Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

In the study of this period the teacher is earnestly recommended to have frequent recourse with his class to the documents which illustrate the history. Most of them can be found in convenient form in MacDonald’s “Documents,” in the “American History Leaflets,” in the “Old South Leaflets,” and in Hill’s “Liberty Documents,” a comparatively recent publication. For further reading, the teacher is recommended not only to the standard histories of the United States like Schouler’s, and McMaster’s, but also to the exhaustive work of Henry Adams, “History of the United States in the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison.” Finally, there are the three or four diplomatic histories of the United States of which the best are John B. Moore’s “American Foreign Policy,” Hart’s “Foundations of the American Foreign Policy” and John W. Foster’s “A Century of American Diplomacy.” In each of these works the teacher will find a thorough analysis of the Monroe Doctrine, its history and its application; should he desire to examine the Doctrine further, he will find material in two special studies: George F. Tucker’s “Monroe Doctrine,” and William F. Reddaway’s “Monroe Doctrine.” The first is an American presentation of the subject; the second that of an Englishman.

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Additional References.

(1) Lalor’s Cyclopædia under such headings as “Blockade,” “Contraband,” “Naturalisation,” “Neutrality,” etc.

(2) John Westlake, “International Law,” Part I, chapter x, on “Citizenship”; Part II, chapter vii, on “Blockades”; chapters ix and x on “Contraband.”

(3) William Hall, “International Law,” Part II, chapter v, on “Citizenship”; Part IV, chapters v and vi, on “Contraband”; chapter vii, on the privileges of “Free Ships”; chapter viii, on “Blockades.”

(4) Theodore D. Woolsey, “Introduction to the Study of International Law” (the standard American authority); Part I, chapter iii, on “Citizenship”; Part II, chapter ii, on “Neutral Trade.”

Ashley’s “American History”

REVIEWED BY H. R. TUCKER, McKINLEY HIGH SCHOOL, ST. LOUIS, MO.

Mr. Ashley has added another excellent text on American history to the numerous recent ones for secondary schools. The course of events is carried down to 1907. “The subjects have been grouped under topical heads. The author has hoped to indicate by this means the relation of each historical change to the movement of the times and the relation of this smaller movement to the larger phases of our development which are given in the chapters” (preface). The attention given to wars is agreeably less than in texts of some years ago,--only 100 pages out of 550. Industrial and social development, and economic phases are given 100 pages. These chapters are after the various epochal periods; they are complete and attractive. Over 100 pages are given to the period since the Civil War. All these proportions are in agreement with the general trend in historical instruction to-day. The relation of governmental institutions to historical development is especially clear.

The opening chapter is on geographic influences of America and the early European background. Such sections in the book as follows are illustrative of the clearness of topics usually difficult for high school pupils:--40, “English Puritans”; 87, “English Colonists and Their Governors,” where the temperament of governor is considered an important factor; 265, distinction between Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy; 330, “Fundamental causes of Secession”; 331, “Slavery and state sovereignty vs. nationality”; 337-345, “Conditions affecting Union Success.” It is a pleasure to note the comparative brief description of such complicated military or naval movements as the naval episodes of the War of 1812, the Shenandoah Valley campaign of the Civil War (1864), the Vicksburg campaign, &c. The author is quite fair in that period in which every American historian is most open to the charge of being prejudiced,--the Civil War. He shows an impartial attitude; he gives credit to both sides. The account is written in true historical perspective without discrediting the value of the final result. The bearing of lines of communication upon the course of wars are indicated. Many will appreciate the omission of the names of the assassins of the martyred President, probably the first school text to do this.

There are a few defects: It is not evident from the account of the Battle of Bunker Hill why it was called such, though fought on Breed’s Hill. Certainly J. Q. Adams’ name should be given in connection with the “gag resolution” of 1835. The sections of the copy of the national constitution should be subdivided into clauses for convenient reference. All of these points, however, are of minor importance and hardly detract from the general high scholarship of the text.

There are many illustrations, maps and diagrams which bear on the text. These are of a general high order, but some improvements might be made: Map, p. 58, of the New England colonies should be larger; also one on page 97 of the intercolonial war. No map of the important 1609 Virginia grant is given. Not enough as to parallels and coast points is indicated on the map of the Virginia, 1606, grant, p. 40. On the map of the Louisiana purchase, p. 255, the Sabine River should be noted. A map accompanying the description of the early Virginia campaign (Civil War) would be helpful. The map on page 400 is not clear; it would be improved by designating rivers and railroads differently. Not all the necessary rivers on map, p. 406, are named. Some of the maps are without scale of miles, _i. e._, p. 403, p. 406, &c. All these points are non-essentials, yet they are to be considered in the teaching of the subject.

