THINGS TO DO

Questions to ask and answer in your study groups:

1. Name two groups of which you are a member. Can any person join these groups? If not, then tell the reasons why it cannot be done.

2. Do you think that any person who wishes should be able to join a group of doctors? Why or why not? 3. Name two qualifications which the members of the following groups must have:

a. Policemen.

b. Postmen.

c. Store clerks.

4. Explain what is meant by the statement that "the United States is a Republic."

5. Who has the authority to lay down the rules that must be followed by a person who wants to become a citizen?

6. Why should a person desire to become a citizen of the United States?

Complete each of the following:

1. Four things which a person must prove in order to be naturalized are:

a.

b.

C.

d.

2. The steps which a person usually must take in order to become a naturalized citizen of the United States are:

a. b.

C.

3. Study the oath of allegiance which a person must take when he is naturalized. Three things which he promises by his oath are:

a.

b.

C.

CHAPTER III

How Our Nation Was Started

"America was a great land when Columbus discovered it; Americans have made it a great nation."

-Lyman Abbott.

When we live in groups we must have authority, purpose, and organization. We must work with other groups. We must follow rules which the members of the group have approved as wise.

The authority and purposes of our National Government are written into the Constitution of the United States. Also, the basic principles of our Government are found in the Constitution. Our Government follows those principles in its work. We cannot understand our Government unless we know the history and meaning of those principles. Why did the Makers of the Constitution accept some rules and refuse to accept other rules? We shall study the early history of our Government and learn the reasons.

WHY THE COLONISTS CAME TO AMERICA

Many colonies were started in America, but some of them did not last. Most of the colonists had come from England. It was their mother country. The King of England was their ruler.

Each colony was settled by colonists who came for a purpose. The purpose was not the same in all of the colonies. The colonists in Virginia came to trade. They cut lumber and grew tobacco for sale. The Pilgrims and Puritans, who settled in what is now Massachusetts, came to be free in their form of worship. The Quakers came to Pennsylvania and the Roman Catholics came to Maryland for the same purpose.

The Dutch came to trade. They settled in New York. The Swedes and Finns came to Delaware and New Jersey ✓ in order to enjoy more freedom. The French and Spanish colonists settled in Florida and Canada. They wanted to trade with the Indians and teach them the ways of life of the white man.

RELATIONS WITH ENGLAND

One by one the colonies of other nations came under the ✓ control of England. In 1776, there were thirteen English colonies in America. Later these thirteen colonies became the first thirteen States.

The English people had a King, but they elected representatives who helped make the laws. The lawmaking body was called the Parliament. The people could always tell the lawmakers if they did not like the laws. Sometimes the people were able to have the laws changed.

The King and the Parliament governed the colonies in America. The King let the colonies elect representatives who made some of the local laws. But he sent governors to most of the colonies to carry out the laws of England. They collected the King's taxes on goods that the colonists brought in from other countries. The colonists were free in many ways. For more than a hundred years they did not say very much against the King and the Parliament.

ENGLAND FIGHTS A WAR

In 1755 there was a change. England declared war on France. The French colonies in Canada agreed to help France. They attacked the English colonies. The French also got the Indians to help. That is why we call it the French and Indian War.

The English soldiers and the colonists put up a good fight. They won the war. They took Canada away from France in 1763. Ever since that date Canada has been controlled by the English people.

RIGHTS OF COLONISTS ARE TAKEN AWAY

The cost of a war is always high. England had had to fight France both in Europe and in America. Times were hard. England needed more money.

The King thought that the colonists were using goods on which the taxes had not been paid. He ordered his officers to search for such goods without giving any reasons.

The colonists were not pleased. They were Englishmen. They said that they could not be searched unless the officer gave them a written statement telling why the search was made. But the officers took orders from the King and refused to respect the wishes of the colonists.

For many years the King and the Parliament had taxed goods that were brought into the colonies from other countries. England wanted the colonies to trade with her. She had told the colonists what goods they could make and with whom they could trade. But England had not placed heavy taxes on the colonists. She had not demanded that the colonists give much money to support the mother country.

Following the war with France, England kept an army of soldiers in the colonies. The King, George III, decided that the colonists should pay the cost of the army. So the Parliament passed a new tax law. It forced the colonists to buy tax stamps and to put them on newspapers, deeds, and all business papers. The colonists could neither buy nor sell anything without paying the new taxes.

THE COLONISTS ARE NOT PLEASED

The colonists were not against taxes. They had never refused to pay the tax on goods from other countries. But they did not like to be taxed against their wishes. They did not have representatives in the Parliament. They said that it was cruel to force the colonists to pay the taxes. It was against their rights as Englishmen. For a hundred years, all Englishmen had said that they could be taxed only by their own representatives. Never before had the King said that it was not true.