in the case of Charlemagne, 
 his personality should be kept in the foreground. 
 
 XVI. How the English began to win their liberties. 
 
 A wicked King , John Lackland. A simple explana- 
 tion that a great Lord from northern France, of the 
 race of the Danes or Northmen, Duke William, of 
 Normandy, had conquered the English. His descend- 
 ants called the Norman kings. One of them, Richard, 
 was a famous crusader (to be explained later). 
 Richard's brother John was the most wicked king Eng- 
 land ever 1 had. Explanation of how he tried to sup- 
 plant his brother during his brother's absence, of how 
 he married the betrothed of one of his own followers, 
 how he compelled the barons to arm as if for war and 
 refused to allow them to return home until they had 
 paid large sums of money, how he robbed the churches. 
 
 The Great Charter. The barons at Runnymede com- 
 pel the wicked king to promise to give up all his evil 
 practices; they agree to make war upon him, if he 
 breaks these promises. Mention the two most impor- 
 
 — ii — 
 
tant promises — that he will collect no more money than 
 is clue him as king, unless his followers in council con- 
 sent, that he will no longer imprison men without 
 trying them and proving them guilty of breaking the 
 laws. 
 
 The Charters strengthened. John’s son was weak 
 and the barons made war upon him to compel him to 
 keep the promises of the charter. The grandson, 
 Edward I, was a strong and just king. Though he 
 liked to do as he pleased, he agreed to keep the charter 
 or promise that no taxes should be collected without 
 the consent of the council. By this time the council 
 consisted not only of great barons and bishops, but also 
 of men sent by the towns to represent them. This was 
 the beginning of the English parliament, the House of 
 Lords and the House of Commons. 
 
 Only the simple elements of this growth of the Eng- 
 lish constitution should be touched, whether the line 
 of thought suggested above is followed or some other 
 is chosen. 
 
 XVII. How PEOPLE LIVED IN ENGLAND AND IN EUROPE 
 during the Middle Ages. 
 
 The tozrns: pictures of a walled town, like York, 
 Chester, or Oxford, or Carcassonne in France, or Nur- 
 emberg in Germany. The industries, how the artisans 
 were organized. The town hall or guildhall, like those 
 of Bruges or Paris or London. 
 
 The village life: how the village land was divided, 
 farming tools, work in common. 
 
 The nobles: a castle, with pictures ; education of the 
 boy for the life of chivalry, a tournament. 
 
 XVIII. The Church in the Middle Ages. 
 
 Cathedrals. Pictures of great cathedrals, Canterbury, 
 Notre Dame, Cologne. How a Roman temple, like the 
 Pantheon, was changed into a church. Explanation of 
 the different parts of the church buildings. Some of 
 the curious figures on the outer walls. 
 
 A monastery, with pictures of ruined monasteries in 
 England or on the Continent. How the monks were 
 organized. Their occupations, especially the copying 
 
 — 12— 
 
of books, with pictures of the way they illuminated 
 books. 
 
 Mediaeval pilgrims; especially journeys of pilgrims to 
 Jerusalem to the shrine of the Holy Sepulcher. The 
 Turks who had conquered Syria and how they troubled 
 the pilgrims. 
 
 XIX. The Crusades. 
 
 The First Crusade: Pope Urban’s appeal to rescue 
 the Holy Sepulcher ; how people pinned crosses on 
 their garments; story of Peter the Hermit. 
 
 The capture of Jerusalem; condition of the crusaders 
 when they reached the Holy City, their cruelty to its 
 defenders, story of Godfrey and the crown of the new 
 kingdom of Jerusalem. 
 
 Richard the Lion-hearted , the typical crusader, tales 
 of his exploits in Palestine and of his adventurous 
 journey homewards. 
 
 XX. Results of the Crusades, growth of trade and love 
 
 of travel. 
 
 Venice ; pictures of the city, a Venetian ship, stuffs 
 which the Venetians sought in the East. 
 
 Other trading cities, briefly described — Genoa, be- 
 cause it was the birthplace of Columbus; London, the 
 city from which the impulse to English settlement went 
 out. 
 
 What the Europeans learned in the East or through 
 contact with the Moors in Spain ; Arabic system of 
 notation, algebra, use of windmills, taste for spiced 
 foods, beautiful decorations for houses. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN WORLD. 
 
 As this ground is familiar, it is unnecessary to do 
 more than indicate the line of thought by topics in the 
 briefest form. 
 
 XXL Beginning of Discovery. 
 
 Voyages of the Northmen: the Northmen in Iceland; 
 Leif the Lucky; why his discovery of America was 
 without important consequences. 
 
 —13— 
 
Marco Polo: his journey to the Mongol court and the 
 route which he followed on his return ; the knowledge 
 of the Pacific which he brought back of greater impor- 
 tance than the work of the Northmen. 
 
 Portuguese voyages , the first great accomplishments 
 in discovery: Prince Henry the Navigator, impressions 
 in regard to the shape of Africa ; discouragement when 
 voyages showed that the coast turned southward again 
 after *the Gulf of Guinea ; story of the wonderful 
 voyage of Diaz. 
 
 Whether the teacher shall do more than mention 
 Prince Henry depends upon circumstances. It is to 
 be observed that a few words are all that elementary 
 text-books give to what is contained in this topic. It 
 can be expanded or contracted as the judgment of the 
 teacher directs. 
 
 XXII. Columbus. 
 
 His early life; Queen Isabella and her interest in his 
 project; an incident from the story of the Cid might 
 be used to interest the pupils in the Spaniards and in 
 their long crusade against the Moors, a crusade which 
 gave to their voyages of discovery and settlement some 
 of the old crusading purpose. 
 
 The first voyage: the ships; troubles with the sailors; 
 the discovery ; the return to Spain. 
 
 Later voyages: what coasts were explored; Colum- 
 bus’s notions of what he had discovered. 
 