The bibliographical aids are of several kinds. There are marginal references throughout the narrative, bearing directly upon it. At the close of each chapter there are two classes of references, “topics,” and “studies,” there being several (exact pages given) to the former, and one to each of the latter. There are from two to four topics; and the number of studies averages about ten. It will thus be seen that the text is arranged in such a way that much or little reference reading need be done, as the varying conditions permit.

Suggestive library lists are given. However, they would be more helpful to the busy, “small school” teacher if publisher and price were noted. There is a summary at the close of each chapter; also questions, which are not so much to test one’s memory of the subject as to lead him to independent thinking. The marginal analysis of the text is always helpful. The appendix includes Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and tables of President and Presidential elections, and statistics of states. The book is substantially bound and attractive from the bookmaker’s standpoint. The index is very full. The phraseology is clear and simple, and the book is entirely adapted to any year of the high school, or to more advanced classes, in view of the extensive references. Mr. Ashley has picked out the salient points in American history. From the standpoint of scholarship and pedagogical requirements, this text will take high rank.

[“American History.” By Roscoe Lewis Ashley. pp. xlvii, 557. The Macmillan Co., New York; $1.40, net.]

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NEW JERSEY HISTORY SYLLABUS.

The New Jersey State Department of Public Instruction has in press another section of its syllabus for secondary schools, covering the high school work in history, and divided into the four topics of Ancient, Mediæval and Modern, English and American. The committee which compiled the syllabus was composed of: Arthur Arnold, chairman; S. P. Howe, Jr., Lydia Lavell, Sara A. Dynes, Daniel C. Knowlton. The portion of the syllabus dealing with Ancient History is the work of Dr. Knowlton; Miss Lavell has arranged the European matter; Mr. Howe the English, and Miss Dynes the American.

Ancient History in the Secondary School

WILLIAM FAIRLEY, Ph.D., Editor.

A REVIEW.[6]

Not a review of the work we teachers have been doing with our friends, the ancient Greeks; but a digression which will be in some sort a review of a notable book will occupy us for a little. There has recently appeared The Lowell Lectures for 1908-9 by Professor John P. Mahaffy, of Trinity College, Dublin, on “What Have the Greeks Done for Modern Civilization.” The book is altogether helpful to the lover of the Greek world. And to him not only; but to the reader who through early limitations of culture may have but slight ideas of the importance of the Greeks, a reading of this book should be what to one brought up in the dim light of a cave or in the dense shadows of some vast forest would be a first glimpse of the glorious orb of day, the source of all the shaded light and all the warmth that had hitherto been his to enjoy without suspicion of the existence of the master light. Professor Mahaffy’s gladsome task is to impress the primacy of Greece in all our best thinking and truest living. He is indeed an enthusiast. Occasionally the judicious reader will question some of the results of his enthusiasm. But the author is the Nestor of the Greek scholars of the English-speaking world. He says of himself at the close of his lectures: “So now, when my part in the race is nearly run, there remains to me no higher earthly satisfaction than this, that I have carried the torch of Greek fire alight through a long life--no higher earthly hope than this, that I may pass that torch to others, who in their turn may keep it aflame with greater brilliancy perhaps, but not with more earnest devotion ‘in the Parliament of men the Federation of the world.’” He bitterly decries the modern displacement of the study of the Greek tongue and the knowledge of Greek life at first hand; but at the same time serves as an interpreter of what was best in Greece to those of us who are not quite at home in this language of queer type and involved syntax.

So in this close of our study of Greece for the current school year, let me earnestly recommend the perusal of this book to all teachers of our department. We cannot give a hundredth part of it to our pupils, now, or in later courses; but it will serve to imbue ourselves deeply with the Greek spirit, and help us to enforce the true value of our heritage from the Greeks, the master minds of all our thinking. Some of us will not have opportunity to read the book. For them let me try to give a few glimpses of its worth.

