should make her thoughtful
and grave to meet and outface many problems of existence, to the
solution of which she must in largest part contribute by her dealings
with them. She is free with the noblest of freedoms; she has the liberty
to _be_ as well as to _do_, and the former is the greater thing. That
which she does is but the reflex of that which she is, and the latter is
the determining factor in the result of civilization. It is for her to
direct the steps of progress, less in material matters than in spiritual
direction; the legislation which is enacted in the halls of our
legislatures is but the consequence of the influence and even the
teachings of the home, and the face of the land is ever turned in the
direction toward which its women set their countenances. There lies
before us grave peril in questions of social nature, and it is our women
who will determine whether the peril is to prove fatal to the best
interests of civilization or but a "stepping-stone to higher things."

The story of American womanhood in the past shows deep cause for pride
in those who can boast kinship to that womanhood, and the future will
not blur the blazon of the past.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
I THE ABORIGINAL WOMAN
II THE WOMEN OF MEXICO
III THE WOMEN OF SOUTH AMERICA
IV THE PERIOD OF SETTLEMENT
V THE EARLY COLONIAL PERIOD
VI THE LATER COLONIAL PERIOD
VII REVOLUTIONARY DAYS
VIII THE WOMEN OF CANADA
IX THE YOUNG REPUBLIC
X THE GROWTH OF THE NATION
XI THE SECTIONAL DIVISION
XII THE CIVIL WAR
XIII FEMININE RECONSTRUCTION
XIV THE CLOSE OF A CENTURY

List of Illustrations

Huemac II. meets Xochitl, Obregon.
The death of Minnehaha, William L. Dodge.
The beautiful maidens presented to
the Spaniards, From the "Lienzo de Tlaxcala".
The courtship of Miles Standish, C. Y. Turner.
Antony Van Corlear, F. D. Millet.
A Southern wedding, E. L. Henry.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Women of America, by John Rouse Larus

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