 XXIII. The successors of Columbus. 
 
 How America came to be named for Amerigo Ves- 
 pucci rather than for Columbus. 
 
 John Cabot and his discoveries. 
 
 The Portuguese Vascd da Gama , the first to reach 
 the Indies which Columbus was looking for. 
 
 XXIV. Other successors of Columbus. 
 
 How Balboa found the South Sea. 
 
 The Story of Magellan's voyage. 
 
 Cartier in the St. Lawrence ; where he came from ; 
 his hopes ; the St. Lawrence as a route to the center of 
 the Continent; failure to make a permanent settlement. 
 
 —14— 
 
XXV. Beginnings of conquest. 
 
 In Mexico; story of Cortez briefly told, with a de- 
 scription of the expedition of Coronado into what is 
 now the western part of the United States. 
 
 Story of De Soto. 
 
 How the Spanish used their conquests ; the search 
 for gold and silver; what a mission was, with pictures 
 from California; slaves brought in from the African 
 coast. 
 
 At the close of the first period of discovery and con- 
 quest the Spaniards seemed to have distanced their rivals. 
 They had laid the foundations of profitable colonies and by 
 their explorations could argue a superior claim to North, 
 as well as to most of South, America. How they lost this 
 advantage, so that the French, the Dutch and the English 
 colonized the best portions of North America remains to 
 be explained. The pupil of this grade cannot grasp the 
 whole situation, but by stories of the old world and of the 
 voyagers to the new world he can be impressed that before 
 the century was over the rivals of Spain were more than a 
 match for her, and, when the next century began, were able 
 boldly to ignore her inflated claims and plant colonies along 
 the Atlantic shores, in the Hudson Valley and on the banks 
 of the St. Lawrence. Again, it must be repeated that no 
 effort should be made to tell the story of Europe in the 
 sixteenth century. Just enough should be told to give mean- 
 ing to the terms England, France, Holland, and Spain and 
 to convey the impression that the Spaniards lost their great 
 advantage. 
 
 XXVI. England in the days of Elizabeth. 
 
 Stories of ({ Good Queen Bess ” Her love of finery. 
 The politeness of Sir Walter Raleigh. Elizabethan 
 houses, with pictures. 
 
 English seamen and the king of the Spaniards ; 
 through the story of Sir Francis Drake, his experience 
 as a slave trader, as a plunderer of Spanish colonial 
 
 —15 
 
towns, and through his great voyage round the world, 
 illustrate the growing hatred between the English and 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 Another reason for hatred between Englishmen and 
 Spaniards ; the English had adopted many of the relig- 
 ious views of the German Martin Luther or the French- 
 man John Calvin and no longer were Catholics, obedient 
 to the Pope, while the Spaniards were earnest defenders 
 of the Catholic religion. The English under Elizabeth 
 had adopted forms of worship much like the American 
 Episcopalians of the present day. In those days dif- 
 ferences in religion were causes of war. This was one 
 reason why the English sailors saw no harm in plun- 
 dering Spanish towns in America. 
 
 XXVII. France, another rival of Spain. 
 
 The story of Bayard the “knight without fear and 
 without reproach”, the hero of the fight of the French 
 King, Francis I., Jacques Cartier’s king, against the 
 King of Spain. 
 
 The French and the Spaniards in a conflict in Amer- 
 ica: Admiral Coligny, a great French nobleman, leader 
 of the French Protestants or Huguenots, seeks to find 
 a refuge for them in America : the fate of Fort Caro- 
 line ; attack of the Spaniard Menendez. 
 
 XXVIII. The King of Spain attacked by his subjects, 
 the Dutch. 
 
 The Dutch ; description of their country; their fight 
 against the sea: their sturdy mariners. 
 
 Their quarrel with the King of Spain: punishments 
 inflicted upon those who became Protestants; cruelties 
 of the Duke of Alva to the southern Netherlanders, 
 now the Belgians, who remained Catholics, as well as 
 to the Dutch. 
 
 The revolt of the Dutch ; story of the “Beggars.” 
 One or two stories of William the Silent, to illustrate 
 the struggle for independence. 
 
 XXIX. Englishmen join in the fight against Spain. 
 
 English and Dutch; story of Sir Philip Sidney. 
 
 War between England and Spain; preparations of 
 
 — 16- 
 
King Philip to invade England ; Drake singes the 
 King’s beard. 
 
 Story of the Great Armada and its ruin. 
 
 XXX. English voyages westward. 
 
 Story of Gilbert. 
 
 Story of Raleigh’s first colony . 
 
 Raleigh’s second attempt , why it failed, and what he 
 had accomplished. 
 
 At the close there should be a geographical review of 
 the lands, bodies of water, etc., made known by the voya- 
 gers, connecting each great feature with the man who dis- 
 covered it, and emphasizing the way the early mistakes 
 about America were gradually removed by later voyagers. 
 The pupils should also understand what countries held 
 these lands or, at least, claims to them at the end of the 
 century. 
 
 —17— 
 
SEVENTH GRADE. 
 
 The subject is the exploration and settlement of North 
 America and the growth of the colonies until the close of 
 the French and Indian War. Enough of the European 
 background is included to make plain events in America 
 which had their causes in England or Europe. A few 
 great European figures, which belong to the world history, 
 are also introduced. 
 
 THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS OF THE THREE 
 RIVALS OF SPAIN. 
 
 I. North America, geographical conditions. 
 
 In the sixteenth century the Spaniards had settled 
 in Mexico, the English had attempted to settle on the 
 Atlantic Coast, the French had attempted to settle on 
 the St. Lawrence. In which region were the climate, 
 natural resources, and the general situation most ad- 
 vantageous for a new settlement? 
 
 Difficulty of reaching the rich Mississippi Valley 
 across the mountains. The approach by the Mohawk ; 
 the approach by the upper Potomac and upper Ohio ; 
 by Cumberland Gap ; by the Great Lakes : the approach 
 from Mexico overland, or by using the Gulf of Mexico 
 and the Mississippi River. 
 
