OUR ANCESTORS IN EUROPE AN INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY - Hardback book by JENNIE HALL, Francis W. Parker School, Chicago
- Edited by J. Montgomery Gambrill and Lida Lee Tall
- Over 425 pages
- COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY
According to the INTRODUCTION: " IT is still generally admitted that the most important history for every child is that of his own country, but happily the old narrow conception of the American story as a thing apart from the rest of the world seems to be rapidly passing. The roots of American civilization are in Europe. Our beginnings and early development form a part of one of the most far-reaching changes of history: the expansion of Europe beyond the ancient limits of the Mediterranean world, the discovery of the American continents, the opening of direct sea routes to India and the far East, the commercial revolution, the first stages of the Europeanization of the world. Only in the larger setting can the history of the United States become really intelligible. If we are to understand our own country and how it came to be what it is, we must know something of our ancestors in Europe and of the heritage we have received from them. " According TO TEACHERS: " " HAVE we always been what we are ? " " Why are we so like Europeans and unlike Chinamen ? " " Men and animals grow; does civilization grow ? " " Before America what was there ? " Thoughtful children ask themselves such questions. Less thoughtful ones ought to be led to ask them. The inquiring attitude of mind, the question formed on the lips or in the brain, are the necessary preludes to right study. The moment such a question is voiced is the psychological moment for opening this book. As children continue to read, this initial question should pass through Protean changes and should become at every stage more definite. " What have we learned from the Greeks ? " " How did men learn more about the earth than they knew at first ? " " " Under purposeful teachings, teaching that trains intelligence rather than crams with facts, such questions will be continually forming. " Contents includes: " PART I. THE ANCIENT WORLD I. GREECE, THE EXPLORER AND TEACHER The World before Our Time Early Greek Exploration Ancient Peoples of the Mediterranean Colonization II. WHAT GREECE HAD TO TEACH THE WORLD Religion Art The Olympic Games Greek Cities Athens Education Government III. GREECE AND HER NEIGHBORS The Persian War The Delian Confederacy Macedon Conquers the World Greek Influence on Civilization IV. ROME GROWS STRONG Rome Conquers Italy Roman Life V. ROME CONQUERS THE WORLD How Rome Conquered Carthage Rome's Conquest of the East Cæsar's War in Gaul Conquest Changes the Romans VI. THE ROMAN EMPIRE How Rome Ruled the World A New Religion in the Ancient World Results of Roman Rule PART II. THE NEWER NATIONS VII. THE BARBARIAN CONQUERORS The Germans The Conquest of the Goths The Franks Charlemagne's Empire The Vikings VIII. HOW GERMANY AND FRANCE BEGAN Charlemagne's Empire Divided Germany France IX. HOW ENGLAND BEGAN The Angles and Saxons Take Britain The Reign of King Alfred The Norman Conquest The Good Laws of Henry II King John and the Great Charter X. CASTLE LIFE Feudalism, or How Men Got Land The Castle A Siege The Warlike Spirit of the Age Knightly Ideals and Training Knightly Pleasures The time of Chivalry XI. THE WORKERS Farmers Townsmen Traders XII. RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE AGES Christian Missionaries Church Organization Monasteries Saints and Pilgrimages Mohammedanism, the New Religion in Asia The Crusades PART III. BEGINNINGS OF OUR OWN TIMES XIII. GREAT CHANGES National States How the World Began to Read A Change in Religion XIV. SHIPS IN STRANGE SEAS Early Sailors and Their Ways Wanted: A New Route to India Portugal's Great Explorers Spanish Ships in a New World Rival Explorers The Results of a Century's Work XV. SPAIN AND HER RIVALS Spaniards in America Spain and Her Enemies: 1. France Spain and Her Enemies: 2. The Netherlands Spain and Her Enemies: 3. England England in America England's Rivals in the New World IMPORTANT DATES FURTHER READING INDEX LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS " This book is in good condition for its age. The cover is worn and the pages look very dirty from the side view. No torn or ripped pages. The previous owner's name is written on the first blank page. |