There are eight lectures: Introductory; Greek Poetry; Greek Prose; Greek Art--I: Poetry and Sculpture; II: Painting and Music; Science; Grammar, Logic, Mathematics, Medicine; Politics, Sociology, Law; Higher Thinking, Philosophy, Speculative and Practical Theology. The thesis of the whole is that the best in life is wrought out elaborately and with pains by men of deep thought and long reflection. It is a glorifying of the ideal as over against the modern rush of practicality.

In his introductory lecture Professor Mahaffy seeks not to account for the Greek preëminence--that cannot be done; but to assert it, as one might extol the sporadic genius of a Mozart. He then shows how the Romans and the men of medieval Europe failed to grasp, as our modern world since the Renaissance has been grasping, the real meaning of Greece. And here comes in his plea for the study of Greek. He writes: “The danger I see before this generation is that which came upon the Roman world insensibly and which resulted in a decadence not arrested till it sunk into the night of the dark ages. The later empire was content to take Greek art and Greek letters at second hand, and to substitute Latin culture for the models which had educated their greatest masters. But ... the copy had not the life of the original. So we, too, with all our science, with our increase of material knowledge and our joyless running to and fro may sink into an ugly, tame, joyless conglomeration of societies, for whom new discoveries supply hosts of new conveniences, but no return to the happiness and contentment of a simpler age.... Happiness does not lie here, no, nor in motors, nor in turbines, nor in wireless messages across the globe, nor in daily newspapers full of inextricable fact and falsehood.”

In the chapters devoted to literature with wealth of argument and illustration is pointed out our well-known debt for rhythm and meter, period and cadence. In specific cases: “There can be no question that in the oratory of debate the Greeks taught the Romans, then through them mediæval Europe, then, after the Renaissance, modern Europe directly, so that even now they are the acknowledged masters in this splendid art.” And: “The laws of prose composition, as devised and perfected by Isocrates, are the most subtle and complete ever put into practice by any living man.”

These supreme exemplars of prose and verse, he declares, have no lesson for us of unstudied eloquence and unpremeditated art. Everything was polished to the pitch of perfection with unremitting toil.

Architecture and sculpture reveal the highest glories of Greek art. The refinements of line by which optical delusion was corrected in the Parthenon are pointed out with admiration. Speaking of the frieze of the same temple, he remarks: “There is even this subtlety in the detail of the work--that, as this band of figures was intended to be seen high above the spectator, care was taken to carve the lower limbs in slightly flatter relief than the upper, and the limbs of the horses were even made a little lighter than in nature, in order to counterbalance the predominance which the part nearer to the spectator’s vision might assume.” Glimpses of genius--pains and skill--such as that are of high artistic, yes, and moral value to our youth. Attention is called to what so many of us ignore, that color was freely used in both building and sculpture. Our flat whites would have been unbearable to these masters. Their perfection in statuary is the loving despair of the world to-day.

In the chapter on science are a host of facts which are not unfamiliar to the scholar, but which serve to hush some of our modern boastfulness. Some things will be new to many readers. Such are the system of numerical notation, almost as simple as our Arabic digits. The extent of Greek mathematical investigation is better known. Of great interest is the account of Greek medicine, which got so far beyond the nostrums, the philtres and superstitions to which medieval quackery returned.

In politics is found the weak point of Greece; yet even here we must use the historical perspective. And thus, by contrast, this ancient advance over Oriental thraldoms and tyrannies is all the more wonderful.

In matters of private law it is almost startling to come across a will like this, taken from a papyrus of Græcised Egypt: “This is the will of Peisias the Lycian, son of X., of sound mind and deliberate intention. May it be my lot to live on in health and manage mine own property, but should anything human happen to me, I bequeath to my children so much, to my wife such and such things, I set free certain slaves; I set apart money for religious purposes. And I appoint as executors such and such people.” A will like this would be admitted to probate in any surrogate’s court to-day.

The chapters on philosophy and theology are necessarily deep, but of supreme importance. For in them we are reminded of how by pure thinking the Greeks anticipated the best and latest of our modern thought. The atomic theory, the unity of the universe, the oneness of God, the eternal sanctions of the right, the high behests of the moral law, were all worked out over two thousand years ago.

“If the time should ever come when men will no longer be led by revelation, when they will reject miracle and prophecy, and determine to be led by the mere light of reason ... there will still remain the ethical types which Zeno and Epicurus have crystallized in their systems--there will always remain the man of duty and the man of pleasure, the man who lives for others and he who lives for himself, in terms of modern philosophic jargon, the Altruist and the Egoist, the Spiritualist and the Materialist.”