 This should be treated very simply, with the aim of 
 attracting the attention of the pupil at the outset to 
 geographical conditions. It is not necessary to adopt 
 the particular line of thought suggested, if in some 
 better way the end be reached. 
 
 II. Getting to the colonies. 
 
 Ships of the time. The sufferings of sailors and 
 passengers on long voyages. 
 
 What a colonizing company , like the English, Lon- 
 don or Plymouth Companies, was. Why men bought 
 shares in such companies. 
 
 The way emigrants arranged with the companies to 
 go to the new colonies. 
 
 — 18— 
 
III. The first English settlement. 
 
 Land controlled by the London Company . The first 
 settlers sent out. Hardships of the voyage and at 
 Jamestown. Story of John Smith. 
 
 Occupations of the early settlers. Their relations 
 with the Indians. The first negro slaves; indentured 
 servants. 
 
 How the settlers began in i6ip to have an assembly 
 of representatives. 
 
 In treating these topics the pupils should be directed 
 mainly to the actual life of the early settlers. These 
 primitive conditions and the ways adopted in order to 
 begin living in the wilderness are especially interesting 
 to children. They will not be much stirred by the fact 
 of the Virginia Assembly; that they understand its 
 significance fully need not be insisted on. 
 
 IV. The arrival of the Dutch. 
 
 Henry Hudson , aim of his voyage, why the Dutch 
 wanted a more direct route to the Spice Islands, the 
 discovery of “Hudson” River. 
 
 Manhattan Island , a Dutch trading post, relations 
 with the Indians. Trading post at Albany; gateway 
 to Mohawk Valley and the Great Lakes, to the north 
 by Lake Champlain. 
 
 The attempt to attract settlers to the Hudson River 
 valley, the patroons. 
 
 V. The First French Settlements. 
 
 Settlements at Quebec and Montreal , houses and 
 fortifications, occupations of the settlers compared with 
 those of the Virginia settlers. 
 
 Champlain, his journeys and explorations, his expe- 
 dition against the Iroquois and its consequences ; feud 
 between the Iroquois and the Algonquins, the suffer- 
 ings of the Jesuit missionaries. 
 
 —19— 
 
EXILES FOR POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS CAUSES. 
 
 The topics under this general subject touch the local 
 history of several of the Atlantic states. It would be 
 advisable for the schools of these states to give a more 
 extended attention to the beginnings of colonial life 
 within their own borders. This may be done by adding 
 other topics at the point where these colonial begin- 
 nings should be treated or by treating in greater detail 
 those suggested here. Such a study of local history 
 will add interest. 
 
 VI. The first exiles for conscience's sake; the Pil- 
 
 grims. 
 
 Why they left their English home for Holland. 
 
 This should include a simple explanation that Queen 
 Elizabeth and King James thought it the duty of every 
 good Englishman to attend the religious services 
 ordered by law, while the Pilgrims believed that gov- 
 ernment should not meddle in these matters. They 
 also thought that the ordinary services of the English 
 Church resembled the Catholic services and disliked 
 them on this account. 
 
 The voyage to New England. How the Pilgrims 
 arranged to be sent out, story of the voyage and the 
 landing. 
 
 Early years of Plymouth colony: the hardships of 
 the first year ; occupations ; relations with the Indians ; 
 Miles Standish and Massasoit. 
 
 VII. The Puritans plan to emigrate. 
 
 King Charles and his Parliament , the political rea- 
 son, a quarrel about taxes. 
 
 A simple explanation of the principal points in the 
 dispute along such lines as this : nowadays people de- 
 cide through their congressmen or representatives what 
 taxes they shall pay and how the money shall be spent. 
 Englishmen in King Charles's day thought he had 
 no right to collect taxes without the consent of their 
 representatives in Parliament. In a document called 
 the Petition of Right they asked him to agree to do 
 this no more. He consented, but afterwards quarrelled 
 
 — 20 — 
 
with Parliament, dismissed, or dissolved it, and meant 
 never to summon another. This naturally caused 
 many men to fear that the King* would become a 
 tyrant and take away much of their property. 
 
 Who were the Puritans? In what did they resemble 
 the Pilgrims? Their dislike of ceremonies which were 
 similar to those in the Catholic Church. In what 
 they differed from the Pilgrims : they did not wish to 
 withdraw from the Church, but to have its services 
 conducted as they thought these should be conducted. 
 Story of Puritan life, manner and customs, in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 These Puritans, with such motives for leaving the 
 country, form the Massachusetts Bay Company and 
 plan to emigrate, taking the charter of their Company 
 with them. 
 
 VIII. The great emigration. 
 
 Settlement of Boston , describing the voyage, the 
 sites chosen for settlement, early growth of the colony, 
 its occupations. 
 
 How the Puritans governed themselves: in churches 
 much like those of the Pilgrims, their town meetings 
 and their General Court. 
 
 Emigration from Massachusetts to Connecticut, the 
 journey through the woods, Thomas Hooker and the 
 settlements about Hartford ; settlement of New Haven. 
 
 IX. Other exiles. 
 
 Roger Williams , his troubles in Massachusetts, his 
 settlement at Providence, his relations with the In- 
 dians. 
 
 Lord Baltimore and the founding of Maryland , how 
 without the aid of a company he procured a grant of 
 land and rights of settlement, arrangement he made 
 with his emigrants. 
 
 Reasons English Catholics had for desiring to emi- 
 grate, the harsh laws forbidding their worship ; Lord 
 Baltimore founds Maryland especially for them, but 
 allows Protestants also to settle there. 
 
 — 21 — 
 
X. Puritan and Cavalier in England. 
 
 John Hampden and the Ship Money. 
 
 War between King and Parliament, treated with the 
 career of Cromwell as the center of interest, with such 
 minor topics as “The Ironsides/’ Cromwell at Mars- 
 ton Moor or at Naseby. 
 
