Excerpt from First Lessons in Our Country's History The extension of the study of United States History the lower grades of our schools has suggested the need of a class-book fitted to their wants. Of histories which the child may read by the mother's knee there is no lack; but this is not what is required for school study, which must not only convey impressions, but impart a certain amount of available knowledge. In the present manual, the author has sought to supply this want. In doing so, he has aimed at two things as desirable: - The first is, to bring out to prominent view the salient points of our country's history, and such only. In so great a mass of details, selection was necessary; for when thousands of facts are put before the child's mind, and everything is made equally important, it simply results that everything becomes equally unimportant. Hence the author has endeavored to apply the principles of historical perspective to his treatment, - to subordinate minutiæ of date and place and number and circumstance, and bring to the foreground prominent and vital facts. The second thing the author has aimed at is, to be simple in the mode of presentation without falling into the prevalent sin of children's histories, to wit, silliness in point of matter. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.