It were well for our youth and their teachers to bow before a race who in that dim and early age could think the thoughts and set in motion the influences which are most vital among us of the later time.

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The Fall of the Curtain.

A formal presentation of the closing scenes of purely Greek history is precluded by the foregoing notice of Professor Mahaffy’s work. It may suffice to point out the three subjects most worthy of emphasis. These may well be: 1, the failure of the Greek federations before and after Alexander, owing to jealousies; 2, the extent and the political failure of the work of Alexander, and 3, the Hellenizing of the Mediterranean basin and the lasting benefits accruing therefrom.

FOOTNOTE:

[6] What Have the Greeks Done for Modern Civilization? The Lowell Lectures for 1908-9 by John P. Mahaffy, C. V. O., D. C. L., (Oxon.), of Trinity College, Dublin, Pp., ix, 263. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Price, $2.50.

European History in the Secondary School

D. C. KNOWLTON, PH.D., Editor.

THE RELIGIOUS WARS.

Some General Considerations.

The long period of struggle which followed the reform movement of the sixteenth century seems of comparatively little importance beside the revolt itself; and yet it offers possibilities of treatment which the secondary teacher cannot well afford to neglect. The modern tendency in text-book writing has been to suppress the details of wars in order to allow for a fuller treatment of other phases of development. Assuming that the teachers of the past generation, and not a few of the present day, have been laying too much emphasis on details of this character, the pendulum has seemed at times to swing too far in the direction of elimination and condensation in the treatment of great epoch making wars. Many an opportunity has thereby been neglected of inculcating great truths which could more easily be exemplified by stories drawn from the battlefield than from less stirring episodes. Wars are often presented in so cursory a fashion as to convey little idea of their real character and significance. They become little less than dry summaries of causes and effects and are stripped altogether of that personal element which is so necessary to the attainment of the best results in history teaching. The possibility of utilizing these struggles as a correlating element has usually been farthest from the thought of the teacher, or at best been but imperfectly realized. The religious wars afford the teacher not only the possibility of vivid biographic treatment, but may serve to bind the closer certain common lines of development peculiar to the Europe of the latter part of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century.

Luther and the Beginnings of the Protestant Revolt.

There can be but very little choice of method in the presentation of the facts connected with the beginnings of the Protestant revolt. Luther’s life must be taken up in more or less detail and the attention directed to the various influences with which he came in contact. To secure a proper understanding of the effects of his teachings, the political as well as the religious background of his endeavors must be carefully sketched. Little difficulty will probably be experienced in showing how the Renaissance movement became intimately associated with church reform as it passed the barriers of the Alps and took hold of the more serious-minded Germans. This connection is much easier to establish from the fact that the attention of the class has already been drawn to the part taken by Erasmus in the Renaissance proper. The question will probably arise as to how far the teacher should delve into the more distant past to resurrect the various efforts at reform which marked the earlier centuries. Any opportunity for a résumé of this character should be heartily welcomed, as it serves better than any formal review to test the grasp by the student of the facts already covered. When the teacher is ready to take up the revolt itself, there is apparently but one logical method of securing results, and that is to present Luther’s life in as much detail as time will permit, showing how he felt himself driven by the force of his own logic into a position entirely antagonistic to the Church as it was then established. The parting of the ways is reached with the great scene at Worms. Contrary to his expectations, his protest within the Church had made him not only its avowed enemy, but the founder of a new sect.

Characteristics of Period from 1521 to 1648.