 Triumph of Parliament, execution of the King, brief 
 statement about the rule of Cromwell, the Restoration, 
 the Regicide Judges in New England. 
 
 These topics should be treated simply, with no at- 
 tempt at comprehensive description or explanation. 
 
 XI. Religious wars in Europe, 
 
 GustOfuus Adolphus and the Thirty Years War. 
 
 This should keep the interest centered on Gustavus, 
 but should include a simple explanation how the quar- 
 rel between the Catholics and Protestants of Bohemia 
 and Germany resulted in civil war, and that Gustavus 
 entered Germany to help the Protestants and fc at the 
 same time to strengthen the influence of Sweden and 
 gain new territories for her. Emphasis may be placed 
 upon the Swedish army and upon Gustavus’s general- 
 ship. 
 
 In certain schools teachers may find it desirable to 
 add stories of two other great characters of this period, 
 — Wallenstein and Richelieu. The story of Wallen- 
 stein may include the method by which he raised his 
 army, his battle with Gustavus at Liitzen, his death. 
 Richelieu’s position as chief adviser of the French king 
 should be explained simply, and this should be fol- 
 lowed by the story of the Day of Dupes or of the 
 Conspiracy of Cinq Mars. 
 
 Huguenot exiles . Who the Huguenots were (recall 
 Coligny) ; where they were allowed to worship; King 
 Louis XIV revokes the Edict granting them these privi- 
 leges; the exiles to Germany, England and America. 
 
 XII. New exiles from England. 
 
 Laws in England which made worship other than 
 that of the State Church difficult, the Five Mile Act, 
 
 22 — 
 
the Conventicle Act. Imprisonment of Bunyan, an 
 illustration. 
 
 William Penn , his aim in purchasing the Jerseys, 
 obtains the charter for Pennsylvania. The English 
 Quakers. Settlement of Pennsylvania, relations with 
 the Indians, religious liberty. Philadelphia. 
 
 COLONIAL RIVALRIES. 
 
 XIII. Early conflicts. 
 
 In the West Indies , the Buccaneers, settlements of 
 English, French and Dutch within region claimed by 
 Spain. West Indian plantations compared with Vir- 
 ginia plantations. 
 
 Peter Stuyvesant and life at New Amsterdam, re- 
 lations with the English. The Navigation Laws, re- 
 sulting in war between England and Holland ; stories 
 of Blake and Van Tromp. New Amsterdam becomes 
 New York. 
 
 A simple explanation of the European settlements 
 in the West Indies is important because of the new 
 relation' of the United States to this group. In treat- 
 ing the Navigation laws, which were part of the cause 
 of war between the English and the Dutch, only 
 enough detail should be given to show how these laws 
 were intended to cripple Dutch commerce. 
 
 XIV. French in the Mississippi Valley. 
 
 Story of Marquette (recall earlier work of Champ- 
 lain). 
 
 La Salle's journeys and conflicts ; his death. Chief 
 French settlements in the west; Detroit, Vincennes, 
 Kaskaskia, New Orleans. 
 
 XV. Growth of the English colonies. 
 
 The New England Confederacy , King Philip’s War. 
 
 Virginia , troubles with the Indians, discontent with 
 the governors, Bacon’s rebellion. 
 
 Expansion of the English colonies Southzvard and 
 Westward ; founding of the Carolinas and of Georgia. 
 
 —23— 
 
STRUGGLE FOR COLONIAL EMPIRE BETWEEN 
 ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 
 
 XVI. The Dutch and English unite against France. 
 
 Louis XIV, splendors of his court life at Versailles, 
 
 his jealousy of the Dutch, the greatest traders of the 
 day. Description of Amsterdam. The Dutch Repub- 
 lic. 
 
 War between France and Holland. Louis almost 
 at the gates of Amsterdam, the dikes opened drive 
 back the French army, sympathy of the English for 
 the Dutch, marriage of Prince William and the Prin- 
 cess Mary. 
 
 Revolution of 1688 in England. King James at- 
 tempts to act like his father, Charles I, and his crown 
 is given to his daughter and her husband, Prince Will- 
 iam. Bill of Rights. Illustrate new tyranny of the 
 Stuarts by the story of Sir Edmund Andros and the 
 charters. England and Holland unite in the war 
 against France. 
 
 XVII. The colonies at war. 
 
 Border warfare in William's and Anne's reigns , 
 part of wars in Europe. 
 
 The Duke of Marlborough and the war in Europe, 
 with an account of the Battle of Blenheim. Results 
 of the war. French cede Acadia. France impover- 
 ished, though the grandson of the French King be- 
 comes King of Spain. These may all be covered in 
 one exercise, if deemed advisable. 
 
 XVIII. Beginnings of the final struggle. 
 
 England and France take opposite sides in the strug- 
 gle between Frederick II of Prussia, and Maria There- 
 sa of Austria, over Silesia. Simple explanation of 
 what Prussia and Austria were at the time, with the 
 story of Frederick’s boyhood and the story of Maria 
 Theresa’s appeal to her nobles for aid and their re- 
 sponse. 
 
 Dupleix and Clive in India, Situation of the Eng- 
 lish and French East India Companies at Madras and 
 Pondicherry, success of Dupleix in controlling the na- 
 
 —24— 
 
tive princes, utilizing the superiority of European 
 trained soldiers over the untrained masses of natives. 
 Clive and the defense of Arcot. 
 
 American incidents of this conflict. King George's 
 
 war. 
 
 The importance of these topics comes from their 
 relation to the struggle which followed. Moreover, 
 Frederick the Great is one of the chief characters of 
 modern history. 
 
 XIX. Causes of conflict in America. 
 
 The Virginians and French clash in the Ohio Valley. 
 Albany Congress. 
 
 The Braddock Expedition. 
 
 Montcalm and Wolfe, and the fight for Canada. 
 
 XX. Close of the war. 
 
 The Seven Years' \W ar in Europe. 
 
 This should be explained briefly as the counterpart 
 of the struggle in America and India. France was 
 now the ally of Austria and England of Frederick the 
 Great. It should be explained that France could have 
 defended her colonies more successfully had she not 
 meddled in the conflict between Maria Theresa and 
 Frederick. A description of Frederick's victory at 
 Rossbach may be given to leave an impression of his 
 genius as a general. 
 
 Terms of peace for America , incidentally for India. 
 
 The new colonial empire of England. How Eng- 
 land began to govern the French in Canada. Impres- 
 sion this policy made in the English colonies. 
 
 FROM COLONIES TO COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 XXI. The country across the Alleghanies. 
 
 The policy of the English government in regard to 
 these lands. Surveying and settling in Western Penn- 
 sylvania and on the Ohio. The Scotch-Irish. 
 
 Early explorations and attempts at settlement in 
 Kentucky and Tennessee. 
 
 The Settlers on the southern border and the Indians. 
 
 — 25— 
 
XXII. Social life, industry* and trade in the colo- 
 nies. 
 
 Occupations ; the Northern farm, the Southern plan- 
 tation, colonial seamen. 
 
 Social conditions ; slavery in the South, other forms 
 of service in the Colonies, social customs north and 
 south. 
 
 Comparison of conditions elsewhere ; an English or 
 French colony in the West Indies, a Spanish colony, 
 condition of the common people in England and Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 Only through a sirhple comparison is it possible to 
 understand the causes and meaning of the varying 
 conditions. 
 
 XXIII. Government in the colonies. 
 
 The Crown and the People; what the colonial gov- 
 ernor did, the rights of representative assemblies, the 
 towns, parishes, or counties. 
 
 Kinds of colonial governments ; differences between 
 Connecticut and Massachusetts, difference between 
 New York and Pennsylvania. 
 
 Comparison with other European colonies ; with the 
 French West Indies; with the Spanish American colo- 
 nies. 
 
 XXIV. Grievances of the colonies, causes of the Revo- 
 lution. 
 
 Before the Stamp Act; operation of the Navigation 
 Acts, the Sugar Act, relative amount of taxation de- 
 termined by parliamentary acts ; English and Ameri- 
 can views of what representation meant. 
 
 Resistance to new taxes; the Stamp Act, its repeal 
 with the attempt to enforce the principle by the Town- 
 send Revenue Acts, Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, 
 Whig defenders of the American cause, Pitt and 
 Burke; George III and his friends. 
 
 Beginnings of violent resistance ; interference with 
 the landing or sale of taxed tea, retaliation by Parlia- 
 ment; Committees of Correspondence, First Continen- 
 tal Congress. 
 
 — 26 — 
 
XXV. Opening of the* Revolutionary War. 
 
 The first fighting: Lexington, Bunker Hill, make- 
 up of the English and colonial armies. 
 
 Independence ; how the colonies received the news 
 from Massachusetts, how it was received by parties in 
 England, sentiment in America for and against inde- 
 pendence, signing the Declaration. 
 
 Organization of the colonies into states , and of the 
 states into the Confederation, how the states were 
 formed, the Committees of Correspondence and of 
 Safety, the Congress. 
 
 XXVI. Period of difficulty. 
 
 Struggle about New York; loss of New York, re- 
 treat through the Jerseys, recovery at Trenton and 
 Princeton. 
 
 Burgoyne’ s expedition; aim, causes of failure, effects 
 of struggle. 
 
 Loss of Philadelphia; Brandywine and Germantown, 
 Valley Forge. Plots against Washington. 
 
 This work should be grouped as much as possible 
 about Washington. In treating battles only one or 
 two significant incidents should be mentioned. 
 
 XXVII. Struggle west of Alleghanies. 
 
 The N orthwest ; attitude of French, attitude of In- 
 dians. 
 
 Story of George Rogers Clark and the results of his 
 work. 
 
 XXVIII. The French Alliance. 
 
 Reasons for it; the ancient grudge against England, 
 enthusiasm of men like LaFayette, Franklin's influence, 
 time chosen for intervention. 
 
 The first consequence ; retreat of British from Phila- 
 delphia, English on the defensive in West Indies. John 
 Paul Jones. 
 
 Increasing difficulties of the English; Spain joins 
 the alliance, the Armed Neutrality, English and the 
 Dutch at war. 
 
 —27— 
 
XXIX. War in the South, a new period of difficulty. 
 
 Losses in South; capture of Savannah and Charles- 
 ton, defeat of Gates. 
 
 Treason of Arnold; Arnold’s services and disap- 
 pointments, plans to betray West Point, discovery of 
 plot and fate of Andre. 
 
 Recovery in the South; King’s Mountain, Cowpens 
 and Guilford Court House ; Greene and Cornwallis. 
 
 Only an outline of the struggle, with a few typical 
 incidents. 
 
 XXX. Close of the war. 
 
 Yorktown Campaign ; why Cornwallis was at York- 
 town, Washington's plan and the help of the French, 
 the surrender. 
 
 Why the war went on: England’s desire to gain 
 favorable terms in the struggle with France; effect 
 of Rodney’s victory in the West Indies. 
 
 Peace: boundary questions, terms obtained by the 
 American envoys ; fate of the Loyalists. 
 
 •28- 
 
EIGHTH GRADE. 
 
 I. The New Republic. 
 
 Weakness of the government under the Articles of 
 Confederation, powers which our present national gov- 
 ernment holds which the new government did not pos- 
 sess. 
 
 Distress in the Republic: troubles in Massachusetts 
 and their causes; paper money; trade disputes. 
 
 The Northzvest : land claims of the different states; 
 danger to the Union from this dispute ; the Ordinance 
 of 1787 and the beginnings of settlement in the North- 
 west. 
 
 II. The Constitution. 
 
 The Convention of 1787, occasion of its meeting, 
 its leaders, the way they worked in agreeing about the 
 Constitution. 
 
