CONTENTS


CHAPTER

I. THE SCATTERED CHILDREN OF EUROPE

II. OUR EARLIEST TEACHERS

III. HOW THE GREEKS LIVED

IV. GREEK EMIGRANTS OR COLONISTS

V. NEW RIVALS OF THE GREEKS

VI. THE MEDITERRANEAN A ROMAN LAKE

VII. THE ANCIENT WORLD EXTENDED TO THE SHORES OF THE ATLANTIC

VIII. THE CIVILIZATION OF THE ROMAN WORLD

IX. CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE

X. EMIGRANTS A THOUSAND YEARS AGO

XI. HOW ENGLISHMEN LEARNED TO GOVERN THEMSELVES

XII. THE CIVILIZATION OF THE MIDDLE AGES

XIII. TRADERS, TRAVELERS, AND EXPLORERS IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES

XIV. THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW WORLD

XV. OTHERS HELP IN THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD

XVI. EARLY SPANISH EXPLORERS AND CONQUERORS OF THE MAINLAND

XVII. THE SPANISH EXPLORERS OF NORTH AMERICA

XVIII. RIVALRY AND STRIFE IN EUROPE

XIX. FIRST FRENCH ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE AMERICA

XX. THE ENGLISH AND THE DUTCH TRIUMPH OVER SPAIN

XXI. THE ENGLISH PEOPLE ATTEMPT TO SETTLE AMERICA

REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS

INDEX AND PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY



INTRODUCTORY AMERICAN HISTORY



CHAPTER I

THE SCATTERED CHILDREN OF EUROPE


THE EMIGRANT AND WHAT HE BRINGS TO AMERICA. The emigrant who lands
at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or any other seaport, brings with
him something which we do not see. He may have in his hands only a
small bundle of clothing and enough money to pay his railroad fare to
his new home, but he is carrying another kind of baggage more valuable
than bundles or boxes or a pocket full of silver or gold. This other
baggage is the knowledge, the customs, and the memories he has brought
from the fatherland.

He has already learned in Europe how to do the work at which he hopes
to labor in America. In his native land he has been taught to obey the
laws and to do his duty as a citizen. This fits him to share in our
self-government. He also brings great memories, for he likes to think
of the brave and noble deeds done by men of his race. If he is a
religious man, he worships God just as his forefathers have for
hundreds of years. To understand how the emigrant happens to know what
he does and to be what he is, we must study the history of the country
from which he comes.

ALL AMERICANS ARE EMIGRANTS. If this is true of the newcomer, it is
equally true of the rest of us, for we are all emigrants. The Indians
are the only native Americans, and when we find out more about them we
may learn that they, too, are emigrants. If we follow the history of
our families far enough back, we shall come upon the names of our
forefathers who sailed from Europe. They may have come to America in
the early days when there were only a few settlements scattered along
our Atlantic coast, or they may have come since the Revolutionary War
changed the English colonies into the United States.

Like the Canadians, the South Americans, and the Australians, we are
simply Europeans who have moved away. The story of the Europe in which
our forefathers lived is, therefore, part of our story. In order to
understand our own history we must know something of the history of
England, France, Germany, Italy, and other European lands.

WHAT THE EARLY EMIGRANTS BROUGHT. If we read the story of our
forefathers before they left Europe, we shall find answers to several
important questions. Why, we ask, did Columbus seek for new lands or
for new ways to lands already known? How did the people of Europe live
at the time he discovered America? What did they know how to do? Were
they skilful in all sorts of work, or were they as rude and ignorant
as the Indians on the western shores of the Atlantic?

The answers which history will give to these questions will say that
the first emigrants who landed on our shores brought with them much of
the same knowledge and many of the same customs and memories which
emigrants bring nowadays and which we also have. It is true that since
the time the first settlers came men have found out how to make many
new things. The most important of these are the steam-engine, the
electric motor, the telegraph, and the telephone. But it is surprising
how many important things, which we still use, were made before
Columbus saw America.

[Illustration: A MODERN STEAMSHIP AND AN EARLY SAILING VESSEL
The early emigrants came in small sailing vessels and suffered great
hardships]

For one thing, men knew how to print books. This art had been
discovered during the boyhood of Columbus.