The Beginner's American History/Contents

by David H. Montgomery

Contents

1. Christopher Columbus

   1. Birth and boyhood of Columbus. 2. Columbus becomes a sailor. 3. Columbus has a sea-fight; he goes to Lisbon. 4. What men then knew about the world. 5. The plan of Columbus for reaching the Indies by sailing west. 6. Columbus tries to get help in carrying out his plans. 7. Columbus gets help for his great voyage. 8. Columbus sails. 9. What happened on the first part of the voyage. 10. What happened after they had been at sea many days. 11. Signs of land. 12. Discovery of land. 13. Columbus lands on the island and names it; who lived on the island. 14. Columbus names the group of islands and their people. 15. Columbus discovers two very large islands; his vessel is wrecked, and he returns to Spain in another. 16. Columbus arrives at Palos; joy of the people; how Ferdinand and Isabella received him. 17. The last voyages of Columbus. 18. Columbus in his old age. 19. His death and burial. 20. Summary.

2. John Cabot

   21. John Cabot discovers the continent of North America. 22. John Cabot takes possession of the country for the king of England. 23. John Cabot and his son return to Bristol. 24. What the Cabots carried back to England from America. 25. The second voyage of the Cabots; how they sailed along the eastern shores of North America. 26. How the New World came to be called America. 27. Summary.

3. Ponce de Leon, Balboa, and De Soto

   28. The magic fountain; Ponce de Leon discovers Florida; Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean. 29. De Soto discovers the Mississippi. 30. The Spaniards build St. Augustine; we buy Florida in 1819. 31. Summary.

4. Sir Walter Raleigh

   32. Walter Raleigh sends two ships to America; how the Indians received the Englishmen. 33. Queen Elizabeth names the country Virginia; first settlers; what they sent Walter Raleigh. 34. The Virginia settlement destroyed. 35. Last days of Sir Walter Raleigh. 36. Summary.

5. Captain John Smith
6. Captain Henry Hudson
7. Captain Myles Standish
8. Lord Baltimore
9. Roger Williams
10. King Philip
11. William Penn
12. General James Oglethorpe
13. Benjamin Franklin
14. George Washington

    123. A Virginia boy; what he became; what he learned at school; his writing-books. 124. Washington's sports and games; playing at war; “Captain George.” 125. The great battle with the colt, and what came of it. 126. Washington goes on a visit to Mount Vernon; he makes the acquaintance of Lord Fairfax. 127. Lord Fairfax hires Washington to survey his land; how Washington lived in the woods; the Indian war-dance. 128. Washington at the age of twenty-one; the French in the west; the governor of Virginia sends Washington to see the French commander. 129. The journey back; the Indian guide; how Washington found his way throught the woods; the adventure with the raft. 130. Major Washington becomes Colonel Washington; Fort Necessity; Braddock's defeat. 131. End of the war with the French; what the king of England wanted to do; how the people here felt toward him. 132. The king determines to have the money; the tea-ships, and the “Boston tea-party.” 133. The king closes the port of Boston; Congress meet at Philadelphia; the names American and British; what General Gage tried to do. 134. Paul Revere; the fight at Lexington and Concord; Bunker Hill. 135. Colonel Washington at Mount Vernon; Congress makes him General Washington, and sends him to take command of the American army. 136. American sharpshooters; Washington's need of cannon and powder; the attack on Canada; the British driven out of Boston. 137. The Declaration of Independence; “Down with the king!” Washington is driven from New York and across the Delaware River. 138. Washington's victory at Trenton, New Jersey. 139. Our victory at Princeton, New Jersey; the British take Philadelphia; winter at Valley Forge; Burgoyne beaten; the king of France agrees to help us. 140. The war at the south; Jasper; Cowpens; Greene and Cornwallis. 141. Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold; Lafayette; Cornwallis shuts himself up in Yorktown. 142. Washington marches against Yorktown, and takes it and the army of Cornwallis. 143. How the news of the taking of Yorktown was carried to Philadelphia; Lord Fairfax. 144. Tearing down the British flag at New York; Washington goes back to Mount Vernon; he is elected President; his death; Lafayette visits his tomb. 145. Summary.

15. Daniel Boone
16. General James Robertson and Governor John Sevier
17. General George Rogers Clark
18. General Rufus Putnam
19. Eli Whitney
20. Thomas Jefferson
21. Robert Fulton
22. General William Henry Harrison
23. General Andrew Jackson
24. Professor Morse
25. General Sam Houston
26. Captain Robert Gray
27. Captain Sutter
28. Abraham Lincoln
29. Since the Civil War

    263. John Cabot discovers the continent of North America. 264. Celebration of the discovery of America by Columbus. 265. Our Hundred Days' War with Spain. 266. The rebellion in Cuba. 267. The destruction of the Maine. 268. Declaration of war and the blockade of Cuba. 269. Dewey's victory at Manila. 270. Cervera “bottled up”; Hobson's brave deed. 271. Fighting near Santiago; the “Rough Riders”; Cervera caught. 272. The end of the war; what the “Red Cross Society” did. 273. The murder of President McKinley. 274. The unfinished pyramid; making history.

30. Appendix—A short list of books of reference