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  [Illustration: PAUL REVERE AROUSING THE INHABITANTS ALONG THE
  ROAD TO LEXINGTON.]



  AMERICAN LEADERS
  AND HEROES

  A PRELIMINARY TEXT-BOOK IN
  UNITED STATES HISTORY

  BY

  WILBUR F. GORDY


  PRINCIPAL OF THE NORTH SCHOOL, HARTFORD, CONN.; AUTHOR OF
  "A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS"; AND
  CO-AUTHOR OF "A PATHFINDER IN AMERICAN HISTORY"

  _WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS_

  NEW YORK
  CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
  1907



  COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY
  CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

  [Illustration]




PREFACE


In teaching history to boys and girls from ten to twelve years old
simple material should be used. Children of that age like action. They
crave the dramatic, the picturesque, the concrete, the personal. When
they read about Daniel Boone or Abraham Lincoln they do far more than
admire their hero. By a mysterious, sympathetic process they so identify
themselves with him as to feel that what they see in him is possible for
them. Herein is suggested the ethical value of history. But such ethical
stimulus, be it noted, can come only in so far as actions are translated
into the thoughts and feelings embodied in the actions.

In this process of passing from deeds to the hearts and heads of the
doers the image-forming power plays a leading part. Therefore a special
effort should be made to train the sensuous imagination by furnishing
picturesque and dramatic incidents, and then so skilfully presenting
them that the children may get living pictures. This I have endeavored
to do in the preparation of this historical reader, by making prominent
the personal traits of the heroes and leaders, as they are seen, in
boyhood and manhood alike, in the environment of their every-day home
and social life.

With the purpose of quickening the imagination, questions "To the Pupil"
are introduced at intervals throughout the book, and on almost every
page additional questions of the same kind might be supplied to
advantage. "What picture do you get in that paragraph?" may well be
asked over and over again, as children read the book. If they get clear
and definite pictures, they will be likely to see the past as a living
present, and thus will experience anew the thoughts and feelings of
those who now live only in their words and deeds. The steps in this
vital process are imagination, sympathy, and assimilation.

To the same end the excellent maps and illustrations contribute a
prominent and valuable feature of the book. If, in the elementary stages
of historical reading, the image-forming power is developed, when the
later work in the study of organized history is reached the imagination
can hold the outward event before the mind for the judgment to determine
its inner significance. For historical interpretation is based upon the
inner life quite as much as upon the outward expression of that life in
action.

Attention is called to the fact that while the biographical element
predominates, around the heroes and leaders are clustered typical and
significant events in such a way as to give the basal facts of American
history. It is hoped, therefore, that this little volume will furnish
the young mind some conception of what our history is, and at the same
time stimulate an abiding interest in historical and biographical
reading.

Perhaps it is needless to say that the "Review Outline" may be used in
many ways. It certainly will furnish excellent material for language
work, oral or written. In so using it pupils may well be encouraged to
enlarge the number of topics.

I wish to acknowledge my obligations to Professor William E. Mead, of
Wesleyan University, who has read the manuscript and made invaluable
suggestions; also to my wife, whose interest and assistance have done
much to give the book whatever of merit it may possess.

                                                    WILBUR F. GORDY.

HARTFORD, CONN., May 1, 1901.




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                                         PAGE
      I. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA,          1
     II. HERNANDO DE SOTO AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI,     22
    III. SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND THE FIRST ENGLISH ATTEMPTS TO
            COLONIZE AMERICA,                                       31
     IV. JOHN SMITH AND THE SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN,                42
      V.