The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 1, September, 1909Various
History
The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 1, September, 1909
Various
History -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals
The declarations of war and treaties of peace are given in all
cases; and there is a complete documentary history of territorial
acquisitions, for extracts are given from all treaties agreeing
to the cession of territory to the United States, with the single
exception of the treaty with England and Germany respecting the Samoan
Islands. National problems which have entered into politics are fully
illustrated. It is satisfying to find here in convenient form the
Alien and Sedition Acts, and the counter-blast of the Republicans, the
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. The Missouri Compromise documents
number seven, and are prefaced by an excellent introduction which
gives the congressional history of the compromise measures. A similar
treatment is given the six documents on the Compromise of 1850. The
Civil War period furnishes twenty-three documents including secession
ordinances, the Confederate States Constitution, military affairs,
finance, and other matters. The difficult subject of reconstruction,
with its ramifications in the impeachment of the President and the care
of the freedmen, receives thirty-three extracts.
Valuable Introductions.
This short statement gives an idea of the scope of the book and the
nature of the extracts. In addition to the documents themselves,
another feature gives great value to the book. Many, almost all, of the
documents are prefaced by short introductions which give the historical
setting of the extracts. In the case of the United States statutes the
account of congressional action is very valuable, and in many cases
furnishes a succinct narrative of the movement culminating in the act
under consideration. Abundant references to secondary works and primary
sources are to be found in these introductory remarks.
Thus the book contains a large amount of pedagogical material; sources,
bibliography, and analytical introductions combining to add to its
usefulness. Such a work will protect the teacher and the scholar,
whether in elementary school, in high school, or in college, from loose
thinking and careless statements about the facts of American history.
There need be few errors in class if such a work is on the teacher’s
desk, or, better still, in the student’s hand. And, incidentally, many
of our newspapers would profit by the addition of the Source-Book to
their libraries. To teachers, journalists, and statesmen, who have not
easy access to the Statutes at Large, the collections of treaties, and
the congressional documents, or, who, having such access, desire the
material in convenient desk form, this book will prove invaluable.
[Documentary Source-Book of American History. 1606-1898. By William
MacDonald. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1908, pp. xii-616. Price,
$1.75.]
Cheyney’s Readings in English History
REVIEWED BY PROFESSOR N. M. TRENHOLME, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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