Suggested Activities. 1. After reading an encyclopedia article about some ancient grea city, such as Tyre, Jerusalem, Babylon, Athens, or Rome, write a description of its defenses. 2. Make a drawing to show walls and watch towers of an old city. 3. Choose sides and debate one or more of the following questions: (a) Resolved, that without cities, civilization could not exist. (b) Resolved, that dangers within the older cities were more to be feared than invasions by armies. Study Questions. 1. What are the three fundamental causes of city growth? 2. Granting that an ancient city was well protected so that it could be defended from external attack, what other conditions were necessary to make possible large growth? 3. Make a list of professions, or occupations represented in a modern city which were probably not found in cities before the time of Columbus. Show why a large city could not develop without specialized occupations. 4. Describe the locations of three large cities which owe their size to advantageous trade situations. 5. Comparing mediaeval cities with those of the present, what great improvements may be noted? Show that these are the result of increased co-operation. 6. What is meant by giving "equal protection of the law?" 7. Name three city problems we have solved which mediaeval cities did not. List a number of modern problems which the old cities did not need to solve. What inventions have made the modern city with it problems possible? CHAPTER III THE SMALL COMMUNITY Do You Know These Terms? co-operative activities, 15. exploiting the soil, 21. "turn over" of products, 22 municipal improvements, 25. You should understand the accompanying expressions as used on the pages indicated. Use each in a sentence. Village and Rural Life in America Unique. A teacher in a European school was showing her pupils a picture of a group of children. "Where do you suppose they live?" she asked. "In a village." "Why?" "Because they are dirty and ragged," came the answer promptly. Of course not all village children are untidy in Europe, but there is much greater difference between city and country than is found in America. Small-community life has much in common with living in cities here; there are newspapers, churches, lodges, ball teams-the same co-operative activities as in larger communities. Upon the average, country people read as many magazines as their neighbors in the city. Country life in America shares in large measure the comfort, refinements, and culture of the best in civilization. The advantages of rural life have been so great that "All great men are born in the country" has been a frequent quotation. While many of our great men have come from the country, the saying is not true, but no one would ever think of making such a statement about any country in Europe. American country life is unique. Protection, Trade and Industry in Growth of Community. In the early settlements of America the factors of protection, trade, and industry may be traced in the location of settlements, but modern inventions have greatly changed the operation of these. The fact that in this new world there was plenty of room for all has also had much to do with making American small communities different from those our ancestors left behind them. 1. Protection. Protection operated in its usual way so long as it was a question of defense against Indian attacks, but the necessity of this kind of protection did not last long. The only city walls which have been at all important were the stockades of colonial and frontier days. 2. Trade. Trade has been far more important in determining location of American towns and cities. "Is this a good place for a store?" has been heard more than "Is this safe from attack?" In pioneer and fur-trading days new settlements were located with reference to rivers and lakes. The development of railways has reduced the significance of waterways for trade. Hundreds of thriving towns and a few large cities are now remote from navigable waters. Railroad crossings are likely to be of more consequence than river junctions. 3. Industry. Industry, using the word to include all occupations, has been the important influence in location and growth of American communities though it cannot be separated from trade which implies transportation. Reserving to the next chapter consideration of large cities, which of course were once in the small-community stage, we may note that while we have fishing villages, mining villages, and mill villages, the characteristic small community in the United States has developed in relation to agriculture. The open country is directly agricultural; the town or village center is the market, an exchange point for farm products, with manufactured goods or professional services needed by those who till the soil. It is the mutual co-operation of small town and country which has made American rural and village life better than the landlord and peasant conditions so generally found elsewhere. The common interest of town and country cannot be too much emphasized. The Influence of European Customs. 1. New England Towns. In addition to the three primary causes of city growth, American communities show the influence of customs and traditions brought from the old country. The New England town was the English village adapted to the conditions of a new country. From a hamlet of closely grouped houses, the village spread over a considerable space as Indian dangers vanished; the town, as the term is used in the New England states, often included several clusters of dwellings and isolated farmhouses between. The inhabitants of these towns met their simple problems of government with great independence. Many of them had left England in order to enjoy freedom not possible in a crowded country, and the independent spirit was constantly strengthened by the knowledge that new farms could be had "out west." This feeling was voiced by Franklin when he said, “I have some little property in America. I will freely spend nineteen shillings in the pound to defend the right of giving or refusing the other shilling; and, after all, if I cannot defend that right, I can retire cheerfully with my little family into the boundless woods of America, which are sure to furnish freedom and subsistence to any man who can bait a hook or pull a trigger." The early New England town governed itself as an almost pure democracy. All matters were voted upon by all who were allowed to vote in the town meeting, some being excluded from suffrage because of lacking church membership or property qualifications. Anything of concern to the community might be voted upon. Selectmen were elected to have general charge of town affairs; a clerk, constable, and justice were chosen. Besides these the town expressed its mind by selecting many minor officers whose names suggest their duties. There were tithing men, measurers of wood, fence viewers, cattle pounders, and wardens to inspect the "Meeting House on the Lord's Day and see to Good Order among the Boys." In addition to preserving English customs of representative government, these town meetings were a school of democratic co-operation. Colonists learned obedience as well as the art of governing, for once the meeting had declared itself, everyone was expected to co-operate in carrying out the will of the majority. 2. French Villages in Mississippi Valley. To see how different were the political customs brought from other European countries it is sufficient to study a Mississippi River French community. The people all lived in the village itself which usually consisted of a long, straight street with houses on each side and fields back of the houses. Life was as simple as in early English settlements, but Frenchmen at home in France had not been accustomed to much self-government nor did they find need to develop it in their new environment. They usually elected no officers; even their local officials were appointed by the principal officer of the colony. Thus it may be seen that conditions in a new country alone did not make early American communities democratic; customs already learned were quite as important. Comparison of the French village with the New England town shows that English suc |