 Powers granted to the National government, espe- 
 cially for the levy of taxes, and for the enforcement of 
 law. 
 
 Powers taken from the States: levy of import and 
 export duties, emission of paper money or coinage of 
 money, entering into agreements with other states or 
 with foreign countries. 
 
 III. The new government. 
 
 Adoption of the Constitution: a typical contest, Mas- 
 sachusetts, New York or Virginia; case of Rhode 
 Island and of North Carolina. 
 
 Organization of the new government : the elections, 
 choice of Washington, first inauguration, manners and 
 customs in the new Republic. 
 
 Washington's administration: the first cabinet; the 
 Whisky Insurrection and its causes ; the question of 
 the Mississippi ; manners and customs in the New 
 Republic. 
 
 -29 — 
 
IV. England after the Revolution. 
 
 Attitude towards the New Republic: troubles about 
 the Western posts; the case of the Loyalists; American 
 trade with Great Britain, the English West Indies. 
 
 English colonies. Canada after the war, incoming 
 of Loyalists, re-organization of the colony; settlement 
 of Australia. 
 
 Industrial changes : spinning jenny and power loom, 
 beginnings of factories ; changes in system of holding 
 land and in farming. 
 
 V. Revolution in France, 
 
 Grievances of the French people: the common people, 
 especially the peasants, paid most of the taxes, they also 
 paid part of their crops and other dues to the nobles, 
 the nobles alone had the right to fish and to hunt, and 
 the hunting parties or the game often ruined the crops 
 of the peasants. 
 
 The king conquered by his people: Louis XVI calls 
 a great assembly, the States General, of clergy, nobles, 
 and commoners, how in the struggle of the clergy and 
 the nobles to keep the commoners from having too 
 much influence in the decision of questions the king 
 sides with the clergy and nobles ; in the ensuing quar- 
 rel the people of Paris capture a royal fortress and 
 prison, the Bastille, on July 14th (the present national 
 holiday) ; the States General, become the National 
 Assembly, passes many useful laws, making taxes 
 equal and removing burdens from the peasants. 
 
 Overthrow of the King: the king, a prisoner in his 
 palace at Paris, tries to escape to the frontier, is brought 
 back; violent men gain the upper hand in France, de- 
 pose the king, and cause his execution ; at war with 
 other countries, Austria, Prussia, Spain, and England, 
 fearing to be attacked by them or believing French 
 rights violated by them. 
 
 This is an immense subject, and very difficult to 
 explain briefly, but if the teacher will keep carefully 
 along the simple lines indicated, the French Revolu- 
 tion will furnish the pupil something with which to 
 compare the American Revolution as well as some 
 
 -30— 
 
indications of the background of many events of Wash- 
 ington’s and Adams’s administrations. Not more than 
 the time of three exercises should be given to the 
 subject. 
 
 VI. European wars and American interests. 
 
 How the war affected America: American sympa- 
 thies, the conduct of Genet and other French minis- 
 ters. 
 
 Neutral commerce: England’s policy, the Jay treaty. 
 
 Troubles during Adams's administration : fighting 
 with French ships, preparations for war, Alien and 
 Sedition laws; Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. 
 
 VII. Advent of Jefferson. 
 
 The election of 1800 and its consequences : contest 
 between Burr and Jefferson, change in method of elect- 
 ing Presidents; Jefferson’s policy of Democratic sim- 
 plicity and economy. 
 
 Purchase of Louisiana: history of the control of 
 Louisiana ; how Bonaparte came to sell the territory, 
 story of the purchase. 
 
 Opening the new territory ; Lewis & Clark Expedi- 
 tion, explorations of Pike, Western fur trade. 
 
 VIII. New wars in Europe and their consequences to 
 America. 
 
 Story of Napoleon Bonaparte : the young Corsican 
 at French military schools, the “Little Corporal” and 
 his soldiers, his victories make him the idol of the 
 French people and they give him the imperial crown. 
 
 His great war with England: gathers an army to in- 
 vade England, battle of Trafalgar ; attempts to keep 
 neutrals like the United States from trading with 
 England ; the English retaliate. 
 
 How America was affected: effect on American ship- 
 ping ; grievance about impressment of seamen ; the 
 Embargo of 1807; the Non-intercourse Act. 
 
 IX. The War of 1812. 
 
 Its causes: refusal of the British to make concessions 
 until too late, in the dispute about rights of American 
 
seamen and commerce ; war spirit in America ; an un- 
 timely struggle for the British, because they had long 
 been fighting against Napoleon, especially in Spain. 
 
 The struggle about Lake Erie: attitude of the In- 
 dians, Tecumseh; surrender of Detroit, Perry’s vic- 
 tory on Lake Erie. 
 
 Victories of the Constitution , their real meaning; 
 significance of the blockade of the coast. 
 
 X. Conclusion of the War. 
 
 The war unpopular in New England , reasons for 
 this ; campaign on Northern frontier ; the burning of 
 Washington. 
 
 Peace of Ghent ; defeat and abdication of Napoleon 
 frees the hands of British ; but both parties weary of 
 the war, the terms of peace silent on the cause of war ; 
 battle of New Orleans, after peace was made. 
 
 End of the great European wars: Napoleon’s return 
 from exile at Elba, his defeat at Waterloo, his exile 
 at St. Helena. 
 
 XI. The Industrial Revolution in America. 
 
 Cotton: old methods of cleaning cotton ; Eli Whit- 
 ney and the cotton gin ; effects of this invention upon 
 Southern industry and the slavery question. 
 
 Factories: Samuel Slater and the adoption of English 
 inventions ; Francis C. Lowell ; effect of the war on 
 the transfer of capital from shipping to manufactures. 
 
 Steamboats: early attempts: Fulton’s work; the first 
 steamboat lines. 
 
