American history was taught only in this incidental way during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and seldom occurred as a separate study in elementary schools.

History secured a separate place in many schools by 1860. During the second quarter of the century, however, American history secured a separate place in many schools. There are several lines of evidence to indicate this fact. In the first place a great many history textbooks were published. Many of those issued before 1863 are listed in Barnard's American Journal of Education. (16.) Of these, one United States history and three histories of New England were published before 1821. Eleven United States histories and three state histories were published between 1821 and 1831. Of these books, "The History of the United States" by C. S. Goodrich, published in 1822, was the most popular. Samuel Goodrich (Peter Parley), a brother of C. S. Goodrich, wrote many little histories, which were popular reading books for children.

Examples of the introduction of American history. The publication of these texts paralleled the development of a sentiment in favor of instruction in American history in the elementary schools. Thus in 1828 the School Commission of Vermont recommended certain history texts for use in the schools. In 1827 a Massachusetts law required towns of fifty families to employ a teacher of "reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, English grammar and good behavior”; but every town of five hundred families had to provide a master who could teach, in addition to the above branches, United States history, bookkeeping (single entry), geometry, surveying, and algebra. In Michigan, in 1839, Superintendent Pierce said in his report, that history was a subject that should, in his judgment, be added to the traditional branches. In Ohio in the forties and fifties some cities taught history and some did not. In 1865 history was added by law to the Indiana curriculum.

Value of study of history considered doubtful.— During this period (that is, previous to 1860) the question was occasionally debated whether history deserved a place in the schools. Moreover, there is considerable evidence to indicate that history was not taught in many parts of the country in the first half of the century, and that where it was taught it was not understood by the children. Thus the Annual Visiting Committee in Boston, in 1846, found that the children could recite the facts of history very well, but that they often did not understand them. For example, only seventy-five out of four hundred and forty-three children knew the meaning of "taxation without representation," and scarcely any knew. what the "impressment of seamen " meant.

American history studied in most grammar schools by 1880. Patriotic purpose. The tendency to introduce the study of United States history into the grades received additional impetus after the Civil War, and Professor Bourne (17) states that the practice of teaching it in the seventh and eighth grades had become quite general by 1880. Practically no other than American history was studied however; that is, ancient and European history were omitted. This restriction to American history was related to the dominant purpose in the instruction in history, namely, the development of patriotism and a knowledge of and enthusiasm for the native land. This tendency to emphasize American achievements was evident in the first historical material prepared by Noah Webster, and continued to be the dominant factor in history teaching in elementary schools down to the end of the nineteenth century. This patriotic purpose was not peculiar to America, however, for it was prominent also in the teaching of history in the German elementary schools (Volksschulen), which is described above.

Broader conception of history teaching developed after 1890. Toward the end of the nineteenth century a much broader conception of the scope of the teaching of history in

elementary schools became current. The following elements were characteristic of this broader conception: (1) the introduction of historical material (without any emphasis on chronology) at a much earlier stage in the school course, sometimes even as low as the third grade; (2) the selection of such material from the whole range of history - Greek, Roman, German, English, American; (3) the use of biography and story in the lower grades as the vehicle for presenting this material; (4) an emphasis on the European background of American history in the upper grades and the comparison of American historical events with other similar events; (5) a study of all the social life of peoples instead of restricting the study to wars and political events.

Reports of important committees popularized broader point of view. Many factors were influential in bringing about this change in the conception of the purpose of history teaching from that of developing national patriotism to that of developing a broader appreciation of all social life, both past and present. It is not possible to present here an account of these influential factors, but it will be worth while to notice certain events in the development of this broader conception of history teaching. In the first place the recommendations of important committees in the last decade of the nineteenth century are significant. The Committee of Fifteen on Elementary Education, from the National Education Association, submitted in 1895 a report which represents fairly well the general conservative tendencies in the elementary schools, and, as Professor Bourne says, it did not go beyond the common practice of teaching history for patriotic purposes. Contrasted with this report we have the report of the history conference of the Committee of Ten on Secondary Schools, from the National Educational Association (the conference met in 1892); the report of the Committee of Seven of the American Historical Association (1899); and the report of the New England History Teachers' Association (1899). All these

reports took the broader point of view described above. For example, the last of these reports recommended that the teaching of history should begin in the second school year and should include "the elements of Grecian, Roman, and Norse mythology, stories and biographies from Hebrew, Grecian, Roman, European, English, and American history — chiefly told or read by the teacher."

Herbert Spencer and the Herbartians emphasize social life in history study. Two other examples of factors in the development of the broader point of view in the teaching of elementary history may be cited. The first is the contention by Herbert Spencer in his famous essay entitled "What Knowledge is most Worth," to the effect that history should be studied primarily as descriptive sociology instead of being a list of wars, kings, political events, etc. This essay, to which we had occasion to refer in Chapter XV in connection with the development of the teaching of elementary science, was first published in 1859. It was widely read, and it would be interesting to determine how large a factor it was in bringing about the broader conception which we have been discussing.

The second example is the influence of the Herbartians who have maintained vigorously the broader aim in history teaching. Their influence is often referred to, but it has never been definitely determined as far as I know. A good statement of the American Herbartian point of view is the following from C. A. McMurry's "Special Method in the Teaching of History":

History should help children to become thoroughly and intelligently interested in individuals and in the concerns of society. . . [and] to reproduce in themselves the experiences of suitable educative epochs in history. [History should] socialize and humanize the children by an intelligent and sympathetic treatment of the moral relations of men. History is thus preeminently a moral study and a moral practice.

Literature in American elementary schools. The development of the use of literature in American elementary

schools may be considered under three heads, as follows: (1) the development of literature suitable for children without reference to its use in the schools; (2) the development of the ordinary reading books used in the schools, and the character of the selections contained in them; (3) the recent tendency to use whole literary classics as the basis of literary study in place of the ordinary reading books.

The development of books suitable for children. The history of the preparation of English books suitable for children is a fascinating subject and has been thoroughly discussed in a number of interesting books by Moses (18), Field (19), Godfrey (20), and others. Space does not permit of a satisfactory discussion of this topic here, but the books referred to in the previous sentence might be read to advantage. Especial attention should be paid to (1) the preparation of books under the religious influences, as in the case of the Puritans and of the Sunday-school books of the early part of the nineteenth century; (2) the preparation of fairy stories especially intended for children, by Perrault (1628–1703) in France (probably the originator of "Mother Goose") and by Newberry and Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) in England; (3) the influence of Rousseau in England and the work of Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849); (4) the adoption by children of literature originally intended for adults, such as Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" (1726), and Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1719).

The

The selection of material for school reading books. characteristics of the early reading texts that were prepared under the religious influences which dominated elementary education down to the beginning of the nineteenth century were described in Chapter IV. "The New England Primer" is one of the best examples of this class of books. In German the name for primer is Fibel, which means a small Bible. The first book to compete with the religious manuals as reading books in Germany was Rochow's "Kinderfreund" (Children's