CORRELATION OF SUBJECTS
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
These subjects are very intimately related, and each should be used in
teaching the other. Geography, which is often called one of the "eyes of
history," may be used in the teaching of this subject in two ways. In
the first place, an account of an historical event lacks, to a certain
degree, reality in the minds of the pupils if they do not know something
of the place where it occurred. Accordingly, in studying or teaching
history, reference should be constantly made to the map to give a local
setting to the story. The voyage of Columbus, the operations of Wolfe,
the coming of the Loyalists, are made more real if they are traced out
on the map, and are therefore better understood and remembered by the
pupils. For this purpose, it is better, in most cases, to use an outline
map, which may be sketched on the black-board by the teacher or the
pupils, because on the ordinary wall maps there are so many names and so
much detail that the attention may be distracted. Many of the details on
the map are, moreover, more modern than the events that are to be
illustrated, so that wrong impressions may be given.
In the second place, it must be kept constantly in mind that many events
in history have been influenced by the physical features of a country.
For example: the lack of a natural boundary between France and Germany
has led to many disputes between these countries; the fact of Great
Britain being an island accounts for many things in her history (see p.
108); the physical features of Quebec and Gibraltar explain the
importance of these places; and the waterways of Canada account for the
progress of early settlement. The climate and soil of a country affect
its history; treaties are often based on physical conditions, and trade
routes determined by them; a nation's commerce and wealth depend largely
on the character of its natural resources.
Some easy problems may be given to the senior classes to be answered by
reference to physical conditions:
Why are London, New York, Chicago, Montreal, and Halifax, such
important centres? Why are certain places fitted for certain
manufactures? Will Winnipeg become a more important city than
Montreal? Will Vancouver outstrip San Francisco? What is a possible
future for the Western Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan? What
might have been the state of North America to-day, if the Rocky
Mountains had run along the East coast, instead of along the West?
On the other hand, history contributes a human interest to geography;
the places of greatest interest are often those associated with great
events in history--Athens, Mount Sinai, Waterloo, Queenston Heights.
HISTORY AND LITERATURE
Literature gives life and human interest to both history and geography.
By means of literature we are able to get a better notion of the ideals
and motives of a people than the mere recital of the facts of their
history can give. In this connection we naturally think of Homer's
_Iliad_ and its influence on the Greeks. It was their storehouse of
history, morals, religion, æsthetics, and rules for the practical
guidance of life, as well as their literary masterpiece.
It is often easy to interest pupils in a period of history by reading or
quoting to them some ballad, poem, or prose narrative that colours the
historical facts with the element of human feeling. Macaulay's
_Horatius_ gives a deeper impression of Roman patriotism than almost
anything in pure history can; the various aspects of the Crusades are
vividly shown by W. Stearns Davis in _God Wills It_, a story of the
first Crusade. In fact, if stirring events can be linked in the child's
mind with stirring verse, if the struggles and progress of nations can
be presented in a vigorous narrative that echoes the thoughts, feelings,
and interests of the time, we make an appeal to the interest of the
pupil that is almost irresistible. The objection is sometimes urged
against the reading of standard historical tales and novels, that these
are somewhat exaggerated in sentiment and inaccurate in facts. Even if
this be so, it may be said that they give in outline a fair picture of
the period described, that the interest in history aroused by such tales
begets a liking for history itself, and that such exaggerations and
inaccuracies are soon corrected when the pupil begins to read history.
The course of history has been modified by songs, ballads, and stories.
The influence on the national spirit and ideals of songs such as _Rule
Britannia_ and _The Marseillaise_, of stories such as _Uncle Tom's
Cabin_, of novels such as those of Dickens and of Charles Reade is
incalculable.
A few poems and prose compositions are given here as suggestions; a
fuller list may be found in Allen's _Reader's Guide to English History_,
Ginn & Co., 30c.
Poems: _Boadicea_, Cowper; _Recessional_, Kipling; _Edinburgh After
Flodden_, Aytoun; _Hands All Round_, Tennyson; _Columbus_, Joaquin
Miller; _Waterloo_, Byron; _The Armada_, Macaulay; _The Revenge_,
Tennyson; _The Charge of the Light Brigade_, Tennyson.
