A History of the United States (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from A History of the United States<br><br>In the preparation of this volume the attempt has been made to combine as far as possible the topical with the chronological method of presentation. History is not a mere study of facts, but of the relationship between facts, of cause and effect. In the selection of topics, only those have been included which appeared to be really significant, and each topic has been developed, it is hoped, with sufficient fullness to make it intelligible. In order to bring the book into line with recent tendencies three things have been emphasized:<br><br>(1) Diplomatic history has been given special attention. Hitherto Americans have devoted little thought to foreign relations, but the world war has brought us into vital contact with world politics, and as Mr. Root says, "A democracy which undertakes to control its own foreign relations ought to know something about the subject." The different periods of our foreign policy have, therefore, been given a fuller and more continuous treatment than in any general text-book that has so far been written.<br><br>(2) Military history has been given rather more space than it has received in the books now in use. Military history should be studied for several reasons, - as a matter of general intelligence, as a connecting link between history and geography, and for a correct Understanding of the problems of national defence. The chapter on the War of 1812 is based in the main on Captain Mahan's great study of that contest, and is designed to place it in its true light.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.