This book is intended as an historical reader, an elementary text-book in the history of our country, or as an introduction or supplement to any of the excellent text-books on the history of the United States now in use. The aim has been not only to interest children in the great men of their own country, but to stimulate them to the cultivation of the lofty virtues of which they read, and to instil within their hearts a deep love for their native land. All the main facts in our early history have been given as simply and vividly as possible, and the lessons of patriotism, truthfulness, courage, patience, honesty, and industry taught by the lives of our principal heroes are carefully enforced. Great pains have also been taken to relate all the well-known anecdotes and quote the famous speeches which are so frequently alluded to in our current literature.
Excerpt from The Story of the Thirteen Colonies This book is intended as an historical reader, an elementary text-book in the history of our country, or as an introduction or supplement to any of the excellent text-books on the history of the United States now in use. The aim has been not only to interest children in the great men of their own country, but to stimulate them to the cultiva tion of the lofty virtues of which they read, and to instil within their hearts a deep love for their native land. All the main facts in our early history have been given as sim ply and vividly as possible, and the lessons of patriotism, truth fulness, courage, patience, honesty, and industry taught by the lives of our principal heroes are carefully enforced. Great pains have also been taken to relate all the well-known anecdotes and quote the famous speeches which are so frequently alluded to in our current literature. Although this book ends with the Revolutionary War, the story of our country is continued on the same lines in a companion volume entitled The Story of the Great Republic; yet each book is independent of the other and can be used separately. So simply worded as to be easily intelligible to average children of ten or twelve years of age, the text is further arranged in short paragraphs, to facilitate its use as a reader in large classes. 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.
The story of our country really began way back in the history of England in the year 1215 when King John of England was forced by some of his barons to sign a document called the Magna Carta. This document, among other things, prevented the king from taxing the barons without their consent. King John had driven England nearly to bankruptcy because he spent so much money to fund his continual participation in the Crusades. (The Crusades were a period in history when Christian knights tried to take back the Holy Land, which had been conquered by the Muslims.) The barons were tired of being taxed to pay for his wars. This document was essentially a document in medieval times to clarify the differences between the three powers in England at the timethe Catholic Church, the king, and the barons. This is an important document because it was the first time in history that people other than the king or the church were given some powers. It did nothing about grant rights to the peasants and the merchant class. This is important because it was the very first time in the history of the world that the king and the church had their powers curbed. Not one other country in the world at this time had a Magna Carta (many still dont), and this is important because it was the English who were the first ones to colonize the areas of our country, which was first known as the thirteen colonies. These colonists brought with them these truly revolutionary ideas of individual freedom.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Get a first hand look into the early days the North American Colonies. It is winter of 1724 in the North American colonies. With her mother sick in bed and her father away on business, Charlotte Sheppard is left to watch over her younger siblings and the family farm as a dangerous storm blows in overnight. Meanwhile, Charlotte's friend Elijah Coth is concerned that his immigrant family will return home to Holland after so many setbacks on their own farm. Readers (Ages 7-9) will join Charlotte and Elijah as they work together to make repairs and feed their families in the aftermath of the storm.