Prose: "United Empire Loyalists," Roberts' _History of Canada_,
Chap. XV; "Departure and Death of Nelson," Southey; _Montcalm and
Wolfe_, Parkman; "The Crusader and the Saracen," in Scott's _The
Talisman_; "The Heroine of Castle Dangerous," in _Stories of New
France_, Machar and Marquis; "Adam Daulac," in _Martyrs of New
France_, Herrington.
HISTORY AND SCIENCE
The connection between history and science is very close, because it was
only after the invention of writing that history, the record of human
progress, became possible. Further, the remarkable way in which the
chief stages in the development of civilization coincide with certain
inventions and discoveries makes the study of history very incomplete
without a knowledge of the inventions and discoveries, inasmuch as these
opened a road for human development. (See p. 119.)
To make this evident, it is enough merely to mention a few comparatively
recent inventions, such as the mariner's compass, the printing-press,
gunpowder, the steam-engine, the power-loom, the cotton-gin, and the
telegraph.
To the introduction of the mariner's compass in the fourteenth century,
by which sailors were made independent of landmarks and the stars, and
could therefore go more boldly into the open sea, we owe the
explorations of the fifteenth century that culminated in the discovery
of America, and the way to India by the Cape of Good Hope. The
introduction of gunpowder in the fourteenth century gave the lower and
middle classes a weapon that made them equal in power with the nobles
and brought about the downfall of the feudal system and the rise of
modern democracies. The printing-press gave to the world the learning
of the past and revolutionized social conditions. The invention of high
explosives has made possible many of the great engineering works of
to-day. The inventions that have made transportation and communication
so easy and rapid have already done a great deal to bring nations to a
better understanding of each other and thus to promote the peace of the
world. Discoveries in medicine alone have had an incalculable influence
on the health and prosperity of society. In fact, the study of history
and an understanding of modern social and industrial conditions are
impossible without a knowledge of scientific inventions and discoveries.
(See pp. 87, 92.)
Children naturally take an interest in what individuals have done, and
it is easy to interest them in the work of men such as Watt, Stephenson,
Whitney, Fulton, Morse, Edison, Marconi, and their fellows. The
biographies of famous inventors should therefore be given, both as a
record of what they did and as an inspiration to like achievements.
HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTIVE WORK
Constructive work may be used to advantage in history and civics. It
gives concrete expression to some facts of history through the
construction by the pupils of objects mentioned therein. In studying
Indian life, the class may make in paper, wood, etc., wigwams, bows and
arrows, stockades, etc.; in connection with pioneer life, they may make
some of the buildings and implements used by the pioneers,--log houses,
spinning-wheels, hominy blocks, Red River carts, etc.; in studying
campaigns, they may make models in plasticine or clay, or on the sand
table, of forts, battle-fields, etc., for example--the Plains of
Abraham, Queenston Heights, Chateauguay, Plymouth Harbour; the Union
Jack may be cut out and coloured. (See p. 68.) In this way the
activities of the child may be made of practical use.
On the industrial and social side of history, which is being more and
more emphasized, it is of great value to the child to become acquainted,
even though on a small scale and through the simplest implements and
machines, with the construction of machinery and modes of manufacture.
For a lesson on the Industrial Revolution in England, for example, it
will give pupils a better understanding of the changes, if they know
something, through their own activities, of the way of making cloth.
For suggestions on constructive work, see the Manual on Manual Training:
P. 22: Suggestions for the various seasons and days.
P. 26: On the use of the sand table.
P. 55: On collecting and preserving pictures.
P. 58: On relief maps and geographical formations.
HISTORY AND ART
Art assists history in two ways. First, pictures may be used to
illustrate events in history and make them real. It is often difficult
for children to form a definite mental image of historical scenes merely
from the words of the teacher or of the text-book, because their
experiences are limited and the power to combine these properly is
lacking. This is recognized now in the many text-books which are freely
illustrated. Pictures of persons famous in history are also of value, in
that they make these persons more real to the pupils. Materials for
class use may be collected by the teacher and pupils,--engravings,
prints, cuts from newspapers and magazines of famous people, buildings,
cities, monuments, events; for example, the Landing of Columbus, the
Coming of the Loyalists, the Fathers of Confederation, the Landing of
the Pilgrim Fathers, an Old-Time Trading Post, the Death of Brock. A
good idea is to have a class scrap-book, to be filled with suitable
contributions from the class. The teacher will find a private scrap-book
exceedingly useful. Many fine pictures are given in _The Highroads of
History_, and _The Story of the British People_ for Form III. It may be
added that these pictures should be supplemented freely by descriptions
and narratives given by the teacher. (See _Visual Aids in the Teaching
of History_.)
