History of the United States: to which is prefixed a brief historical … Published by Noah Webster is a book that begins by giving the creation account as well as men’s dispersion on their attempt in building Babel; gives a description of the ancestors , Japheth’s descendants as they were seen before the era of christianity. Saxon ancestors were briefly discussed since they conquered Britain hence improved their art life which eventually led to their reformation. The peopling of America and the aboriginals character was also put into account in this book. Puritan’s origin and cause of migrating to America was also given a brief description in this book by Webster. History patterns of settlement and the U.S Constitution has been written with brevity.
Webster has been described by most authors as being vain, weak, and a plodding (diligent and methodical in his work) Yankee since as he aspired to be like Johnson. He wrote the Quarto dictionary even though most of the terms he lifted from the works of Johnson. He wanted to be a lawyer, but found himself engaged into deep writing. He attended school where only the spelling-book, Psalter, and a Bible were easily found. Books in the village were rare to find, but he managed to be a re-known author despite the low educational foundation[1].
At age fourteen, he showed characteristics of college material so he studied for two full years with his village minister, Dr. Perkins, and eventually entered Yale College through Hopkins School of Grammar at Hartford in 1774. Webster had to go through the harsh conditions at the time he was in college and with no other alternative, he decide to go and teach so as to get something that will sustain hi through his college life. Despite all the hurdles, he stood tall and was able to conquer all the obstacles and started writing books and articles for his pupils to read[2].
Webster Noah is one of the famous authors in the world especially since he was able to talk of the major things that transpired in the lives of Americans, which is a subject that is widely used in colleges and other higher learning institutions. Noah Webster is one of the authors who writes books with a passion and keeps in mind the target audience hence knows the right ways and means of presenting the literary works devoid of distorting the messages in the information being relayed.
The main goal of Noah when he was writing this book was to inform the youth of how America came to being and thus it was not for entertainment. The readers of this book are the young Americans who Webster hoped will be keen in getting the message that is being passed to them which was to enlighten their young developing minds of their religious and moral principles, which were required in the contemporary society. He also wanted them to be able to serve in a degree that will allow them to restrain from the vices performed by other members in the country.
His thesis was well developed bearing in mind that he wanted to encourage the young people to read the Bible and follow all the commandments just as they follow the Constitution. An example of his thesis was “… the genuine source of correct republican principles is the bible …” The thesis was a reflection of how he wanted them to behave in the contemporary society bearing in mind all that their ancestors had to go through for them to be where they are. He was able to achieve this since most of the readers who got hold of his book used all the guidelines given to them and have succeeded in attaining their life dreams without struggling much as compared to him who was exposed to many challenges and problems.
The style of this book is for those who are learning how to read and understand what has been read hence is meant for the young Americans in American society. The words being used by Noah should be referred back to the dictionary since explanations are different and thus will give the learner clarity of the sentences meaning. This style gives the students to be accustomed to exercising his mind in discriminating the different terms applied thus will be more efficacious in impressing upon his capacity of memory their significant. Webster counteracted peculiar phrases and vulgarism early in the life of children to enhance practicability in life hence it will infect their polite language of conversation. The book was not very hard to follow since it was very interesting and had pictures that were intriguing. For the young readers, this is captivating and motivating to read. Webster is a professional author who does not entertain biasness in his work and thus he was balanced in his by ensuring that he dealt with all the areas that were required in the topic.
This book is well presented in terms of pictures since he was able to add more information to the readers especially those who are artistic and read much from a picture[3]. The source in which he used was both secondary and primary especially when it came to the reporting of the Constitution. The whole book has been documented very well since after every chapter he gave the reader to answer some questions to test themselves if they can comprehend the information read without referring to the passages. The sources used were adding to the text since most of the learners can decide to use them in expanding some of the points when doing their own revision during private their time and compare the information hence evaluate their correctness.
My own personal judgment concerning this book is that it is good especially to those individuals who want to know the history of America in depth. Well, the book did influence me in some aspects of the constitution and am grateful to it since now I fully understand why the senators of our present time are passing some bills in Congress. The Health bill for example was passed in order to accommodate the needs of all people since long ago the people who lived in the rural areas were not being given medical support[4]. I would recommend that other people should read this book since it is not only going to give them insights on America’s history, but also it is going to enhance their use of English language to a more sophisticated one used mostly by scholars in higher learning institutions.
[1] Cashman, Dennis. America in the gilded age: from the death of Lincoln to the rise of Theodore Roosevelt. New York: NYU Press, 1993 (3) 200-250.
[2]Webster, Noah. History of the United States. New York: New York Library, 1837 (1) 1- 6.
[3] Webster, Noah. History of the United States. New York: New York Library, 1837 (1) 1- 6.
[4] Archuleta, M., Child, J., & Lomawaima, K. Away from Home: American Indian Boarding school, Experiences, 1879-2000. Santa Fe: NM, 2000 (2) 54-65.
Works Cited
Archuleta, M., Child, J., & Lomawaima, K. Away from Home: American Indian
Boarding school, Experiences, 1879-2000. Santa Fe: NM, 2000 (2) 54-65.
Cashman, Dennis. America in the gilded age: from the death of Lincoln to the rise of
Theodore Roosevelt. New York: NYU Press, 1993 (3) 200-250.
Webster, Noah. History of the United States. New York: New York Library, 1837 (1) 1- 6.