It is a comparatively easy matter to dispose of the remaining events in this drama in which Luther, the Emperor and the Pope are the main actors; but in what connection, and in how much detail, shall the teacher present the beginnings of the reform movement in other countries, the counter movement in the Catholic Church, and the struggles which arose over questions of religion in every land where Protestantism secured a foothold? The fact that sooner or later the struggle between Catholics and Protestants resolved itself into a civil war of considerable proportions makes it possible to utilize these struggles as the principal unifying element in the treatment of the entire period from 1521 to 1648. This plan differs from the ordinary arrangement of material to be found in the text-book in that it places less stress upon the beginnings of the reform movement outside of Germany, subordinating these details to the wars as the central theme and directing the attention of the student only to such events as help to explain the character of these struggles. The teacher must, however, bear in mind throughout that “the story of no European country or group of countries in this troubled period admits of being told as detached from the contemporary history of its neighbors, allies, or adversaries.”[7] Beyond emphasizing the fact that the revolt spread to other lands, it is a question whether the time is wisely spent in treating in detail the Calvinistic movement emanating from Geneva, or the beginnings of Presbyterianism in Scotland, or the overthrow of Catholicism in England. The one central idea which the student should grasp as a result of his study of the period--an idea which is decidedly within the range of his comprehension and appreciation--is that religion, which had long been a dominant factor in European politics, now lost its power to sway the political destinies of thrones and empires. In fact a new era had dawned in which the Church found itself removed from politics and the world given over to interests of quite a different character. This change may be illustrated further along by the insignificant part taken by the representatives of the Pope in the deliberations concerning the Treaties of Westphalia.

The growth of toleration should also be noted as an important characteristic of this new period. Finally the student’s attention may with profit be directed to the general tendency in these struggles toward the subordination of the higher interests of religion to selfish and dynastic interests. Time and again religion serves merely as a cloak for the concealment of ambitions of the most secular character. The ideals of true religion were perhaps never more perverted from their true ends and made to serve the basest and lowest uses.

Outline of Plan of Presentation.

After calling attention briefly to the fact that this spirit of revolt manifested itself in other countries, a logical plan of presentation would be first to discuss the ineffectual efforts of the Emperor Charles V and Pope Leo X to check the movement as it spread through Germany, with an explanation of their failures; then to describe the more successful efforts in this direction taken within the church itself and known as the Counter Reformation; and finally to introduce Philip II as the great champion of orthodoxy, devoting his entire energies and the resources of a great empire to the superhuman task of restoring the church to its former position of power and influence. His career calls up Alva’s efforts to subdue the Netherlands, and that heroic figure, William the Silent; and the sailing of the Great Armada.

One semi-religious war, if not two, have already been under discussion in connection with these efforts to suppress the revolt, the Dutch War of Independence and the Spanish Armada. Here is apparently the proper place to introduce the other struggles, beginning with the Thirty Years’ War in Germany, then taking up in turn the Huguenot wars in France and the Puritan Revolution in England, and closing the period with the sequel to this last struggle, The Glorious Revolution of 1688.

The Thirty Years’ War.

It is natural to turn to Germany first in presenting the religious wars because of the greater familiarity of the student with conditions there. The order becomes thereby strictly chronological, as the Schmalkaldic War broke out in 1546; or, in other words, earlier by several years than either of the other struggles. This war gave rise to the Peace of Augsburg, which was a source of so much discontent that it has been counted as one of the great factors in bringing on the main struggle. Among the points which seem to call for special emphasis are the mixture of religious and political causes underlying the struggle, and the general participation of many of the great powers of Western Europe. This fact served to prolong the war and to give it a more European character and a wider significance. It was not merely a question of _cujus regio, ejus religio_, but of important dynastic and territorial interests. The efforts directed toward the overthrow of the power of the Hapsburgs and the peculiar interests of Denmark, Sweden and England in the contest call for special emphasis. The power of the Hapsburgs in the time of Charles V and later can be shown to good advantage by the use of outline maps. At least three great personalities dominate the scene, Wallenstein, Richelieu and Gustavus Adolphus, all of whom furnish rich material for biographical study. Although it is possible to follow the campaigns with an atlas like Putzger, this study is comparatively barren of results except as it throws light upon the military genius of a Wallenstein or on the prowess of “The Lion of the North.” The effects of the war were to be seen in Germany in the weakness of the central government and in the wretchedness and misery consequent upon thirty years of marching and countermarching on the part of hostile armies. The picture sketched by Gardiner in his Thirty Years’ War is well nigh incredible. The territorial changes which followed the war can best be shown by the preparation of a map. They are much more readily appreciated if they appear by themselves. (See, for example, the map in Harding, “Essentials,” p. 339, or Wakeman “Ascendancy of France, 1598-1715,” p. 124.)

The French Wars of Religion.

