Saline County, Kansas, 1895

Any nine of these standard rules: capitalize (1) the first word of every sentence; (2) the first word of every line of poetry; (3) proper nouns, such as names of people, places, and days and months (Kansas, Monday, April); (4) adjectives made from proper nouns (American, English); (5) names and titles of God (the Almighty, the Creator); (6) the pronoun I and the interjection O; (7) titles of office or honor used with a name (President Cleveland, Dr. Smith); (8) the first word of a direct quotation (He said, "Come here."); (9) the important words in titles of books and headings (The Last of the Mohicans); (10) names of important events, documents, and organizations (the Revolution, the Declaration of Independence); (11) the first word after a colon that begins a complete, formal statement.

Now: These are nearly all still the rules. Seasons (spring, winter) were and are lowercase.

Study: Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition (or Reed & Kellogg's Graded Lessons in English), the lesson on capital letters.

The eight parts of speech are noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. "Modifications" (also called "properties" or "inflections") meant changes such as number, gender, person, case, tense, and comparison. The parts with no modifications are the preposition, conjunction, and interjection. A preposition is a word that shows the relation between its object and some other word (in, on, by, to: "the book on the desk"). A conjunction is a word that connects words, phrases, or clauses (and, but, or, because). An interjection is a word that expresses sudden feeling and has no grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence (oh, alas, hurrah).

Then: Some grammars of the day counted nine parts of speech, listing the article (a, an, the) separately; others counted the participle. A pupil might also have mentioned the article as having no modifications. Adverbs were usually said to have one modification: comparison (soon, sooner, soonest).

Study: Harvey's Elementary Grammar, the opening lessons on the parts of speech.

A verse is one line of poetry. (It is also a short numbered division of a chapter, as in the Bible.) A stanza is a group of lines (verses) that forms one division of a poem, often with a set rhyme pattern. A paragraph is a division of prose made of one or more sentences about one topic; it begins on a new line, usually indented.

Now: Today people often say "verse" to mean a whole stanza (as in a song's verses), but the 1890s textbook answer was "one line of poetry."

Study: Harvey's or Reed & Kellogg's composition lessons; any rhetoric text of the period.

The principal parts are the present, the past (then called the "past" or "preterit"), and the past participle (then often called the "perfect participle"). do, did, done. lie (to recline), lay, lain (present participle lying). lay (to place), laid, laid. run, ran, run. A careful pupil would add that lie meaning "to tell a falsehood" is lie, lied, lied.

Then: Some grammars listed the present participle as a fourth principal part (doing, lying, laying, running). The lie/lay pair was the classic test, as it still is.

Now: Some copies of the exam read "lie, play and run". If so, play, played, played.

Study: Harvey's Elementary Grammar, irregular verbs and the list of principal parts.

Case is the relation of a noun or pronoun to other words in the sentence. English grammars of the time gave three cases. Nominative: the subject, or a noun used in the predicate after "to be" ("The boy runs"; "It is he"). Possessive: shows ownership ("the boy's hat"; "his hat"). Objective: the object of a verb or preposition ("I saw the boy"; "Give it to him").

Then: Pupils might also be expected to mention special nominative uses, such as the nominative of address ("John, come here") and the nominative absolute ("The sun having set, we went home").

Now: Modern grammars usually speak of "subject," "object," and "possessive" forms; the idea is the same, and it shows most plainly in pronouns (I, my, me).

Study: Harvey's Elementary Grammar, the lessons on case and declension of nouns and pronouns.

Punctuation is the use of marks (points) in writing to separate words, phrases, and clauses so the meaning is clear. Main rules: Period: at the end of a statement or command, and after abbreviations (Mr., Kans.). Question mark: after a direct question. Exclamation point: after an exclamation or strong feeling. Comma: to separate words in a series, to set off a person addressed, an appositive, a short quotation, and introductory or loose phrases and clauses. Semicolon: between the clauses of a compound sentence when they are not joined by a conjunction, or when they already contain commas. Colon: before a formal list, a long quotation, or an explanation. Quotation marks: around a speaker's exact words. Apostrophe: to show possession or a left-out letter (boy's, don't). Hyphen: to join compound words and divide a word at the end of a line. Dash: to show a sudden break. Parentheses: to enclose an aside.

