UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



and Quebec, and created the provinces of New 

 Brunswick and Ontario. They were the most 

 important single element in Canada, and they 

 supplied what has been essential to Canadian 

 growth in the Empire British predominance in 

 Canada. Their coming, says Bourinot, the Ca- 

 nadian historian, "was the saving of Briti-h in- 

 terest in the great region which England still 

 happily retained in North America." 



n Loyalists made no slight sacrifice. A 

 few of them migrated to Canada during the 

 Revolutionary War, but most of them moved 

 in 1783 and 1784. Between 1776 and 1783 they 

 had endured all manner of insult and persecu- 

 tion, often with great physical danger. They 

 were, as a class, the well-to-do people of the 

 thirteen colonies. Many of them abandoned 

 valuable estates, and others gave up influential 

 positions. From homes of comfort they fared 

 northward on a difficult journey, and faced the 

 hardships of pioneer Lfe. They had to turn for a 

 livelihood to farming, an occupation for which 

 most of them were unfitted by training ; but 

 they persevered, and were given aid by the 



Canadian government. Each settler received 

 200 acres of land, and, if necessary, was also 

 provided with implements, food and clothing. 

 Most of them prospered, and from their ranks 

 have come many of the men who have played 

 a great part in Canada's history Howe, Wil- 

 mot, Ryerson, Robinson and Cartwright, to 

 name a few. No prouder Canadians live than 

 those who can say that they are of "U. E. L." 

 descent. 



UNITED KINGDOM, a phrase used for the 

 legal term UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN 

 AND IRELAND, refers to the political union of 

 England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It was 

 formally adopted on January 1, 1801, although 

 it had been used by James I in 1604. At first 

 the title roused much opposition. The geogra- 

 phy, history, physical features and industries 

 of the component parts of this kingdom are 

 fully treated under the following headings in 

 these volumes: 



England 

 Ireland 

 Great Britain 



Scotland 



THE STORY OF THE 



UNITED STATES 



NITED STATES OF AMERICA, the 

 great central political division of North 

 America, commonly referred to as the world's 

 youngest and greatest republic. There is world- 

 wide acknowledgment of its vastness, its rich- 

 ness' and its power, but it is incorrect to say 

 that it is the youngest of republics, for it is truly 

 I he years from 1776 to the 

 present represent a brief space, as the world 



tea its eras, but when in tin- year named 

 i colonies in Am. TI.M .1, <-l m-d them- 

 selves nt states there were no democ- 

 racies in the world except Genoa, Venice, Swit- 



! arid r Hands. These were 



-tn.il. feeble, and in many ways inn 

 and as patterns for free governments could in- 

 spire but little hope. The example of the 



1 States, which at once becan 

 world's largest democracy, was the great in- 



fluence behind the liberalizing of the nations 

 which has steadily progressed for over a hun- 

 dred years. 



It has long been the proud and quite proper 

 boast of the Englishman that "tin- sun n. \.i 

 sets on Priii>h soil." The same claim can be 

 made for tl an republic, for \\li.-n tin- 



last rays of the MB the westernmost 



coast of the Philippine Islands they 

 the shores of tin- iv.vnth -ae.i 

 lands, Porto Rico and the rocky shores of 



m the S:imt Lawrence 



Great Lakes and the international boundary 

 line on the -r.it h parallel of north latitude on 

 the north, to the (Julf of Mexico and the Rio 

 Grande River, on the south, and from ocean to 

 ocean, 3,100 milesalmost one-eighth of the 

 distance around the world stretches the conti- 

 tl area of the republic. 



