BY CHARLES MCCARTHY, PH.D., LITT.D., FLORA SWAN, A.B. Director of Practice, Public Schools, Indianapolis, Indiana PREFACE We have not attempted to carry out any stereotyped idea of a text book in Civics. Our aim has been to give the child of the upper grammar grades such an understanding of his relation to other people as will make him a good citizen. That understanding can come only with a knowledge of the difficulties the human race has had in learning to live and work together. An appreciation of the advantages to him of the present stage of cooperation can be gained only with a knowledge of the slow and patient steps which have brought us to that stage. A zeal for carrying the human race still further forward in its ability to live and work together can be inspired in the hearts of all our children only when the advantages of the present and the future are made to stand out against the disadvantages of the past. It is faith that we all need; and by faith we mean the belief that we can bring to pass the good we desire for the human race. We have told the story, therefore, of a few of the struggles which our ancestors have had in order to obtain and transmit to us some of the things which we now consider essential to our comfort and happiness. The child can grasp the idea of a mountain as early as he can grasp the phenomenon of erosion on that mountain. In the same way, he can grasp the great movements of society as easily as he can grasp the petty details of township or county organization. Big things, if taught as simply, are as easy to grasp as little things. If the child is ever to have the proper perspective he must see the great background against which the little details stand out. We cannot afford to wait for the High School to pro vide the background, for that would bar all but the few. We cannot afford to leave it to the continuation schools, for they may be too busy and they, like the High School, do not reach all. We cannot afford to trust the child who has been studying history through the grades to make his own connection of that history with the present. But somewhere in the grades, before he is lost to the school world, we must help him to make it. That is what this book attempts to do. It is not supposed that the pupils will be expected to memorize facts from this book. The chapters are for reading and discussion, and most of the questions call for thought and investigation rather than memorization. Some of the questions may be regarded as too difficult for some pupils. However, they will be suggestive to the teacher, who must use her own judgment as to the application. A comparison between American institutions and those foreign institutions out of which they have grown is made as often as possible. It cannot be done too often. No matter if the pupil does go to High School and to the University, and studies history, sociology and civil government, we do not fear that he can ever have too much of this sort of training for citizenship. The authors desire to express their gratitude to Dr. Albert Leonard, Superintendent of Schools, New Rochelle, N. Y., Dr. John L. Tildsley, Principal of the High School of Commerce, New York, and Howard Strong, Secretary of the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association, for the time and care they have given to reviewing this manuscript, and for the helpful criticisms they have offered. CHARLES MCCARTHY. |