1. What determines the perpetuity of our Nation?

Our Nation will continue only so long as its citizens possess the intelligence to understand and the character to maintain its laws. 2. What are the main elements of the Puritan character?

Spirit of independence, keen religious sentiment, fixed morality, absolute empire over self, clear idea of duty, strong power of will, unconquerable energy, great initiative, respect for law.

3. State the chief characteristics of the pioneers.

Inherited sturdy, self-reliant manhood; pride of race; strong minds; careful training in mental and manly virtues; resolute will; courage; self-restraint; hard work; spirit of adventure.

4. Name the four main factors upon which our national character is based.

The four fundamental factors in our national character are education, religion, industry, and love of liberty.

5. Why is religion an essential characteristic of the American people?

“Religion laid the foundations of our American Government. It neither seeks nor claims any justification for its existence save righteousness. It had its beginning, it found its inspiration, in the religious beliefs of the men who settled our country, made it an independent Nation, and maintained its institutions and laws. If it is to endure it will be through the support of men of like mind and like character."-President Coolidge.

6. How does public education affect American institutions?

Daniel Webster said: "On the diffusion of education among the people rests the preservation and perpetuity of our free institutions." 7. Are all of the citizens of America educated?

No. Illiterates form a large proportion of our electorate. The National Education Association tells us that 4,300,000 illiterate citizens were qualified to vote in the last presidential election. Over 4,000,000 ignorant voters, unable to read any discussion of issues or candidates!

The last census disclosed that 1,400,000 children between the ages of 7 and 13 years were not in school during the period from September 1, 1919, to January 1, 1920.

8. Why, under our form of government, is a "thoughtful" citizenry necessary?

Because of universal suffrage, the modern complexity of our national life, and the acknowledged principles of the right of private judgment an open-mindedness receptive of the revelation of truth.

9. In what manner is the gospel of hard work related to the American character?

Work, hard work, both physical and mental, produced America; it is the hallmark of Americanism. The dignity of labor, the respect due it, underlies the doctrine of the equality of man. In America everyone is expected to work.

10. Is the spirit of benevolence characteristic of America?

Nothing is more characteristic of modern American life than the pouring out of private wealth for public service. Nowhere are so many philanthropic agencies at work. There is that in American democracy which creates the spirit of public service through gifts to the public.

In respect to aid and contributions in world disasters America is one of the first in the field of distress and one of the last to leave. 11. Upon what is the ethical character of our commercial relations based?

Upon respect for and confidence in the nobler things of life and the unfailing observance of business ethics. The vast commercial enterprises of the United States are made possible by our system of credit based upon confidence in the integrity of the people.

12. To what is the great commercial success of America due? The remarkable commercial success of America is the reflection of the genius of her people, great in vision, great in moral courage, great in character.

13. Where is best illustrated the political character of America? The political character of America is evidenced in the lives and personalities of her great men, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and scores of others; men who were conscientious and true; without unscrupulous ambition; who furnished a tradition of all that is highest and purest in statesmanship and unselfish patriotism; and faith in the power of freedom.

14. What has been the chief business of America?

Subduing and settling a continent, creating and establishing a government, building great cities, making inventions, cheapening production, supplying comforts and luxuries of life, and building men of character.

28. LESSON 4.-Great Americans and their Achievements

(a) Introduction.

(b) George Washington, aristocratic patriot; Benjamin Franklin, commoner, statesman; Thomas Jefferson, the Democrat; Abraham Lincoln, the emancipator; The Winning of the West, Daniel Boone, Capt. George Rogers Clark, Capts. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Gen. John C. Fremont, and Rev. Marcus Whitman; Eli Whitney, pioneer in modern industry; Robert Fulton, the pioneer of modern transportation; Samuel F. B. Morse, pioneer of modern communication; Capt. John Ericsson, pioneer of modern battleship.

Introduction. The history of any nation, in its ideals and achievements, its motives and spirit invariably reflects the character of its leaders. The stories of the lives and accomplishments of its great men are the windows through which is revealed the soul of the nation.

For that reason the biographies of the leaders of America should be carefully studied as the means of best understanding the controlling factors in the development of our country in any given period. In these stories are revealed the combat of minds, the clash of opinions, the cunning of politicians, the ruthlessness of selfseekers, and the saving forces of the outstanding, dominant characters of those leaders who by the strength of their unselfish, highminded, far-visioned devotion, inspired and heartened the people to follow them to the establishment of the ideals out of which have been created the splendid achievements of our people.

In the lives of our great men are to be found the elements of righteousness, courage, justice, unselfish devotion to duty, self-reliance, initiative, and stubborn determination, the ingredients from which was brewed the virile, aggressive, yet magnanimous, generous spirit of America.

The dominant note in the lives of these outstanding leaders is that of public service, with little thought of personal gain. With each succeeding period of our progress in government, industry, agriculture, education, medical science, we have been blessed with the leadership of men and women devoted to public service rather than personal aggrandizement as the inspiration for accomplishment.

