From the introduction: "Many of the pupils in whose hands this book is placed will never read or study another discussion of civics and patriotism. Is it more important that they get from this text a detailed knowledge of the machinery of town, city, county, state, and national government, or that they get deeply implanted in their minds and hearts the conviction that America is really a nation founded on liberty, that it is a nation which looks to them to-day and every day to help in its building, that patriotism means making the most of every opportunity that this land of opportunities offers. The author has felt that unless the boy and the girl leave the elementary or junior high school with a definite conception of what America stands for, what it expects them to do now as boys and girls and later as men and women, they will be futile, even if well-meaning, citizens.
This book therefore aims to create a background which will help the teacher develop a spirit of true patriotism (this is accomplished by the early chapters in the book), and, when this has been kindled, to take the pupil into the technical part of the subject (the chapters on laws, government, taxes, thrift, etc.). In these chapters, as in the earlier ones, the pupil is never allowed to lose touch with the American spirit which is the keynote of the whole text. And finally he is led to symbolize love of country in a consideration of the flag. The Appendix will assist those teachers who wish to emphasize the mechanics of the subject in a broad way. The minor details of local government vary in each state and cannot be included in a text of this kind."
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My Country: A Textbook in Civics and Patriotism for Young Americans
By Grace Alice Turkington, Newell Convers Wyeth
Illustrated by Newell Convers Wyeth
Published by Ginn and Company, 1918
394 pages
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