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§ 9]

Adaptability of the Continent

15

environment

on men of

European origin.

Shaler's

9. Adaptability of the Continent. - The agricultural and Effect of this the mining regions are arranged in such a manner that the greater portion of the country is suited to varied occupations, which are necessary to give the best results in the growth of a race. The climate is also suited to Europeans. Formerly, it was the habit of foreign writers to picture the American as a thin, lanky man, quite inferior physically to his European ancestor. The application of scientific methods to this problem has dispelled this as well as other delusions of a less critical age.

During the Civil war, thousands of soldiers in the Union armies were carefully measured. These men were drawn

United States,
II, ch. ix;

Winsor's
America, IV.

[blocks in formation]

from all portions of the country, and also included thousands of recent immigrants from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. The results of these measurements were published in a remarkable book, from which the above table has been compiled. It will be seen that the American, instead of being the tall, thin-chested, and light-weighted man he is always described as being, is practically as heavy and as stout as the newcomers from Europe; he is slightly taller, but only slightly.

When one considers all these things, the climate and Conclusion. the rainfall of the United States, its physical features, its fertile soils and magnificent water powers, its inexhaustible mineral resources, and the effect of this environment on the

physical body, - one must admit that the European race has gained by its transfer from its ancient home to the soil of the United States.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

§§ 2, 3. TEMPERATURE

a. Give the differences in temperature between Europe and North America, and their causes.

b. Has either continent decided advantage over the other in temperature, and why?

c. What places in the United States have the same annual temperature as northern Spain? the same winter temperature? the same summer temperature?

$4. RAINFALL

a. Show the connection between the mode of sustenance of a people and its civilization.

b. Represent upon an Outline Map the distribution of rain in the United States, and state its results.

c. Economic study: "Statistics of Irrigation on Pacific Coast."

$5. PHYSICAL FORMATION

a. Compare Europe and North America, as to ease of access. b. Describe the different natural approaches to the North American continent, and compare their excellence.

§ 6. ATLANTIC SEABOARD

a. If all the natural resources of the Atlantic seaboard were utilized, how many different kinds of employments would be possible to its inhabitants?

b. What effect would free trade have upon diversity of occupation? c. Can you find an argument in this section for or against free trade in the United States?

$ 7. MISSISSIPPI BASIN

a. Make a written comparison of the Mississippi basin and the Atlantic seaboard. Explain fully the advantages of the former.

b. What are the distinguishing characteristics of the three subdivisions of the Mississippi basin?

Questions and Topics

§ 8. CORDILLERAN REGION

a. Give a general description of the Cordilleran region. b. Name and characterize its subdivisions.

§ 9. ADAPTABILITY OF THE CONTINENT

17

a. Give the testimony of statistics as to the influence of the conditions of the American continent upon European races.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

a. Present the materials of this chapter in the form of a digest. b. Assign the three following subjects: "Temperature," "Rainfall," "Physical Formation of the United States," individually to members of the class for reading in the special accounts and elsewhere; let each put topical analysis of his results in the form of a report either written or oral.

CHAPTER I

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, 1000-1600

Books for Consultation

General Readings. — Higginson's Larger History, 27-108; Thwaites's Colonies, 20-32, 36–42; Gay's Bryant's Popular History, I, 118-200.

Special Accounts. - Markham's Columbus; C. K. Adams's Columbus (M. A.1); Winsor's America, I, 69-75, II, 1-23, 129-152, 231-283, 473-498, III, 1-7, IV, 5-11, 47-62, 105-130; *Winsor's Columbus; *Fiske's Discovery of America; Lowery's Spanish Settlements; Parkman's Pioneers of France (ed. 1887), chs. vii-ix; Froude's English Seamen; Bourinot's Story of Canada; *Corbett's Sir Francis Drake; Larned's History for Ready Reference under America.

Sources. Higginson's American Explorers; American History Leaflets; Old South Leaflets; *Hart's Contemporaries; *Payne's Elizabethan Seamen.

Maps. The best collection of facsimiles for the use of students is Ruge's Die Entwickelung der Kartographie (published by Petermann, Mitteilungen, ergänzungsheft, No. 106, price $2.00). Other collections are Winsor's America, Vols. I, II, III, and IV; Winsor's Columbus and his Cartier.

Bibliography. Channing and Hart, Guide to American History, §§ 56 a, 56 b (General Readings), §§ 78, 81-90, 92-95 (Topics and References).

Illustrative Material. - Irving's Columbus (abridged edition); Prescott's Conquest of Mexico and Conquest of Peru; Lummis's Spanish Pioneers; Wallace's Land of the Pueblos; Yule's Marco Polo; J. I. Lockhart's Memoir of Bernal Diaz.

Longfellow's Discoverer of the North Cape, Skeleton in Armor and Sir Humphrey Gilbert; Lowell's Columbus; Tennyson's Columbus; Kingsley's Westward Ho!; Cooper's Mercedes of Castile; Simms's Vasconselos. For other titles see Guide, § 36 a.

1 "Makers of America" series, and so throughout these lists of references.

1000]

Discovery and Exploration

19

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, 1000-1600

10. Voyages of the Northmen. that the hardy seamen of northern Europe - the Northmen, as they are called were on the coasts of North America in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

- It is reasonably certain The "sagas.”

the sagas. *Reeves's

Finding of

The evidence for their voyages is found in certain old documents called "sagas." Some of them relate the stories of kings and heroes; others, as those which describe the discovery of Vinland or America, represent traditions that had been handed down by word of mouth for generations. At length, some one wrote the story on parchment, and, in this way, preserved the knowledge of these wonderful voyages for the use of students of later centuries. Of course, it is probable Credibility of that the writers of the sagas forgot or misplaced the exact details of these far-off voyages. It is also unfortunate that many of the original manuscripts of the sagas relating to Wineland. America were destroyed by fire in the eighteenth century, and we know them only through copies which happened to be preserved in other places. The loss of the originals is especially to be regretted, because some of these copies contain passages which appear to have been inserted by the copyist. The most detailed account of the voyages to America is contained in a saga, usually termed the "Flatey Book," which was compiled after the other sagas in the closing years of the fourteenth century. In this document the finding of Vinland is ascribed to a man named Biarni. All the other sagas agree in the statement that Leif, the son of Eric, discovered Vinland while on a voyage from Iceland to Greenland. Moreover, the account of the voyages to Vinland is plainly inserted in the Flatey Book, as it has no Credibility of reference to what goes before or follows; nor is Biarni's the "Flatey discovery even mentioned in any other Icelandic work now *Reeves's existing. Students, therefore, are compelled to discredit wineland. the statements in the Flatey Book, except as they agree with those in other sagas. The slight reliance to be placed

Book."

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