The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 2, October, 1909Various
History
The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 2, October, 1909
Various
History -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals
For the further study of this phase of American history, the student
is recommended to the works of Fiske and Parkman, and to the shorter
treatises contained in the volumes of Hart’s “American Nation.”
Especially important, however, are the two works of Professor J. R.
Seeley which have several times been quoted in this paper: “The Growth
of British Policy” and the “Expansion of England.”
A New Text-Book on American History By James and Sanford
REVIEWED BY JOHN SHARPLESS FOX, PH.D., OF THE UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL,
CHICAGO.
The new text-book by James and Sanford is an advanced and compendious
manual for use in high schools. In it the authors have escaped in
large measure the fault common to some of our older texts of writing
an _essay_ on American history; on the other hand they have avoided
the more grievous error of dumping a mass of undigested facts into
their book. They have borne in mind the important principle that
generalizations, to be useful, must be accompanied by the _facts_. The
_how_ and the _why_ are explained in this text, and the authors do not
assume an undue intimacy with providence.
It has been their aim, they tell us, “to give the main features in
the development of our nation, to explain the America of to-day, its
civilization and its traditions.” They have sought to emphasize “the
achievements of men and women” in the more important fields of human
activity,--the “political, industrial, educational and religious.”
“Military phases of our history ... have been subordinated to the
accounts of the victories of peace.” They have given unusual attention
to “the advance of the frontier” and to “the growth and influence of
the West”; and “particular care has been taken to state the essential
facts in European history necessary to the explanation of events in
America.” Unlike some of our older books,--and the parson who announces
his text and bids it adieu--the authors have given no separate chapter
or section to physical geography, but have called attention to the
influence of geographical conditions in connection with events and
conditions as they arise. In the opinion of the reviewer, this method
has received a large measure of justification in the event, (e. g., pp.
92-95.)
In the matter of proportion, the authors have assigned much more space
than is usual to the period following the Civil War, and considerably
less to the period from 1789 to 1860; yet the latter does not suffer
thereby. The book is divided into chapters (XXXI), with appropriate
titles, and marginal notes indicate the contents of paragraphs.
Information of a more advanced and supplementary character has been
placed in smaller type, which may be omitted by teachers lacking time,
or at discretion. It is not clear, however, why the Ordinance of 1787
should be relegated to this minor position (p. 189).
Colonial History.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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