Book Description

Excerpt from A History of the United States for Young Americans: From the Landing of Columbus to the Inauguration of Benjamin Harrison Little doubt now remains that, some five hundred years before Columbus set sail on his famous voyage, this continent was visited by the Northmen, or people from Norway and Iceland. They were a venturesome, sea-loving race, and on one of their many bold western expeditions they chanced upon Greenland and then upon the mainland. They made, however, no permanent settle ment here, and the knowledge of their discovery does not appear to have travelled much beyond their own country, and seems to have been soon forgotten even there. It became a lost discovery, with little bearing upon the history of the New World and none whatever upon that of the United States. Our history - the history of the American people - only dates from the discovery, or redis covery, of a Western Hemisphere by Columbus. This closing year of centennial celebrations seems a peculiarly fitting occasion to attempt once more to excite in the youth of our country an interest in its past history. We are seeking in these days to do honor in every way to the Fathers of the Republic. Surely we can pay them no greater reverence than by retelling the story of their deeds as examples for our children to emulate. And if from thweading of this volume, necessarily limited to a narrative of only the most notable incidents which have marked the progress of the nation, a desire is awakened in the minds of young Americans to learn more of the land to which it is their happy fortune to belong; if a purer patriotism is aroused, and a stronger purpose formed to live a life worthy of the founders of the Union, its Object will be fully accomplished. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com 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.