An Outline of the Plan of the Chronicles of America
The fifty titles of the Series fall into eight topical sequences or groups, each with a dominant theme of its own—
I. The Morning of America — Time: 1492-1763
The theme of the first sequence is the struggle of nations for the possession of the New World. The mariners of four European kingdoms—Spain, Portugal, France, and England—are intent upon the discovery of a new route to Asia. They come upon the American continent which blocks the way. Spain plants colonies in the south, lured by gold. France, in pursuit of the fur trade, plants colonies in the north. Englishmen, in search of homes and of a wider freedom, occupy the Atlantic seaboard. These Englishmen come in time to need the land into which the French have penetrated by way of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes, and a mighty struggle between the two nations takes place in the wilderness, ending in the expulsion of the French. This sequence comprises ten volumes:
1. THE RED MAN’S CONTINENT, by Ellsworth Huntington 2. THE SPANISH CONQUERORS, by Irving Berdine Richman 3. ELIZABETHAN SEA-DOGS, by William Wood 4. CRUSADERS OF NEW FRANCE, by William Bennett Munro 5. PIONEERS OF THE OLD SOUTH, by Mary Johnston 6. THE FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND, by Charles M. Andrews 7. DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON, by Maud Wilder Goodwin 8. THE QUAKER COLONIES, by Sydney G. Fisher 9. COLONIAL FOLKWAYS, by Charles M. Andrews 10. THE CONQUEST OF NEW FRANCE, by George M. Wrong
II. The Winning of Independence — Time: 1763-1815
The French peril has passed, and the great territory between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi is now open to the Englishmen on the seaboard, with no enemy to contest their right of way except the Indian. But the question arises whether these Englishmen in the New World shall submit to political dictation from the King and Parliament of England. To decide this question the War of the Revolution is fought; the Union is born: and the second war with England follows. Seven volumes:
11. THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION, by Carl Becker 12. WASHINGTON AND HIS COMRADES IN ARMS, by George M. Wrong 13. THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION, by Max Farrand 14. WASHINGTON AND HIS COLLEAGUES, by Henry Jones Ford 15. JEFFERSON AND HIS COLLEAGUES, by Allen Johnson 16. JOHN MARSHALL AND THE CONSTITUTION, by Edward S. Corwin 17. THE FIGHT FOR A FREE SEA, by Ralph D. Paine
III. The Vision of the West — Time: 1750-1890
The theme of the third sequence is the American frontier—the conquest of the continent from the Alleghanies to the Pacific Ocean. The story covers nearly a century and a half, from the first crossing of the Alleghanies by the backwoodsmen of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas (about 1750) to the heyday of the cowboy on the Great Plains in the latter part of the nineteenth century. This is the marvelous tale of the greatest migrations in history, told in nine volumes as follows:
18. PIONEERS OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST, by Constance Lindsay Skinner 19. THE OLD NORTHWEST, by Frederic Austin Ogg 20. THE REIGN OF ANDREW JACKSON, by Frederic Austin Ogg 21. THE PATHS OF INLAND COMMERCE, by Archer B. Hulbert 22. ADVENTURERS OF OREGON, by Constance Lindsay Skinner 23. THE SPANISH BORDERLANDS, by Herbert E. Bolton 24. TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 25. THE FORTY-NINERS, by Stewart Edward White 26. THE PASSING OF THE FRONTIER, by Emerson Hough
IV. The Storm of Secession — Time: 1830-1876
The curtain rises on the gathering storm of secession. The theme of the fourth sequence is the preservation of the Union, which carries with it the extermination of slavery. Six volumes as follows:
27. THE COTTON KINGDOM, by William E. Dodd 28. THE ANTI-SLAVERY CRUSADE, by Jesse Macy 29. ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 30. THE DAY OF THE CONFEDERACY, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 31. CAPTAINS OF THE CIVIL WAR, by William Wood 32. THE SEQUEL OF APPOMATTOX, by Walter Lynwood Fleming
V. The Intellectual Life
Two volumes follow on the higher national life, telling of the nation’s great teachers and interpreters:
33. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN EDUCATION, by Edwin E. Slosson 34. THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN LITERATURE, by Bliss Perry
VI. The Epic of Commerce and Industry
The sixth sequence is devoted to the romance of industry and business, and the dominant theme is the transformation caused by the inflow of immigrants and the development and utilization of mechanics on a great scale. The long age of muscular power has passed, and the era of mechanical power has brought with it a new kind of civilization. Eight volumes:
35. OUR FOREIGNERS, by Samuel P. Orth 36. THE OLD MERCHANT MARINE, by Ralph D. Paine 37. THE AGE OF INVENTION, by Holland Thompson 38. THE RAILROAD BUILDERS, by John Moody 39. THE AGE OF BIG BUSINESS, by Burton J. Hendrick 40. THE ARMIES OF LABOR, by Samuel P. Orth 41. THE MASTERS OF CAPITAL, by John Moody 42. THE NEW SOUTH, by Holland Thompson