OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND THE U. S. CONSTITUTION WITH NUMEROUS REVIEW QUESTIONS AND REFERENCES Prepared by C. W. CHILDS TEACHER OF HISTORY AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE CALIFORNIA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, SAN JOSE SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 1888 Pi-rend. 663332 Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1888 By THE BANCROFT COMPANY In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington PREFACE HE time has probably passed when it is needful to argue in favor of the topical method of teaching his tory and civil government as against the memoriter method. The topical plan of studying is the only one which men pursue in business or in professional life, and the earlier one becomes accustomed to it the better. For many years, the original manuscript of the Constitution was kept folded up in a tin box, in an obscure corner of the library of the Department of State at Washington, while the Declaration of Independence, mounted in elegant style, was exposed to the admiring gaze of the many visitors. The librarian has recently mounted the Constitution in a similar way, because of the growing demand to see the instrument. This incident is typical of the change which the last few years have seen in our way of looking at American history. The popular interest, which was formerly centered in the more dramatic eras of Colonial and Revolutionary times, is now being extended to our Constitutional period. This period has little picturesqueness, yet it is capable of being, to a thoughtful American mind, the most interesting and valuable portion of history. The object of this manual is to encourage a systematic study of the history and government of the United States, and to promote good citizenship, for, in a republic, “good citizenship is next to godliness.' C. W. C. 71063 |