In its rivers the United States possesses an advantage which cannot be overestimated. Many of the smaller streams are capable of furnishing unsurpassed water-power. Some of the larger rivers traverse vast extents and offer to commerce exceptional privileges. The Mississippi River, unlike most of the great rivers of the world, flows across the lines of latitude. Though the Amazon River is as great as the Mississippi, yet the land at its mouth furnishes the same. tropical products as the country at its source. On the other hand, the wheat of Minnesota and Dakota is, by means of the Mississippi, exchanged for the rice, the cotton, and the sugar of the Southern States. 734. National Advantages. Besides the natural advantages which belong to the United States, the political characteristics of the nation present exceptional opportunities. Some of these have been suggested. The public-school system and the State, county, and town governments, offering local, as contrasted with a centralized, government, are important aids in determining the welfare of the country. The fact that the United States is customarily at peace and does not need to keep a standing army, as is necessary among European nations, is another great advantage. 735. The Future."It is clear that this great republic has an important future before it. In its prosperity is bound up the question of popular government. If we succeed, a brilliant future may be predicted for the human race. If we fail, the hand goes back for ages on the dial of progress. The result depends largely upon the intelligence and the virtue of the masses. If the people are educated to read and to think and to decide for themselves, if they retain virtue and godliness, the republic is safe, and the destiny of the race is safe also." 736. Questions of the Future. A knowledge of the history of the United States is necessary to an understanding of the country as it is to-day. Such an understanding is necessary in order to settle the questions which the future holds in store. Some of the future questions are now before the people. They form current history, which will be the history to be studied by future generations. Most of these questions have been discussed to a certain extent already, and their settlement must come at no very distant day. How shall the difficulties that exist between the laborers and the employers be so settled that both may work together in harmony, feeling that each has a care for the interests of the other? (Labo1 Question.) ( 691.) How many foreigners shall be permitted to come to the United States, and what restrictions shall be placed upon immigration, so that the best interests of the country and the people shall be preserved? (Immigration Question.) (¶ 718.) What means shall be used for raising the necessary revenue, or what kind of tariff duties shall be levied, so as to promote the material welfare of the country and increase to its fullest extent the productiveness of the people? (Tariff Question.) (¶ 683.) What steps shall be taken to purify elections, so that every voter may cast his ballot in the way that seems to him likely to conserve the best interests of the country? (Ballot Reform.) (¶ 689.) What qualifications should voters have, that their ballots shall not be unwisely cast, and to what new classes should the ballot be given? (Suffrage Question.) What laws should be passed, and what forms of moral influence should be used, to save the people from the curse of intemperance? (Temperance Question.) (T 727.) What arrangements ought the national, state, and local governments to enter into, so that their affairs may be carried on in business-like ways, and that the money required to maintain governments shall be expended in the most economical manner? (Civil Service Reform.) (1 687.) What methods can be devised to awake the business and professional men of the country to the dangers of municipal corruption, in order that the government of our great cities may be rescued from the hands of untrustworthy men, and administered in a business-like manner, for the welfare of all concerned? (Municipal Government Reform.) These are among the numerous questions which the people of the future must answer. There are also race problems, educational questions, and religious matters, that are prominent before the people. They all demand the careful and thoughtful consideration, not only of the present voters, but also of the school-children, who will soon be called upon to cast their ballots, and whose decision will eventually decide the welfare of the country. 1865. CHRONOLOGY. Review of the armies, May 23, 24. Thirteenth Amendment ratified, December 18. 1866. Tennessee readmitted. Atlantic cable finished, July 27. Invasion of Canada. 1867. Tenure of Office Act, March 4. Purchase of Alaska, March 30. 1868. Impeachment of the President, February to May. Six States readmitted. 1869. 1870. Fourteenth Amendment ratified, July 28. 1871. Treaty of Washington, May 8. 1872. Geneva awards, September. Burning of Boston, November 9. 1873. Beginning of the panic. 1876. Centennial celebration, May to November. Sioux War. 1877. Electoral Commission, February. President Hayes inaugurated, March 5. Invention of the telephone. 1878. Yellow fever epidemic. "Bland Silver Bill." 1893. President Cleveland inaugurated, March 4. World's Columbian Exhibition, May to November. Repeal of the "Sherman Silver Bill." 1894. Republic of Hawaii, January 16. Pullman boycott, June. New Tariff Act, August 27. 1895. Venezuela message, December 17. National Civil Service Reform completed, May 6. 1897. President McKinley inaugurated, March 4. Dingley Bill. APPENDIXES. APPENDIX A. THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT. IN the name of God, Amen; We whose names are under-written, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by ye grace of God of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, &c., haveing undertaken, for ye glorie of God and advancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king and countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly and mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our better c. lering and preservation and furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. APPENDIX B. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. WHEN, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle |