Educ T 428, 90.557 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY BY EXCHANGE FROM NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY FE 26 19 32 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & Co., BOSTON, U.S.A. PRESSWORK BY GINN & Co., BOSTON, U.S.A. PREFACE. A CHILD Who has been well instructed in Geography knows already something about a school district and other local governments around him; he has some knowledge of the state and of the United States. This book is designed to extend the knowledge of all these institutions and teach something of their relations to each other. The governmental institutions of our entire system are so related that no one of them can be thoroughly understood without a knowledge of all. The institutions directly affecting the citizen in his ordinary civil relations are chiefly those of the state and the local governments within it. Many useful lessons in civil government may be learned from the state alone; yet the action of the state is in some cases conditioned upon the action of the general government. On the other hand, to limit instruction in civil government to the Constitution of the United States presents more serious difficulties. The Constitution assumes the existence of the states and provides for a supplementary government. It cannot be rightly understood without a knowledge of the states. To attempt to teach the Federal Constitution without this knowledge results naturally in the teaching of error. The order of topics here presented is such that the institutions nearest, and naturally most familiar, shall receive special attention first. In this part of the work a direct study of the actual institutions of the locality is intended. The different states and different parts of the same state furnish a variety of agencies. It is from the direct observation and study of actual governmental institutions that a real knowledge is derived. Books are useful as they stimulate and guide observation and assist in interpretation. When the manuscript for the first edition was sent to the publishers, it was with the expectation that copies would be printed for trial in the class-room before publication. I have now, in accordance with my original plan, rewritten the book, and made such changes as experience seems to demand. From the publication of the book and its use in the schools of the various states I have derived the benefit of a much wider range of criticism than could have been secured from a trial edition. In the meantime several books have appeared which have been found helpful in preparing the new edition. The most important of these are Bryce's The American Commonwealth, and Howard's Local Constitutional History of the United States. GRINNELL, IOWA, J. MACY. CONTENTS. PART I. ORIGIN OF OUR GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS. CHAPTER I. OUR EUROPEAN ANCESTORS Governmental Institutions. Origin of the Township. Town-Meeting. The Manor. Towns and Boroughs. The Parish. The Hundred. Kingdoms and Shires. The County Court. Parliament. CHAPTER II. ORIGIN OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS Local Governments Transplanted. Temporary Institutions. The New England Town. New England Churches. Officers of the Town. The New England County. Form of County Government. Local Government in New York. In Pennsylvania. In Virginia. In the South. General Remarks. Civil Motives for founding Colonies. First Permanent Colony. The Governor and his Council. The First Legislature. Strife. Virginia Royalists. Berkeley and Bacon. Strife in Other Colonies. Proprietary Colonies. First Charter Colony. Voluntary Associations. Struggle for the Charters. Colonies become States. Classification of Colonies. State Officers derived from Colonial Governments. CHAPTER IV. ORIGIN OF STATE CONSTITUTIONS : The Bill of Rights. Town Charters. The Grand Model. Colonial Charters. Rhode Island. State Constitutions. Three Departments of Government. First Constitutions Models for Later Ones. Making of a New State. PAGE 1 8 19 30 CHAPTER V. ORIGIN OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION Union of New England Colonies. Albany Convention. Colonial Congresses. Continental Congress. Articles of Confederation. Constitution of the United States. Relation of a State to the Federal Government. Compromise. CHAPTER VI. ENGLISH AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS COM PARED English Constitution based upon Custom. The Veto Power. Choice of Ministers. Submission of House of Lords. Centralization of Power. English Cabinet the Chief Law-maker. Judiciary in England. CHAPTER VII. STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS COM PARED Case of Connecticut. United States and Connecticut Compared. State and Federal Executives. City and Federal Constitutions Compared. Catechism. PAGE 36 40 45 CHAPTER VIII. PART II. MATTERS CHIEFLY LOCAL. EDUCATION Origin of Public Schools. Extension of Public Schools. Geography of School District. Area for School Government. Forms of Governments. School-District Officers. Support of Schools. Teachers' Certificates. City Superintendent. County Superintendent. State Superintendent. Judicial Business of the Superintendent. Township, County, and Normal Schools. State Universities and Agricultural Colleges. Educational Work of Federal Government. Public Schools and the Constitution. Highways and the Federal Government. Areas for Road Management. Road Building. Highway Officers. Toll Roads. Road Taxes. Division of Labor between Township and County. Canals and Railroads. |