Study: Harvey's Elementary Grammar, the appendix or lessons on punctuation.

There is no single answer. To check it, look for: about 150 words; a title; paragraphs indented; every sentence beginning with a capital and ending with the right mark; proper nouns capitalized; subjects and verbs that agree; correct verb forms (especially lie/lay, did/done, ran/run); correct pronoun case (between you and me); commas in series and around quotations; and neat penmanship (the county graded penmanship from these papers). A typical topic would be a farm chore, a trip to town, or a school event.

Then: This one item was worth four questions' credit (numbers 7 through 10), so it carried a large share of the Grammar grade.

Study: The composition lessons in Harvey's or Reed & Kellogg.

The four fundamental rules are Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. Addition is uniting two or more numbers into one sum. Subtraction is finding the difference between two numbers. Multiplication is taking one number (the multiplicand) as many times as there are units in another (the multiplier), a short way of adding equal numbers. Division is finding how many times one number (the divisor) is contained in another (the dividend), a short way of subtracting equal numbers.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, the opening chapters on the fundamental rules.

About 48 bushels (48.21). Method: volume = 2 x 10 x 3 = 60 cubic feet = 103,680 cubic inches; divided by 2,150.42 cubic inches in a bushel = 48.21 bushels. (Python: 60 * 1728 / 2150.42 = 48.2138.)

Then: Textbooks used the Winchester bushel of 2,150.42 cubic inches; many also taught the farmer's shortcut that a cubic foot holds about 4/5 (0.8) of a bushel, which gives exactly 48 bushels. Either answer would be accepted.

Now: The U.S. dry bushel is still legally 2,150.42 cubic inches.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Mensuration (measuring bins and wagon boxes).

$24.10. Method: 3,942 - 1,050 lbs. tare = 2,892 lbs. of wheat; divided by 60 lbs. per bushel = 48.2 bushels; times $0.50 = $24.10. (Python: (3942-1050)/60*0.5 = 24.1.)

Then: "Tare" is the weight of the wagon and box, which must be subtracted. A bushel of wheat was reckoned at 60 pounds by law.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Denominate Numbers (weights of a bushel of grain).

A levy of about 13 mills on the dollar (exactly 12.97 mills, or 1.3 percent). Method: 7 months x $50 = $350, plus $104 incidentals = $454 needed; $454 / $35,000 = 0.01297, that is 12.97 mills per dollar of valuation. (Python: 454/35000*1000 = 12.971.)

Then: Tax rates were stated in mills (thousandths of a dollar) per dollar of assessed valuation. A county clerk would round up to 13 mills to be sure enough was raised.

Now: Kansas property taxes are still levied in mills, though on a different assessment basis.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Taxes.

$20.16, using the ordinary (short) ton of 2,000 lbs. Method: 6,720 / 2,000 = 3.36 tons x $6 = $20.16. (Python: 6720/2000*6 = 20.16.)

Then: Notice that 6,720 is exactly 3 long tons of 2,240 lbs. Arithmetic books of the time taught that coal and iron were often sold wholesale by the long ton, so the question may have been set to test that: 3 long tons x $6 = $18.00. Accept either, if the child says which ton was used.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Denominate Numbers (the long and short ton).

$25.72 (exactly $25.7154). Method: 8 months 18 days = 258 days, using 30-day months; interest = $512.60 x 0.07 x 258/360 = $25.72. (Python: 512.60*0.07*258/360 = 25.7154.) The "six percent method" taught then gives the same result.

