BY EDGAR W. AMES, M.A. HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND AND ARVIE ELDRED, M.A. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS TROY, N. Y. New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1922 All rights reserved PREFACE "The old order changeth" and new methods take the place of the old. The old methods of teaching the science of government, outworn and laid aside, give place to a wider interpretation of the subject and a wider application of its principles. The teaching of the mechanics of government is not enough; the children must learn how people live together in communities and how they may best share in the activities arising from this life together. Along with the other great changes it wrought, the World War did more to bring about this change in the teaching of civics than anything since the subject was placed on the list of studies for our schools. The whole nation has awakened to the fact that the most important work of the teacher is the making of citizens; that the best tool for that work is the study of the relationship of the individual to his fellow man and to the government instituted for his benefit. This book is the outcome of attempts to teach the children in our local schools something of this new idea of government, something of their duties in community life. A great deal of the matter in the text is theirs, and many of the questions and problems are those asked by the children during the recitation period. Nothing has been included in the text that has not “worked.” The book is offered in the hope that it may have some share in the making of better citizens; in teaching the children that one may be just as truly a good citizen in the 544526 |