the characteristics
of the other nations of the earth, it becomes the manifest duty of the
school to do its share in perpetuating these ideals and prejudices and
standards. Once let these atrophy through disuse, once let them fail of
transmission because of the decay of the home, or the decay of the
school, or the decay of the social institutions that typify and express
them, and our country must go the way of Greece and Rome, and, although
our blood may thereafter continue pure and unmixed, and our physical
characteristics may be passed on from generation to generation unchanged
in form, our nation will be only a memory, and its history ancient
history. Some of the Greeks of to-day are the lineal descendants of the
Athenians and Spartans, but the ancient Greek standards of conduct, the
Greek ideals, died twenty centuries ago, to be resurrected, it is true,
by the renaissance, and to enjoy the glorious privilege of a new and
wider sphere of life,--but among an alien people, and under a northern
sun.

And so the true aim of the study of history in the elementary school is
not the realization of its utilitarian, its cultural, or its
disciplinary value. It is not a mere assimilation of facts concerning
historical events, nor the memorizing of dates, nor the picturing of
battles, nor the learning of lists of presidents,--although each of
these factors has its place in fulfilling the function of historical
study. The true function of national history in our elementary schools
is to establish in the pupils' minds those ideals and standards of
action which differentiate the American people from the rest of the
world, and especially to fortify these ideals and standards by a
description of the events and conditions through which they developed.
It is not the facts of history that are to be applied to the problems of
life; it is rather the emotional attitude, the point of view, that comes
not from memorizing, but from appreciating, the facts. A mere fact has
never yet had a profound influence over human conduct. A principle that
is accepted by the head and not by the heart has never yet stained a
battle field nor turned the tide of a popular election. Men act, not as
they think, but as they feel, and it is not the idea, but the ideal,
that is important in history.

IV

But what are the specific ideals and standards for which our nation
stands and which distinguish, in a very broad but yet explicit manner,
our conduct from