 XII. Western emigration. 
 
 The new homes: states and territories organized be- 
 yond the Alleghanj.es by 1815; Western roads, old 
 Indian trails, the Cumberland road, the National Turn- 
 pike : canals, the Erie, the Pennsylvania. 
 
 The settlers; motives which influenced European 
 emigration after 1815; emigration from the older 
 states; increase of population in the trans-Alleghany 
 region between 1815 and 1830. 
 
 Life of the settler: his first tasks, the crops which 
 he raised, beginnings of self-government. 
 
 —32— 
 
XIII. Social conditions about 1820. 
 
 Free and slave labor: industrial reasons for reten- 
 tion of slave labor, region where slaves were still held ; 
 the international slave trade prohibited since 1808 by 
 United States and Great Britain. 
 
 Missouri compromise : the question of slavery in the 
 territory gained by the Louisiana purchase ; bargain 
 made for the admission of Missouri. 
 
 Comparison between life in a Northern factory town 
 and on a Southern plantation. 
 
 Beginnings of American Literature. 
 
 XIV. Revolt of the Spanish colonies. 
 
 This should be introduced by an explanation, brief 
 and simple, of the divisions of the Spanish colonial 
 possessions, and by a comparison of their grievances 
 with the grievances of the English colonists before the 
 Revolution. 
 
 The revolt: first directed against Bonaparte, who 
 had taken the throne from King Ferdinand, but after- 
 wards against the King himself, because he was unwill- 
 ing to grant liberties to the colonists ; story of one of 
 the leaders, Bolivar or San Martin. 
 
 The new' republics and the United States: question 
 of their recognition ; Spain and the purchase of 
 Florida ; advance of Russia down the western coast 
 of North America ; Spain and her allies prepare to 
 restore Spanish authority ; attitude of England ; the 
 Monroe Doctrine in the President’s message of 1823. 
 
 XV. Politics from 1824 to 1832. 
 
 The election of 1824 ; the candidates, why the elec- 
 tion was finally completed in the House of Represen- 
 tatives, ill-feeling of Jackson’s friends over the result. 
 
 Internal improvements in the tariff : the ques- 
 tion of the duty of government to help in improving 
 means of transportation, should the government also 
 “foster home industries”? The tariff of 1828 and the 
 attitude towards it of Calhoun and other Southerners. 
 
 “Reign” of Jackson: his success with the voters; 
 “To the victors belong the spoils”, Nullification and 
 the Webster-Hayne debate. 
 
 —33 — 
 
XVI. Three Great Questions. 
 
 New method of electing a president: new parties, 
 especially the Whigs ; the first national convention, the 
 election in 1832. 
 
 Banking troubles: the United States and Jackson’s 
 war upon it; “wildcat” banks; the panic of 1837. 
 
 The anti-slavery movement: slavery abolished by 
 purchase in the British dominions in 1834; the early 
 Abolitionists in the United States, Wiliam Lloyd Gar- 
 rison ; struggle in Congress over petitions. 
 
 XVII. Our Neighbors. 
 
 Texas , part of the Republic of Mexico, early emi- 
 grants from the United States, Sam Houston ; revolt 
 of Texas, movement for its annexation to the United 
 States. 
 
 The Oregon question: early settlers and traders on 
 the Northwest coast; joint occupation by England and 
 the United States, final settlement of question. 
 
 Canada: Canadian insurrection of 1837 and its 
 causes ; the Canadians permitted to govern themselves 
 through responsible ministries; permanence of French 
 influences, expansion of English settlements. 
 
 XVIII. War with Mexico. 
 
 Annexation of Texas: attitude of Northerners and of 
 Southerners : manner in which annexation was effected ; 
 quarrel with Mexico over the boundary. 
 
 The war: the United States the aggressor; General 
 Taylor’s campaign ; General Scott’s march on the City 
 of Mexico; Fremont crosses the mountains into Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 It is not intended that the teacher enlarge upon mere 
 military details. 
 
 Results: annexation of territory by treaty of Guada- 
 lupe Hidalgo, description of this territory. 
 
 XIX. California, some of the consequences of annexa- 
 tion. 
 
 Discovery of gold: how made, the rush to the gold 
 fields ; similar discoveries in Australia. 
 
 — 34 — 
 
The slavery question again: need of state govern- 
 ment in California ; the Free Soil Party ; attitude of 
 Southerners towards the admission of California ; the 
 Compromise of 1850. 
 
 Failure of the Compromise ; The Fugitive Slave Law, 
 methods of enforcement; the Underground Railway; 
 Personal Liberty Laws; “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” 
 
 XX. The North re-enforced, industrial and social 
 development. 
 
 New causes of emigration from Europe: famine in 
 Ireland; political troubles of Germany, 1848 to 1849; 
 where these emigrants settled and their feeling about 
 slavery. 
 
 Development of transportation: railroad building; 
 steamboat traffic on the lakes and rivers ; the telegraph. 
 
 The New West: opening of new farm lands, im- 
 provement in agricultural machinery; growth of West- 
 ern cities, centers of commerce and maaufacturing ; 
 increase oi wealth of these new regions. 
 
 XXI. Slavery in the West again. 
 
 The Kansas- N ebraska question: the plan to leave 
 the decision to the settlers themselves, the Kansas- 
 Nebraska bill, organization of emigration. 
 
 A new party: the collapse of the Whig party, the 
 make-up of the Republican party; the election of 1856. 
 
 The slavery question becomes acute : the Dred Scot 
 case ; the Lecompton Constitution ; the Lincoln-Doug- 
 las debates, the John Brown raid. 
 
 XXII. The Crisis of the Union. 
 
 The election of i860: the candidates, their platforms 
 and cries, the attitude of the South, the election of 
 Lincoln. 
 
 The Secession Movement : its theory, Northern and 
 Southern points of view ; the steps taken to form a 
 Southern Confederacy ; the doubtful states ; President 
 Buchanan’s policy : attempts at compromise ; affair of 
 the Star of the West. 
 