Second, the pupils may be asked to illustrate, by drawings and sketch
maps, historic places, routes of armies and of explorers, the journeys
of settlers, etc.
HISTORY AND COMPOSITION
History, no less than other subjects of study, needs to be expressed by
the pupils, if it is to make them more efficient. Some of the usual
modes of expression are given above in connection with constructive work
and art. The chief mode of expression, however, for history is through
composition, both oral and written.
In the Junior Forms the stories should be reproduced orally (see Details
of Method for Forms I and II, p. 25), either by pure narration or by
dramatization; the pupils relate in their own language what they have
learned, or are allowed to dramatize the story. In the dramatization,
the pupils should be given a good deal of freedom in constructing the
conversation, once they get to know what is wanted, the only restriction
being that no pupil shall be allowed to take part who does not know the
story thoroughly. Incidents such as Harold taking the oath to help
William of Normandy gain the crown of England, Joseph being sold into
Egypt, the Greeks using the wooden horse to capture Troy, are very
easily dramatized.
In the Senior Forms the black-board outline may be used as the basis of
written or oral reproduction. The subject of composition will itself be
less objectionable by reason of these exercises, as the pupils are asked
to reproduce the history as material valuable and interesting in itself,
not merely as a means of showing their skill in expression. Moreover, in
the study of history, the pupil hears or reads the compositions of
others, and unconsciously gains, by these examples, much in vocabulary
and in power of expression. In fact, much of the culture value of
history depends on the training it affords in composition, and, by
intimately connecting these two subjects, a double advantage is
gained--the ability to comprehend historical material, and practice in
effective expression.
HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OR THE USE OF DATES
Geography is one of "the eyes of history"; chronology, or the arranging
of events according to their dates, is the other. This suggests that
dates are to be used merely as a help in "seeing" events in history in
their proper order, so that their relations to other events may be
better understood. When these relations are seen, the dates lose much of
their value.
For example, let us consider the following dates: 1763, 1774, 1775,
1783, 1791. The short interval between 1763, when Great Britain finally
assumed control of Canada by treaty, and 1774, when the Quebec Act was
passed, helps to make clear the reason for the French citizens receiving
so many concessions. They outnumbered the English so much that these
concessions were deemed necessary to hold their allegiance to the Crown
in face of the efforts made by the discontented New England colonies to
get their support in the coming revolution against Great Britain. The
success of the Act was shown in 1775, when the invasion by the
revolutionists failed. The war of the Revolution was ended by treaty in
1783, and Canada received as settlers, principally in Upper Canada, the
United Empire Loyalists, whose ideas of government were so different
from those of the Lower Canadians that the separation of Upper and Lower
Canada by the Constitutional Act of 1791 became necessary. These dates,
so close together, emphasize the rapidity with which events moved in
that period, as well as the sequence of cause and effect. We think also
of the dates of Cartier's voyages, 1534, 1535, and 1541, merely to raise
the question as to why so much time elapsed between the second and third
voyages. When these points are properly seen, the events are kept in
place by their relation of cause and effect, and the dates lose their
value. Moreover, the relations thus discovered will do most toward
fixing these dates in the memory. It should be understood, therefore,
that dates are only a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
It is important also to know the dates of certain events when we are
studying the history of several countries, in order that we may consider
together those events that are contemporary.
There are, of course, some dates that should be remembered because of
the importance of the events connected with them, for example: 1066,
1215, 1492, 1603, 1688, 1759, 1776, 1789, 1841, 1867.
In the Junior Forms, because the pupils are still lacking in the
"historical sense," little emphasis need be put on the giving of dates.
A few of the most important may be given in Form II, but it is very
questionable if they have any significance to the pupils at this early
stage.