In this spirit was our Government established. They who had power to assume control dared to commit that control to a free people, knowing that the ideals of liberty, justice, and individual right had been indelibly stamped, by the force of their characters, into the very souls of their countrymen.

In like spirit succeeding generations have responded to the call of their leaders in preservation of our Nation, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Creative and destructive forces are in eternal conflict. The experience of yesterday gives us wisdom to-day to accomplish the task of to-morrow.

Great Americans have not confined their achievements to the field of government and protection of our institutions. Many of the great industries, much of medical science, communication, and transportation found first expression in the keen minds of our pioneers. In the biographies of these men are incidents as thrilling, full of daring, and productive of rich achievements as are revealed in the lives of the mighty army who conquered the wilderness and won for the United States in succession the Colonies, the Northwest Territory, Louisiana

Territory, the Oregon country, Texas, California, and the great Southwest.

George Washington, aristocratic patriot. This noble first citizen of America is the outstanding character in the history of our country. From his early youth he demonstrated those qualities of leadership which, with the passing years and the experience gained in his great achievements, made him the dominant personality of his time.

At the early age of 23 years he was placed in command of the Virginia Rangers. He became the hero of General Braddock's ill-fated campaign against the French and Indians. After General Braddock's failure to accept his advice had caused his own death and the defeat of his troops, it was the superior ability of Washington which saved the British from rout and possible annihilation. As commander in chief of the Continental Army, he took command of a disorganized, undisciplined yet loyal body of raw provincials and by the force of his character brought them to a condition of training and discipline that gave final success to the Colonial cause.

By the charm and strength of his personality he won the admiration and enthusiastic support of the great German general, Von Steuben; the brilliant Frenchman, Count de La Fayette. Ragged and starved, half frozen, and poorly equipped, the Continental Army, taking courage by his example, fought on to final victory against obstacles all but insurmountable.

The conclusion of the war found General Washington so exalted in the hearts of his countrymen as to make him the virtual ruler of the new nation, created largely through his military genius and indomitable will. Foregoing all personal ambitions other than that of molding a free people into an enduring nation, he gave himself with equal faithfulness to the work of peace and orderly government.

Serving without pay in all his public career, his life of unselfish devotion rightfully won for him the title of "Father of His Country." When charged by an unfriendly Congress with usurpation of power, he replied: "A character to lose, an estate to forfeit, the inestimable blessings of liberty at stake, and a life devoted, must be my

excuse."

Inspired by the influence of his character and his qualities of statesmanship, such men as Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Randolph, King, Marshall, Monroe, and the venerable Franklin addressed themselves to the task of constructing a new government, which in the following generations was destined to become an ever-growing memorial to their wisdom and patriotic devotion to the ideals and rights of humanity. To George Washington, more than to any other, we owe our everlasting debt of gratitude for American independence and the Constitution of the United States.

The wisdom, sagacity, and vision of Washington gave the United Colonies a republican rather than a democratic form of government. In the almost inspired words of his "Farewell Address "-in the framing of which he undoubtedly had the assistance of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, two of the finest minds of that period he gave counsels concerning the pitfalls which have destroyed other popular governments of history. As far as these counsels have been observed the Nation has enjoyed peace, prosperity, and happiness.

George Washington, born February 22, 1732, died September 14, 1799. Within the scope of his 67 years he was surveyor, farmer, soldier, statesman, commander in chief of the Continental Army, and twice President of the United States of America.

Benjamin Franklin, commoner, statesman.-Benjamin Franklin manifested the qualities characteristic of the American. Genius he possessed, but it was the genius of hard work. He was a self-made man. A journeyman printer by trade, he came from Massachusetts to Philadelphia at the age of 17 years; making this his lifetime. place of residence, he engaged in his trade and in course of time became the author and printer of Poor Richard's Almanac, a publication of homely philosophy which contains many gems of wisdom and good advice as applicable to-day as in his time.

Franklin was identified with the Pennsylvania Gazette. He founded the Saturday Evening Post, a weekly familiar to all. He founded the present University of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Public Library; he was the first Postmaster General of the Colonies. With all these activities he still found time to devote to science. The flash of lightning in a thunderstorm caused him to wonder rather than to fear. In it he recognized a mighty force; his philosophic mind compelled the thought that in some way the flash of lightning (electricity) could be controlled and brought into the service of mankind. It pays to think. Creative minds, as exemplified in Franklin, rather than manual labor, have produced the great achievements of all time.

Benjamin Franklin was too busy to be idle. Absorbed with the affairs and welfare of the Colonies, he proposed in 1754 that the Colonies be formed into a Union. Franklin believed that had this proposition been accepted, a separation from the British Empire would never have taken place. Twenty years later a call for a general congress of the Colonies was issued by Virginia, at the instigation of Doctor Franklin, and was held in Philadelphia in May, 1774. Continuing his work, Benjamin Franklin took an active part in framing the Declaration of Independence, of which he was one of the signators. Then two years later he went to France, where in fur cap and homespun clothing, he, the typical American commoner, created