Then: Schools used the 360-day "commercial year" with 30-day months. With exact days and a 365-day year the result is a little less, about $25.36.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Simple Interest.

$12.80, under the most likely reading. Each board 1 inch thick, 12 inches (1 ft.) wide and 16 ft. long holds 16 board feet; 40 boards = 640 board feet; at $20 per M (per thousand board feet) = 0.64 x $20 = $12.80. (Python: 40*16/1000*20 = 12.8.)

Then: The printed text reads "$20 per metre," which makes no sense for lumber in 1895 Kansas. Lumber was priced "per M" (per 1,000 board feet), and a copyist probably misread "M" as "metre." Thickness is not given; textbooks assumed 1 inch unless told otherwise. Read literally as $20 per meter of length (16 ft. = 4.877 m), the cost would be about $3,901, which is clearly not what was meant.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Mensuration (board measure).

Bank discount $7.50 (proceeds $292.50). Method: $300 x 0.10 x 90/360 = $7.50. (Python: 300*.1*90/360 = 7.5.)

Then: Banks took the interest out in advance ("discount"). "Days of grace" were 3 extra days usually added to a note's term; the question says to leave them out.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Bank Discount.

$2,400. Method: the distance around is 640 rods, so each side is 160 rods; the area is 160 x 160 = 25,600 square rods; divided by 160 square rods per acre = 160 acres; times $15 = $2,400. (Python: (640/4)**2/160*15 = 2400.)

Then: 160 acres was a quarter section, the size of a homestead claim, so every Kansas child knew this number.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, Mensuration and the table of land measure.

Sample forms (names and amounts are made up). CHECK: "No. 15. Salina, Kans., April 13, 1895. The First National Bank of Salina. Pay to John Brown or order Twenty-five and 50/100 Dollars. $25.50. (signed) Henry Smith." PROMISSORY NOTE: "$100.00. Salina, Kans., April 13, 1895. Ninety days after date I promise to pay to the order of John Brown One Hundred Dollars, for value received, with interest at 8 percent. (signed) Henry Smith." RECEIPT: "$10.00. Salina, Kans., April 13, 1895. Received of Henry Smith Ten Dollars, in full of account. (signed) John Brown." Check that each has a place and date, the amount in both words and figures, the payee, and a signature.

Then: A note was expected to state the time, the payee ("or order" or "or bearer" to make it transferable), "for value received," and the interest rate.

Study: Ray's New Practical Arithmetic, the section on business forms (notes, checks, receipts).

Textbooks divided it differently, so accept any sensible scheme. A common one: (1) Discovery and Exploration, 1492 to 1607; (2) Colonial period (Settlement), 1607 to 1763 or 1775; (3) the Revolution, 1775 to 1783 (or to 1789, including the forming of the Constitution); (4) Growth of the Nation (Development, or Constitutional period), 1789 to 1861; (5) the Civil War, 1861 to 1865; (6) Reconstruction and recent times, 1865 to the present (1895).

Then: The exact epochs and names depended on the textbook the county used (for example Barnes's, Montgomery's, or Eggleston's histories). Which book Saline County used in 1895 is not known here, so the expected list is uncertain.

Now: Modern books add later eras (Progressive Era, World Wars, Cold War, and so on).

Study: The table of contents of any 1890s school U.S. history, such as Barnes's Brief History of the United States.

Christopher Columbus, a sailor from Genoa, believed he could reach Asia (the "Indies") by sailing west. After Portugal turned him down, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to support him. He sailed from Palos, Spain, on August 3, 1492, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina. After a long voyage and a near mutiny, land was sighted, and on October 12, 1492, he landed on an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador. He went on to Cuba and Hispaniola, lost the Santa Maria in a wreck, and returned to Spain in 1493 to a hero's welcome. He made three more voyages, but died in 1506 still believing he had reached Asia. The people he met he called "Indians" for that reason.

