| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | America in the Old Days | [1] |
| II. | Columbus and the Discovery of America | [10] |
| III. | Sir Walter Raleigh and Captain John Smith | [31] |
| IV. | The Story of the Pilgrims | [47] |
| V. | More about the Pilgrims | [60] |
| VI. | The Indians and how they lived | [73] |
| VII. | The Dutch in New York; The Quakers in Pennsylvania | [88] |
| VIII. | The French and Indian Wars | [106] |
| IX. | Everyday Life in Colonial Times | [126] |
| X. | The Beginning of the Revolution | [139] |
| XI. | Lexington and Concord | [158] |
| XII. | The Battle of Bunker Hill | [170] |
| XIII. | The Declaration of Independence | [184] |
| XIV. | The Burgoyne Campaign | [198] |
| XV. | Washington and the Revolution | [222] |
| XVI. | The War of the Revolution in the South | [250] |
| XVII. | The Story of Arnold's Treason | [271] |
| XVIII. | John Paul Jones: Our First Great Naval Hero | [286] |
| XIX. | Benjamin Franklin: His Highly Useful Career | [296] |
| XX. | Everyday Life One Hundred Years Ago | [311] |
| XXI. | What Our Navy did in the War of 1812 | [323] |
| XXII. | The Settlement of the Pacific Coast | [339] |
| XXIII. | Lincoln and the War for the Union | [353] |
| XXIV. | More about the War for the Union | [369] |
| XXV. | Our Navy in the War for the Union | [387] |
| XXVI. | The War with Spain in 1898 | [406] |
| Appendix. | Books for Reference and Collateral Reading in the Study of American History | [424] |
| Index | [436] |
THE STORY OF AMERICAN HISTORY
CHAPTER I.
AMERICA IN THE OLD DAYS.
1. The Story of our Country.—We are sure that every intelligent and patriotic American youth must like to read the story of our country's life. To a boy or girl of good sense no work of fiction can surpass it in interest or power.
How delightful to let the imagination summon up the forms and the deeds of the fearless Norse sailors who dared to cross the unknown seas in their frail and tiny vessels without compass and without charts! How interesting the oft-told but ever-fresh narrative of the intrepid Columbus and his memorable first voyage into and across the "Sea of Darkness"! What romance was ever more exciting than the stories of the fierce struggles between the white men and the Indians for existence and supremacy on this continent?
How deep the pathos of the simple tales that tell of the patient sufferings, the severe toils, the ever-present dangers, and the heroic self-denials of the early colonists in making for themselves homes in the New World! How richly suggestive are those pages that record the glorious events of our American Revolution—the splendid and immortal deeds of Washington and his illustrious associates!
Then there is the thrilling account of the most tremendous civil war in all history, with its four million soldiers, its two thousand battles, and its preservation of the Union.