Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-10-22
A Grave Omission in our School History

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A Grave Omission in our School History
Having had occasion as member Of
Il city school board to examine num-
Der of text books on American history
prepared for the use Of schools and
academies. have been struck with
one defect which all seem to possess in
common. This is their glariug omis-
sion Of any due notice Of the vast inn
migrations. from foreign countries.
which have taken place vithiu the pres
ent century and which have 50 largely
contributed to the making Of
America.
look ut the census tables aud learn
that there are fourteen million people,
in the United states. of foreign parent
age. observe that there are half a
million Irish men and women i'm New
York and that majority Of the voters
in the state OF Wisconsin are of German
birth. turn to my school history.
which pretend, to tell m tho story OF
Che American people. and ] find uo
trace of the coming OF these millions.
There is Horecorl of Tie mighty indus
trial imFeu, which thci immigration
mast lave produced; nor the slightest
hint of the vast. thou-h subtle. social
and political influences WHICH almost
necessarily must have accompanied tac
iu.uemiug Of such mass.
As Well might a record of the thir-
teen original colonies brought down to
l-s3 In which all reference to the Great
West aui ~5G;a-West was omitted. Dee
called 'iIi,,orl Of the United states
ass oue which ignores tac coloHi5ts Who
have landed since the Revolution
Possibly some explanation If tAis I'M
eXcusah.e haius may Dc founl In the
habit of school-Dook compilers Of ser
yiley initiating their predecessors OF
the 30's and los. Peter Parlcyism'
has been tie bmc Of the schools I'm this
particular department. Apparently
there is no America mtil the curtain
isrmg up to witness the landing OF
the Puritan. ''thosc brave refugees"
from religious deapoti-m they did 50
much To reestahlish in their neW lomr.
And the school-boy is RECALLED with all
the little joys and woes Of the Ply
mouth villager, where the rest OF the
country is settled "Vithogt note on
comment There is for instance no
adequate mention Of the earlier influx
of Irish settlers whose hatred of En-
glish dominion eXcrted $50 powerful an
influence In favor of the Revolutionary
movement if We arc to credit tie au-
thoritics cited Ia one of Leeky's recent
volumes. and that has since grown to
be SO important an element i'm tie his
tors Of the American people The pa
pill has forced upon lis memory all the
Nctherland!sh names Of the governors
Of colonial New York, while the vast
German immigration that hats built up
entire states i'm our Western domain is
scarcely noticed.
In this particular our tcxt-bcok
writers on American history have made
q great mistake. They have closed
their epoch Of colonization and settle
mcnt q century too soon. They notice
the arrival Of a hundred refugees in
the seventeenth century, and expatiatc
on the causes of their exile. But they
ignore the million decade who have
landed OF om shores during the present
century. Yet this colonization Of the
century is greater than that
OF all previous erac. 1t has exceeded
numerically that great migration from
the north which overturned tie Roman
Empire. True. il has not carried in
its train the disastrous and destructive
results of tbe barbarian iuloads. but it
may possess all thc constructive uHd
modifying force Of chat mighty ophoay-
al. ID has brought widely differing
races into the community. They have
adapted themselves TO the society which
they lave found here. bat has There
been no espwsiyc adaptation on tie
part of the native community: BIT
in any event. whoever fails TO rcc14-
nlze ia European immigration aud
Western settlement main threads.
aside from purely political events like
the slavery agitation, i'm the history of
the American people during the present
century. is untitled Co write 80 suitable
textbook for The sch0ols-H. j. DEs- F,
MOND in The CcaiNyy.