MAPS TERRITORIAL GROWTH (in colors). DISTRIBUTION OF RACES (1900) (in colors) T AUTHOR'S PREFACE HE previous volumes of this series have aimed to describe the development of the United States from the deep-lying roots in European civilization up through the mighty trunk to the topmost branches. Hence none of the writers have confined themselves to events: they have dealt with the great men who have been exponents of the thoughts and aims of their fellows; they have taken account of the customs, the moral standards, and the political conceptions which underlie both events and men; they have tried to accomplish the double task of setting forth the chronological development of history and at the same time describing the life of the people from epoch to epoch; to do for history what the higher mathematician does when he solves his functions of many variables. This conception of history as including conditions and standards requires a constructive mind to see connection, causation, and development; to apply the standards of each age to its own problems; to compare the achievements of one race and one century with those of another. Every writer, therefore, has set himself to discover the meaning of his period; |