CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES By CHARLES H. McCARTHY, Ph. D. (Pa.) Professor of American History in The Catholic University WASHINGTON, D. C. CATHOLIC EDUCATION PRESS 1914 ? USEFUL BOOKS FOR TEACHERS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT ACTUAL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, by A. B. Hart. THE AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH, 2 Vols., by James Bryce. THE FEDERALIST, edited by Henry Cabot Lodge. A CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 3 Vols., by Francis Newton Thorpe. JOURNAL OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, by James Madison. POLITICAL SCIENCE AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 2 Vols., by J. W. Burgess. INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE, by J. Wilford Garner. The Pherson Poll bril, 1) жизлай PREFACE FOR TEACHERS Perhaps the first point to be noticed by a teacher examining this book will be the number of paragraphs in small print. Though these illustrate the topics concisely treated in larger print, most of them are not intended for the use of the student, but have been retained, from an earlier type-written form, for the convenience of the teacher, who may not always have at hand a good collection in American history. Another peculiarity of this volume is the treatment of the Federal Constitution before the State constitutions. The author is familiar with the logical system of instruction which introduces boys and girls to their back yards before they explore their lawns and descry the far-off sidewalks, which gives them a peep at adjacent gardens and then makes them acquainted with the wonders of the nearest town. Afterward visits to the county seat, to the State capital, and to the National capital fill out what seems, as well in geography as in civil government, the very scheme of nature itself. This book could have introduced the pupil to the road district, the school district, the township, and so on in the time-honored fashion. The objection to this pseudoscientific system is that from the point of view of the student it conducts him over a tract that is sterility itself. Of the merits of the method adopted in this book there is no room for doubt. The experiment, if one chooses so to call it, is, in the knowledge of the author, many years old and in a variety of tests has been singularly successful. It has been tried in high schools, in colleges, and in university work with teachers. Those who have never had a grasp of this science have found it a pleasure, after reading these chapters, to take up more advanced studies. A simpler style of presentation and an omission of such V |