Probably all teachers of American history will admit that broadly stated the course in American history and government should be organized with special emphasis on the national period, and should represent an attempt to show how out of the diversity of the colonial period there finally emerged the spirit of federal union, and how American history largely centers around the erection of a sovereign federal state, in face of English opposition, and the maintenance of the union, in the face of internal dissensions, and finally, the growth and expansion of the United States as a world power. The European background, the native or American background, exploration, colonization and colonial development must all be touched on lightly. Then a careful study should be made of the steps leading up to union and to independence, though the military side of the revolutionary struggle is frequently over-emphasized, and the beginnings of national government as we know it to-day can be studied in connection with the formation of the constitution. Territorial expansion, foreign and civil wars, colonial expansion and problems of internal development can all be treated in relation with the central problem of successful federal government and in relation with the present. Interwoven frequently with American national history is the history of one’s own state, and teachers can frequently use local interests to make the story of some particular phase of national development more real and significant. There is quite a marked tendency to separate American government from American history in the fourth year of the high school, and to give a half year’s work in each subject. If American government is taught as a separate subject a text-book should be selected which allows the teacher to organize the course so as to work from the familiar to the unfamiliar aspects of government, from the local to the national aspects of the field of study. Several good text-books of this character have been recently published.[4] The attempt has been made in this article to show how the history teacher can be trained, or can train himself, to organize thoroughly the field of study to be covered so as to complete the course in the time allotted and also bring out the meaning and importance of the study undertaken. Proper organization of the field of study will undoubtedly aid the teacher greatly, but such organization must be followed by successful recitation and class-room work. The next paper in this department will therefore, be devoted to a discussion of the training of history teachers in the organization of the recitation. FOOTNOTES: