IV—THE REVOLUTION
The entire history of the war must of course be gone over, but how thoroughly will depend on the individual club. At least the causes which led to it, the great men who guided the nation at the time, and the results should be made familiar.
Read first of England at the time; of George III. and his ministers; of their attitude toward the colonies; of the restrictions of manufacture and trading; of the revenue laws and taxation without representation. Note the influence of such men as Burke, Pitt, and others.
Take up the patriots in America: Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, Lee of Virginia, John Hancock, John Adams, Samuel Adams, among others. Show pictures of the Old South Meeting House and Faneuil Hall of Boston; read Paul Revere's Ride, and a description of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Note the establishment of a Continental congress and army, and speak of the fitness of George Washington as the leader of the American forces.
Read the Declaration of Independence; follow with the struggle for the control of the Hudson, which occupied the whole of the first year of the war and more, and includes the battles about New York, with their retreats and victories; then study the invasion of Canada, the attempt on the South, the British plan of three Northern armies simultaneously; the use of Indian allies; the surrender of Burgoyne; the movements of the fleets; the treason of Arnold; the surrender of Cornwallis.
Other topics for papers or talks may be: Valley Forge; André and Hale; the recent discovery of the treachery of Charles Lee; the story of Paul Jones; the aid of the French under Lafayette; the character of the great generals on both sides; how the news of the final success of America was received in England. Read The American Revolution, by Lecky, and H. C. Lodge's Story of the Revolution; also, The Tory Lover, by Jewett (about Paul Jones), and Ford's Janice Meredith.
V—THE CRITICAL PERIOD
of our history naturally succeeds the Revolution, when our Government was in the making. Read of the leaders of the time: Washington, Jefferson, Marshall, Madison, Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. Have parts of the Constitution read, and study the different aspects of our Government: the way we choose our President; the houses of Congress and the Senate; our judiciary. Read the story of Washington's inauguration.
Additional topics are: Shay's rebellion; paper money; the Northwest Territory; and the home life of the times. Take up the early presidents in order, with the events of each term. The tariff, the war with the Barbary pirates, the rise of newspapers, the Louisiana Territory, and the decrees of France and England about neutral ships are all important.