COPYRIGHT, 1913, 1918, 1919, BY

CARL RUSSELL FISH.

COPYRIGHT, 1913, in Great BriTAIN.

DEV. AMER. NATIONALITY.

E. P. 2

THE authors hope that this "Short History of the American People" may serve the purposes of two classes of readers. They have aimed, in the first instance, to provide for college undergraduates pursuing an introductory course in American history, a general manual which will embody, in some measure at least, the enlarged knowledge and the new points of view made possible by the results of research in recent years. They believe also that this history will meet the requirements of the general reader who desires a comprehensive view of the subject within reasonable compass. For the student and the general reader alike, it is hoped that the bibliographical notes may point the way to more extended studies.

The aim of the authors is not so much to present a balanced narrative of events, as to describe those movements and forces which have left their permanent impress upon the national character and institutions. The first volume (The Foundations of American Nationality, before 1789) deals with the molding of the varied European elements and the several detached colonies into an independent and united nation; the second (The Development of American Nationality, 1783 to the Present Time) deals with the development of the nation so formed. While any division of the subject matter of history occasions perplexity and disagreement, the authors believe that the character of the problems confronting the people of the time, and the character of the materials which the historian must employ, permanently differentiate the colonial period from the national, and that the two can best be treated by different men. In order, however, that each author might have full liberty to express his views, the volumes overlap for the period 1783 to 1789.

PREFACE TO VOLUME II

THE aim of the author, in writing this volume, has been to exhibit American history as a development. The central point of view has been the political, with the idea that the American people have expressed themselves more fully in their political life than elsewhere, and more so than has been the case with most other nations. To make clear this political development, the various factors, economic, social, intellectual, and moral, which from time to time have, by their interaction, contributed to it, have been treated in as much detail as the author believes their relative importance entitles them to. It cannot be hoped that any such selection of contributing factors will prove universally satisfactory, but the greater vitality which this method gives is felt to more than counterbalance the criticism that might be avoided by a more conventional treatment. With respect to military history, the author has departed from the standard of relative values, and given it less space than its real importance demands, believing that most persons possess a better knowledge of this than of other fields, owing to the interest which it seems to hold for them during their high school age.

As the chief purpose of this book is to serve as a text for use in college classes, the author calls attention to three assumptions that he has made with reference to college students: first, that they have some general knowledge of American history; second, that they will make some use of collateral reading; third, that they have somewhat more maturity of mind than students in high schools, and may be expected to grasp more fundamental ideas and to comprehend a greater complexity of causal relations. With these

assumptions in mind, it has been felt possible to eliminate some of the more commonly known facts, and to disregard chronology to a greater degree than is advisable in books for the use of less mature students. In thus adapting American history, the author has been guided by a ten years' experience in presenting the period under review to students of this type.

The bibliographical notes given at the end of the chapters are not intended to supply references for extensive topic work, which must always be molded to the capacity of the libraries available; or to give authority to the text. Their sole purpose is to suggest supplementary reading. The aim has not been to make the lists long, but to give those references which have been found most useful in actual class-room work. In general, reference has not been made to rare works now out of print, but to material apt to be at hand in the average college library. With this point in mind extensive use has been made of publications of learned societies. References to the same work have seldom been repeated at the end of the several chapters, and in the absence of the articles specifically noted, many general histories might well be used to supplement other chapters than those in connection with which they are mentioned. No attempt has been made to equalize the references at the close of the several chapters, and it is the belief of the author that reading on some subjects is much more valuable than on others, and that students should not be encouraged to expect mechanical assignments of equal length to supplement the work of each subject or each week. The author believes in the value of general reading in the sources even more than in the reading of important special documents, and the source references are to such material as is readily available.