"This book is intended to be used as a supplementary historical reader for ... our public schools, or for any other pupils from twelve to fifteen years of age. It is also designed for collateral reading in connection with the study of a formal text-book on American history. The period here included is the first fifty years of our national life. No attempt has been made, however, to present a connected account, or to furnish a bird's-eye view, of this half century. It is the universal testimony of experienced teachers that such materials as are pervaded with reality serve a useful purpose with...