THE AMERICAN 458-1920 INCLUDING ALSO AS SUPPLEMENTS TO THE MAIN WORK The Period of Discovery from the Norsemen to Columbus, 458 to 1492 The Period of English Settlement, 1607 to 1620 The Declaration of Independence, with a Complete Sketch of the Lives of Comprehensive 100-word Biographical Sketches of all the Presidents PUBLISHER'S PREFACE The American Dictionary of Dates stands alone as the most comprehensive and valuable reference work on American history. It contains all the events bearing in any way on the development of our nation from the year 458 to 1920, arranged in chronological order. The advantage of such an arrangement can be seen readily; for it is constantly desirable to know not only the date of any one specific incident, but also to know those events immediately preceding and following it. By reference to any year, one may see all the facts of a certain period which have affected the destiny of the nation. Again, by reference to the index, one has before him all the history of a given event or movement. For, in order that the reader may determine quickly the date of any of the facts listed, a complete subject index is included. For further reference, the work contains the complete text of the Declaration of Independence with complete sketches of the lives of all the fifty-six signers; comprehensive biographical sketches of all our presidents; as well as the ratifications of the Constitution by the thirteen original states and the origin and statehood of all the states of our present union, including the development of the territories. Besides the supplementary periods from 458 to 1620, the work is a [day-by-day history of three hundred years, from colonial dependence to independent government, and of the United States of America from the Isigning of the Constitution to the ratification of the Allied peace treaty. Events appearing under more than one date denote variations found in historical data. Events listed under dates and again without definite dates indicate uncertainty among better authorities, while no authentic dates could be found for the events listed together at the end of each year. It is hoped that no errors will appear in this edition to mar the general usefulness of the work. 3 |