Patriotic Reader

CLICK ON FLAG TO ACESS "THE "PATRIOTIC READER" DIGITAL EDITION

Carry the Torch in 2026!
July 4th 2026 will be the official 250th birthday of the United States of America. Celebrations are being held in every one of our 50 states to honor our experiment as a constitutional republic, of the people, for the people, by the people. Are we still promoting the patriotism that holds a nation together? Do today's public schools engage our children in patriotic ideals as they did in the country schools of the past? Open up The Patriotic Reader, by Bemis, Holtz & Smith of more than a century ago and you can make the assessment.
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The copyright is 1917, when patriotism and love of country were foremost in the minds of teachers and scholars alike in our nation's one-room schools. Savvy  schoolbook publishers offered patriotic readers designed to teach the ideals embodied in the very best of our history. They included poetry, short stories, quotations, songs, character studies, and biographies...all designed to highlight the great men and women who forged a free nation from the American Revolution onward.

Any three of the quotations below are appropriate to the task, boldly reflecting  the spirit of our great thinkers. Daniel Webster  proclaimed, "I was born an American: I will live an American: I shall die an American."

Benjamin Harrison ordered this: "Do not be ashamed to love the flag or to confess your love of it. Make much of it; tell its history; sing of it. It now floats over our schools, and it ought to hang from the windows of all our homes on all our public days. Every man should rise when a national air is given at a concert or public meeting."

Henry Cabot Lodge added, "Believe in your country,- be Americans."
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And so it goes. The chapter headings speak of the stories that children loved to hear. 

• The Origin of Our Country
• The Glory of Our History
• Our Greatest Leaders Washington and Lincoln
• Amalgamation of Races in America
• Our Country's Ideals
• Our Flag
• National Hymns and Songs
• Quotations and Short Selections

The book speaks loudly of our unity as a nation before two world wars and scores of national events that tore apart our fabric of our melting pot nation. These antique patriotic readers can still inspire us to revere a country that has offered us freedom and opportunity unmatched across the globe. Keep an eye out in your search.

I guarantee you'll find inspiration for your country school's living history experience!
Access the digital copy of The Patriotic Reader by clicking on the flag above.

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