The treatment of the religious wars in France will differ slightly from that of the Thirty Years’ War, as it becomes necessary in this connection to introduce a few facts about Calvinism. This need not involve much more than the briefest possible statement of what Calvin taught, pointing out how his teachings appealed to the intellect and the understanding rather than to the emotions, as did those of Luther. As a result the Huguenots counted among their numbers some of the best families of France. The personal element can be made very prominent in these struggles, as it was largely the intrigues of two families, the Guises and the Bourbons, aided and abetted by the Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici, which kept France embroiled for all these years. Here, too, is to be noted the same situation which prevailed in Germany, namely, the apparent powerlessness of the French people to solve their own religious and dynastic troubles alone without the interference of outside nations, notably England and Spain. Selfish and dynastic interests seem to have decidedly the upper hand here as contrasted with Germany. Much can be made of such dramatic episodes as the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the conversion of the Huguenot leader, Henry of Navarre. The edict of Nantes and its effect upon France should be contrasted with the religious clauses in the Treaties of Westphalia. The great problem which this settlement raised of a state within a state, made necessary the work of Richelieu, whose career can now be rounded out by showing how he was laboring for one and the same end in his treatment of the Huguenots at home and his support of the Protestants abroad. French history is thus brought down to the age of Louis XIV.

The Puritan Revolution.

The English struggle can be discussed along much the same lines as the wars in France and Germany. More time should perhaps be given to pointing out the effects of the Renaissance on England and the great intellectual, economic, social, and religious changes which had come to pass in the time of the Tudors. Their reigns mark the great period in English history. The dominant characteristic of English development, the growth of liberty, which had often placed England in sharp contrast with the continent was never more prominently displayed than during the period under consideration. The Great Civil War partakes of the twofold character of the continental wars. It marks on the one hand a struggle between two religious sects; on the other a contest between the king and the representatives of the people. The prominence of this second phase, the fact that it was a struggle between two Protestant sects instead of between Catholics and Protestants, and that it took place so long after the general upheaval following the break with Rome, have served to isolate it more or less from the struggles on the continent. The gains for freedom, which were the final outcome of this struggle, differentiate it from those in France and Germany. Henry IV and Richelieu prepared the way for the absolutism of Louis XIV. In Germany the disorganization and demoralization of the central government placed the destinies of the German people in the hands of rival princes, whose political creed may be summed up in the words of Frederick William I of Prussia, “Salvation belongs to the Lord; everything else is my business.” The rulers of England, on the contrary, were forced to recognize the power of parliament to control their ministers, and more important still, to acknowledge the sovereign people as the ultimate source of their power and authority. The admission of this principle of government was not entirely the work of the Puritan Revolution, but needed the additional lesson of the tyranny and overthrow of James II. Not the least important among the benefits which the movement of 1688 conferred upon England was the general recognition of the principle of toleration.

The opportunity which this method affords the teacher of contrasting English conditions with those on the continent should lead to a better understanding and appreciation of England’s relation to and part in general European progress. Her internal history furnishes another illustration of the great characteristic of this period, the passing of religious questions from the sphere of politics and the appearance of issues of an entirely different character.

Bibliography.

The text-book will probably be found to furnish all the material needed for the presentation of this period, with the possible exception of details of a biographical character. “The Heroes of the Nations” series contains good biographies of Gustavus Adolphus, by C. R. L. Fletcher; of Henry IV, by P. F. Willert, and of Cromwell, by Charles Firth. These may be supplemented by the volumes in the “Foreign Statesmen Series,” on Richelieu, by R. Lodge; on William the Silent, by Frederic Harrison, and on Philip II, by Martin Hume. The volumes in the “Epochs of Modern History Series,” which cover this period, The Thirty Years’ War and the Puritan Revolution, by S. R. Gardiner, furnish considerable supplementary information in a convenient and compact form. The best atlases are probably Putzger, and Gardiner (“Atlas of English History”).

FOOTNOTE:

[7] Cambridge Modern History, Vol. III. Preface.

History in the Grades

ARMAND J. GERSON, Editor.

THE ADMISSION OF MISSOURI.

A Type Lesson.

Happily our pupils nowadays are no longer compelled to commit to memory lists of the states admitted during each administration. While we are all agreed as to the futility of this antiquated practice we must at the same time recognize that no pupil should leave our schools without a fairly definite idea of the process by which new states are created. This knowledge is essential to a comprehension of the present condition of the nation and of its development in the future. It is the purpose of the present article to show how a grasp of the process of admitting states may be developed by means of the story of the admission of some one typical state.

