A Brief History of the United States
Produced by Robert Prince, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
The experience of all teachers testifies to the lamentable deficiency in historical knowledge among their pupils; not that children dislike the incidents and events of history, for, indeed, they prefer them to the improbable tales which now form the bulk of their reading, but because the books are dry. Those which are interesting are apt to be lengthy, and the mind consequently becomes confused by the multitude of details, while the brief ones often contain merely the dry bones of fact, uninviting and unreal. An attractive book which can be mastered in a single term, is the necessity of our schools. The present work is an attempt to meet this want in American histories. In its preparation there has been an endeavor to develop the following principles:
1. To precede each Epoch by questions and a map, so that the pupil may become familiar with the location of the places named in the history he is about to study.
2. To select only the most important events for the body of the text, and then, by foot-notes, to give explanations, illustrations, minor events, anecdotes, &c.
3. To classify the events under general topics, which are given in distinct type at the beginning of each paragraph; thus impressing the leading idea on the mind of the pupil, enabling him to see at a glance the prominent points of the lesson, and especially adapting the book to that large and constantly increasing class of teachers, who require topical recitations.
4. To select, in the description of each battle, some characteristic in which it differs from all other battles—its key-note, by which it can be recollected; thus not only preventing a sameness, but giving to the pupil a point around which he may group information obtained from fuller descriptions and larger histories.
5. To give only leading dates, and, as far as possible, to associate them with each other, and thus assist the memory in their permanent retention; experience having proved the committing of many dates to be the most barren and profitless of all school attainments.
Joel Dorman Steele
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FIRST EPOCH.
SECOND EPOCH.
THIRD EPOCH.
FOURTH EPOCH.
FIFTH EPOCH.
SIXTH EPOCH.
INTRODUCTION.
FIRST EPOCH.
EARLY DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS.
SECOND EPOCH.
THIRD EPOCH.
FOURTH EPOCH.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATES.
FIFTH EPOCH.
THE CIVIL WAR.
SIXTH EPOCH.
REFERENCES FOR READING.
EPOCH 1.
EARLY DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS.
EPOCH II.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES.
VIRGINIA.
MASSACHUSETTS.
PLYMOUTH COLONY.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.
MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CONNECTICUT.
RHODE ISLAND.
NEW YORK.
EPOCH II.
THE FOUR DUTCH GOVERNORS
NEW JERSEY.
PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE.
MARYLAND.
CIVIL WARS.
THE CAROLINAS.
GEORGIA.
II. QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. (1702-1713.)
III. KING GEORGE'S WAR.
IV. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. (1754-1763)
THE FIVE OBJECTIVE POINTS OF THE WAR.
CLOSE OF THE WAR.
CONDITION OF THE COLONIES.
REFERENCES FOR READING.
EPOCH III.
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
REFERENCES FOR READING.
EPOCH IV.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATES.
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. (FIRST PRESIDENT—TWO TERMS 1789-1797)
ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION.
(SECOND PRESIDENT: 1797-1801)
JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION.
(FOURTH PRESIDENT—TWO TERMS: 1809-1817.)
SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1812-14.
MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION.
(FIFTH PRESIDENT—TWO TERMS: 1817-1825.)
J. Q. ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION.
(SIXTH PRESIDENT: 1825-1829)
JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
(SEVENTH PRESIDENT—TWO TERMS: 1829-1837.)
VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION
(EIGHTH PRESIDENT: 1837-1841.)
HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION.
(NINTH AND TENTH PRESIDENTS: 1841-1845.)
JAMES K. POLK'S ADMINISTRATION.
INVASION OF MEXICO.
II. GENERAL KEARNEY'S ARMY.
III. GENERAL SCOTT'S ARMY.
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION.
(TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH PRESIDENTS: 1849-1853)
PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION.
(FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1853-1857.)
BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION.
(FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1857-1861.)
STATES ADMITTED DURING THE FOURTH EPOCH.
REFERENCES FOR READING.
EPOCH V.
THE CIVIL WAR.
LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION.
(SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1861-1865)
THE WAR IN VIRGINIA.
THE WAR IN MISSOURI.
THE WAR IN THE WEST.
THE WAR ON THE SEA AND THE COAST.
BURNSIDE'S EXPEDITION AGAINST ROANOKE ISLAND
THE WAR IN THE EAST.
THE SIOUX WAR.
THE WAR IN THE WEST.
THE WAR IN TENNESSEE AND GEORGIA.
BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA
THE WAR IN EAST TENNESSEE.
THE WAR IN THE EAST.
THE WAR ON THE SEA AND THE COAST.
THE WAR IN TENNESSEE AND GEORGIA.
THE WAR IN VIRGINIA.
RED RIVER EXPEDITION.
THE WAR ON THE SEA AND ON THE COAST.
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE WAR.—
REFERENCES FOR READING.
EPOCH VI.
RECONSTRUCTION AND PASSING EVENTS.
JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION.
(SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT: 1865-1869.)
GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION.
(EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT—TWO TERMS: 1869-1877.)
HAYES'S ADMINISTRATION.
QUESTIONS FOR CLASS USE.
INTRODUCTION.
FIRST EPOCH.
SECOND EPOCH.
THIRD EPOCH.
FOURTH EPOCH.
FIFTH EPOCH.
SIXTH EPOCH.
HISTORICAL RECREATIONS.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
SECTION III.
SECTION IV.
ARTICLE III.—JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
SECTION III.
SECTION III.
AMENDMENTS