 — 35 — 
 
XXIII. Civil War. 
 
 Relative power of the Southern Confederacy and of 
 the Federal government : resources of the two sections, 
 immediate and capable of organization. 
 
 Fort Sumter and the call to arms ; Bull Run and 
 its lessons ; organizing for the struggle ; methods of 
 paying expenses, paper money, loans. 
 
 XXIV. Varying Fortunes of Conflict. 
 
 Cutting off the Confederacy from the outside world, 
 the blockade, the Monitor and the Merrimac; blockade 
 running, the Trent affair; attitude of different classes 
 of English people towards the conflict. 
 
 General plan of the struggle on land: the blow aimed 
 at the capital of the Confederacy, the failure of Mc- 
 Clellan (without dwelling on names or details of par- 
 ticular battles) ; the attempt to divide the Confed- 
 eracy along the line of the Mississippi, Grant’s cam- 
 paign of 1862. 
 
 The Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure ; 
 war policy towards the negroes. 
 
 XXV. Turning of the Tide. 
 
 Crisis of the struggle in the East , a study of Gettys- 
 burg with simple mention of the battles which, led to 
 it (from Fredericksburg or Antietam). 
 
 Crisis on the Mississippi , struggle about Vicksburg 
 (without military details). 
 
 On the threshold of the cotton states , from Chicka- 
 mauga to Mission Ridge, with description of only one 
 field. 
 
 XXVI. Overthrow of the Confederacy. 
 
 The Virginia Campaign of 1864 > emphasizing the 
 tenacious defense by Lee and the persistent attacks of 
 Grant, without using the details of more than one 
 battle. 
 
 Sherman's invasion of the cotton states ; aim, in rela- 
 tion to Grant's campaign, fall of Fort Fisher, effects 
 on the resources of the Confederacy. 
 
 Appomatox: surrender of Lee; assassination of 
 Lincoln ; dismissal of the armies. 
 
 —36— 
 
XXVII. The Problems of Restoration of Peace. 
 
 Reconstruction: policies of Lincoln, of Johnson, of 
 the Republican party. 
 
 Methods of reconstruction; Amendments to the 
 Constitution, acts of Congress ; quarrel of Congress 
 and the President. 
 
 Troubles in the South: Carpet-bag government; 
 Ku-Klux; the “force” bills; opposition of the Liberal 
 Republicans in the election of 1872. 
 
 XXVIII. Great Changes in Europe, Germany, Italy 
 and France. 
 
 Civil war in Germany: names of the principal states 
 in Germany; how they were united before 1866; Aus- 
 tria and Prussia, rivals for leadership ; Austria driven 
 out of Germany (in 1866), the Northern part of which 
 is organized into a new Confederation under the con- 
 trol of Prussia. 
 
 Germany and France ; Napoleon III, his desire to be 
 as great as his uncle, failure of his scheme to set up 
 an Empire in Mexico ; quarrel between Germany and 
 France over the candidacy of a Hohenzollern prince 
 to the throne of Spain; the Franco-Prussian war, 
 described in general outline, emphasizing the surpris- 
 ing victory of the Germans ; all the Germans in the 
 midst of their victory unite to form an Empire, with 
 the king of Prussia as Emperor; Napoleon III in exile, 
 France a Republic. 
 
 Italy united: Italian states before 1859; Napoleon 
 III. helps Victor Emmanuel to win Lombardy from 
 Austria; expedition of Garibaldi to Naples and Sicily; 
 capture of Rome in 1870. 
 
 The teachers can do little more than state in the sim- 
 plest outline the history of the critical period of 
 Europe from 1859 to l & 7 L adding a few illustrative 
 incidents. The aim should be to draw the attention 
 of the pupils to the subject rather than to give them 
 all they should know. 
 
 — 37 — 
 
XXIX. Development of Great Britain. 
 
 Growth of self-government : how the reforms of 
 1832 equalized the representation in the House of 
 Commons ; how suffrage in England has become prac- 
 tically universal ; laws securing the freedom and secrecy 
 of the ballot. 
 
 How the House of Commons has used its power : 
 factory laws, laws improving the conditions cf Irish 
 tenants, etc, 
 
 The British Empire: brief descriptions of English 
 communities beyond the seas, Canada, Australia, 
 South Africa, etc., English still the greatest trading 
 people of the world. 
 
 XXX. The, New Union. 
 
 Opening of the far West: Pacific railways, distribu- 
 tion of the public lands, a typical Western settlement. 
 
 Financial crisis: payment of the national debt; panic 
 of 1873 an d its causes; re-organization of business, 
 exhibition of 1876. 
 
 Close of Reconstruction Policies : the disputed elec- 
 tion of 1876; policy of Hayes towards the South; re- 
 moval of United States troops and the results. 
 
 XXXI. The Larger Europe. 
 
 Stories of great explorers: work of Livingstone, of 
 Stanley. 
 
 How Africa was divided , illustrated by the founding 
 of the Congo State, the English possessions in the 
 Nile valley and at the Cape, with the cry for a railway 
 from “the Cape to Cairo,” the French in Algiers, the 
 Germans in the East and Southwest Africa. 
 
 European interests in Asia: the English in India, 
 the French in Indo-China, the Dutch in the Spice 
 Islands ; China. 
 
 Such topics as these can be explained only briefly, 
 using an incident here and there to illustrate a feature 
 of the situation. 
 
 -38- 
 
XXXII. The Problems of the Republic. 
 
 From industrial growth: consolidation of railways, 
 development . of great industries, national in extent ; 
 legislation against monopolies, against impure foods 
 and other industrial frauds ; labor laws ; the labor 
 movement. 
 
 From commercial rivalry of Europe; supremacy of 
 English shipping ; growth of German trade, etc. 
 
 From the war with Spain: the annexation of Porto 
 Rico and the Philippines; withdrawal from Cuba; 
 Colonial problems ; Panama Canal. 
 
 Education: development of public schools, technical 
 schools and universities. 
 
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