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Progress from

to 19th

century

until improved by James Watt that it became really efficient, and then combined with the inventions for spinning and weaving to effect an industrial revolution about the beginning of the nineteenth century.

In the thousands of years between the early uses of stone tools or first discovery of iron and the industrial savage life revolution of a century ago men had made progress chiefly by discovering how to unite. They united was chiefly mainly for two purposes: either for war in armies, or for trade and protection in cities. They learned how to govern and keep order. In cities they built beautiful buildings and gained skill in various crafts. They began to struggle for liberty. They found ways to make law protect them against rulers as well as against burglars and thieves.

in social

(

1

life

Four

stages up to 19th century

The two events: (1) The

The main stages in man's progress in the real business of living down to about the beginning of the nineteenth century will then be:

I. Early society in tribes or clans with its inventions, mode of getting a living, and customs for regulating life.

II. Society in military groups when men had learned how to cultivate land and to unite into states.

III. Society in towns where trade grew, and arts and crafts could be practised, and

IV. First steps toward Liberty and Justice. This will bring us to the great inventions of about a hundred years ago. A new order begins then in the Industrial way of getting a living and this has brought our present Revolution problems as to what is the right way to do business. This brings us also to the foundation of our nation by the Revolution of 1775 and the adoption of the Constitution in 1789 which decided what sort of country we should have. The life of American citizens today

(2) Found

ing of the

American nation

and the tasks which confront them are largely determined by those great events.

Beginning now our survey with a look at savage Savage life, we note that we do not have to go back so life very far into the past. It is not many centuries since most of our forefathers, if they were British, or German, or Scandinavian, or Slav, lived as savages or at least as barbarians. A little longer ago Greeks and Italians, and still longer ago Jews, lived likewise a savage or roaming life. Some had no iron tools, but used stone for axes as well as for arrow heads. In this they were like the American Indians. Like the Indians, most of them hunted and fished; like the Indians, too, they lived in clans or tribes and had customs of blood revenge. We can use many features from Indian life to help us imagine how our own ancestors lived and what their customs were.

One point we do well to keep in mind. When we speak of savages or indeed of people who lived long ago we are likely to think that they were very different from ourselves and perhaps quite inferior. But we must remember that our own ancestors lived as savages; so we cannot assume that the savage is necessarily inferior to the civilized man in his ability. And as regards the actual fact, to discover fire and how to use it, to make a bow and arrow, to make the first pottery, to weave the first cloth, and to make the first iron tools were as great achievements as man has since performed.

The great difference between early men and civilized men today is not in their brains. The reason why the American or European today is able to make so much better a showing is because he has inherited so great

difference

between

savage and civilized

a stock of ideas and ways of doing things. These inherited ideas come to us not only through books and The great through the teaching of our parents, and of skilled workmen, but also in our tools, our grains, plants, and fruits, our written language, our knowledge of numbers, and in fact the copies or patterns for all kinds of arts which are all about us. These stimulate the mind of the little child as soon as he opens his eyes, and a large part of the life of all of us consists in just walking up the stairs which our forefathers have built ready for us. Many of us never build a single new stair. The best of us build only a few stairs.

men

Getting a living in early times

In studying the life of early man it is natural to begin by asking how he got his living. We may conveniently approach the answer by repeating the question in a more personal form and contrasting early with present life: What would a young man in early times expect to do for a living? What occupation would he follow?

The boy of today who leaves school, especially if he lives in a city, or goes to the city to seek his fortune, sees a great many kinds of factories, shops, and offices. But very likely he has to look a good while before he finds a place. A clever artist has sketched in a series of cartoons the history of a young high school graduate, going from office to office, and keeping up a plucky search for work for week after week. The difference between this condition and that of the boy in early society is that now there are many occupations but no sure place for any particular boy; then, there was only one occupation, but every boy or girl was sure of a place.

There was only one occupation—rather there were two main sets of occupations, one for men and one for

women. The man in general had to protect the women and children, and to capture the game. As an Australian put it, "A man hunts, spears fish, fights, and sits about." The women gathered roots or seeds, ground them, cooked, wove, made baskets or pottery, carried water, cared for the children. And both men

and women had to make the weapons or tools they needed. In many cases men and women were very careful not to have anything to do with the tools or weapons of the other sex. These were "taboo "; it was regarded as dangerous for the other sex to touch them. A man might become weak if he meddled with woman's things. But practically all men in the same tribe did the same kind of work.

The other interesting fact was that every boy was sure of a place. This was because the family or clan or tribe all hung together. As the children grew up they stayed with their family or clan. They did not go off to the city to seek their fortune. They might stray away in search of food but they seldom dared to get far from the main group, for fear of their enemies. This might sometimes make it hard for the family or tribe to find enough food for all. But if so they shared their plenty or their want. As Dr. Eastman, himself a Sioux, says, "A whole tribe might starve; a single Indian never." One reason why this sharing was more possible than it is in civilized countries was that land was not all divided up and owned by individuals as it is now. The tribes of Indians had their range of forest or plain, and knew that if they went beyond certain bounds they would get into the territory of other tribes who would very likely attack them. But within the tribe the separate Indians did not have their own private land. So when a boy grew

The day's

work

up he simply went with the rest to hunt or fish, or ranged about for small game by himself.

A workman of today expects to work eight, nine, or ten hours a day. A few years ago his day would have been much longer. The farmer began work about five and kept at it until after dark. The stores and factories had similar hours. The writer was told the other day by an acquaintance that as a boy he worked in a woolen mill where he went to work at five in the morning and stayed until seven in the evening, stopping a half hour each for breakfast and dinner. Indeed, even schools kept early hours. At the academy where the writer's father prepared for college, the students rose for morning prayers at half past four in summer and at five the rest of the year. Now in savage life our ancestors kept no such regular hours. The men, especially, seemed to "sit about " a good deal, as the Australian said. And if you think of it, the work of the men was largely what civilized people call sport. It was hunting or fishing. There was a good deal of excitement about it and it necessarily came at irregular times, depending on the habits of game, or the sudden outbreak of war. When they did such steady work as rowing or carrying burdens, or hammering, men were very likely to sing and so relieve the monotony. The women, on the other hand, had much less exciting tasks. Most of what we call drudgery was done by them. For such work as grinding seeds or grain, kneading, weaving, washing clothes, they too had songs, and the rhythm helped them to keep steadily at their task.

This does not necessarily mean that savages were lazy, or cruel to women, as it is often charged. Some savages were no doubt both. But the chief reason for

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