Vermont and Kentucky at once suggest themselves because of the very early date of their formation. To these states, however, as to others admitted in the first few administrations, there is the objection that their admission was not typical of the process. This is due to their previous dependence upon or relation to some of the original states. Missouri, on the other hand, lying west of the Mississippi, may be said to typify most of the states subsequently admitted. Another reason for the choice of Missouri lies in the fact that our courses of study require us to present the subject of the Missouri Compromise, thus furnishing the best excuse in the world for developing in that connection our type-lesson on the admission of new states.

The first point that should be developed is the relation between the national government and the territory of the United States. Only one definite reference to this relation occurs in the federal constitution. In Art. IV, section 3, we find this statement: “The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States.” We should impress our pupils with the significance of this clause which places in the hands of the national legislature complete control over United States territory. The wide extent of land which had come into our possession by the Louisiana Purchase could be disposed of by Congress in any way that it might see fit. In this land lay the future state of Missouri.

Having thus given due consideration to the general relation between the United States government and the territory which it owns, we should pass next to the question of the creation of new states. Our pupils are presumably acquainted with the necessity of referring to the Constitution for any reference to a matter of fundamental national law. It might be worth while to have the children themselves find the Constitutional provision which relates to the admission of states. The first part of Art. IV, section 3, provides that “new states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union,”--the rest of the clause, as far as our present purpose is concerned, may be dispensed with. Attention should be called to the extreme indefiniteness of this provision and to the general fact that while the Constitution gives Congress full control of United States territory and further delegates to it the power to admit new states, the actual mode of procedure has been left to Congress itself to work out.

The ordinance of 1787 next calls for reference and rapid review. For the purposes of this lesson the ordinance is important as having furnished the type of territory destined to become an integral part of our political organization. Further, it had made definite provision for the future admission of states to be carved out of the Northwest territory. To be sure, this ordinance was the work of the Continental Congress, but it had been re-enacted by the first Congress under the Constitution as early as 1789. The process mapped out in this famous ordinance had already furnished the model for the creation of territories and the admission of states in various parts of the country.

The territory of Missouri, originally as we have said a part of the Louisiana Purchase, was organized by act of Congress June 4, 1812. The class must be brought to see the significance of this organization. As a territory Missouri had definite boundaries and an organized government. It had a governor appointed by the President of the United States, and a territorial legislature. It of course had no voice in national affairs, and was in last resort subject to the will of Congress.

A flood of immigration from the eastern states rapidly increased the population of the new territory. It may be well, because of the subsequent significance of the fact, to point out that a large pro-slavery element had made repeated unsuccessful attempts to secure for slavery the states which so far had been made from the Northwest Territory. The anti-slavery provision of the Northwest Ordinance, however, continued to hold good, and slave holders began to look across the Mississippi for the extension of their dominion. So rapid was the increase of population in Missouri that in less than six years after its organization as a territory we find it seeking admission as a state. In the early months of 1818 several memorials were presented in the House petitioning for statehood, and on April 3 of that year an enabling act was introduced.

The discussion of the enabling act constitutes one of the most important “type elements” of our lesson. Normally the passing of such an act by Congress must be regarded as the first step in the transition of a territory to a state. There are, to be sure, some striking instances where states have been admitted without the previous passage of an enabling act by Congress--Texas and California are cases in point--but in our type lesson we are concerned with the normal practice only. We must develop in our pupils the idea of an enabling act as the authorization of a territory by Congress to adopt a state constitution and present itself for admission into the Union on equal terms with the other states; the act further fixes the boundaries of the prospective state.

As we have already mentioned, an enabling act for the admission of Missouri had been introduced into the House as early as April 3, 1818. The passage of the final Missouri Enabling Act, however, did not take place until March 6, 1820. The fact that this delay was caused by the bitter fight over slavery extension must by all means be emphasized, but the history of the struggle in Congress,--of the amendments, references, committee reports, etc., is far too complex to form a part of any elementary lesson. It will be sufficient if our pupils understand that there was a constant struggle to preserve the balance of slave and free states, and grasp the significance of the admission of Alabama in 1819 and of the application of Maine in that same year.

The Enabling Act of 1820, as typical of enabling acts in general, should receive careful attention. Section 1 authorizes the people of the territory of Missouri “to form for themselves a constitution and state government, and to assume such name as they shall deem proper.”