Now: Millions of Indigenous people already lived in the Americas, and Norse sailors under Leif Erikson reached Newfoundland around the year 1000 (proved by excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows in the 1960s). Modern accounts also describe the enslavement and catastrophic population loss that followed for the Taino and other peoples. Which Bahamian island was his landfall is still debated.

Study: Any period U.S. history, opening chapter on Columbus.

Causes: British taxes passed without the colonists' consent ("taxation without representation"): the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend duties (1767), and the tea tax (Tea Act, 1773, leading to the Boston Tea Party); restrictions on colonial trade and manufacturing (the Navigation Acts); troops quartered in the colonies and the Boston Massacre (1770); the punishing "Intolerable Acts" of 1774; and finally the fighting at Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775). Results: independence, declared July 4, 1776 and recognized by Britain in the Treaty of Paris (1783); a new nation reaching from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and from the Great Lakes to Florida; a republican government, first under the Articles of Confederation and then the Constitution (1787); and an example of self-government that influenced other nations, such as France.

Study: Period U.S. history, chapters on the causes of the Revolution and the Treaty of Paris.

As of 1895: the original territory (1783), from the Atlantic to the Mississippi; the Louisiana Purchase from France (1803, $15 million), which doubled the country and included Kansas; Florida from Spain (treaty of 1819, completed 1821); annexation of Texas (1845); the Oregon Country, by treaty with Great Britain (1846), fixing the line at the 49th parallel; the Mexican Cession after the Mexican War (1848), including California; the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico (1853, $10 million), southern Arizona and New Mexico; and Alaska, bought from Russia (1867, $7.2 million).

Now: Later additions: Hawaii (1898), Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines (1898; the Philippines became independent in 1946), American Samoa (1899-1900), the Panama Canal Zone (1904, returned to Panama in 1979), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (1917).

Study: Period U.S. history, chapter or map on territorial growth.

Main points: Coronado's Spanish expedition crossed Kansas in 1541 looking for the golden "Quivira." Kansas was part of the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and was visited by Lewis and Clark (1804), Pike (1806), and Long (1819), who called the plains part of the "Great American Desert." The Santa Fe Trail (from 1821) and the Oregon Trail crossed it, and Fort Leavenworth was founded in 1827. In the 1830s eastern Indian nations were moved onto reserves in Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) let settlers decide whether to allow slavery, and proslavery and free-state settlers fought for control ("Bleeding Kansas"): rival governments and constitutions, the sacking of Lawrence (1856), and John Brown's killings at Pottawatomie Creek (1856). Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861 (the 34th state), under the Wyandotte Constitution, with Topeka as capital. In the Civil War, Kansas sent many soldiers to the Union, and Quantrill's raiders burned Lawrence in 1863. After the war came railroads, cattle towns such as Abilene and Dodge City, homesteaders, the grasshopper plague of 1874, Mennonite settlers who brought hard winter wheat, the Black "Exodusters" of 1879, statewide prohibition (adopted 1880), and the Populist movement of the early 1890s. Salina itself was founded in 1858.

Then: A Saline County pupil would likely stress the free-state struggle, admission in 1861, and the growth of farming and railroads; any accurate, well-organized account would earn credit.

Study: A Kansas history of the period (for example, Noble Prentis's School History of Kansas); today, the Kansas Historical Society's Kansapedia.

Any three, described accurately. Gettysburg (Pennsylvania, July 1-3, 1863): Lee's invasion of the North was turned back by Meade's Union army; Pickett's Charge failed on the third day; often called the turning point of the war. Vicksburg (Mississippi, siege ending July 4, 1863): Grant captured the city, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and cutting the Confederacy in two. Antietam (Maryland, September 17, 1862): the bloodiest single day of the war; Lee's first northern invasion was stopped, and Lincoln then issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Other good choices: Bull Run (1861), Shiloh (1862), Chattanooga (1863), the Wilderness (1864).

Then: "The Rebellion" (the "War of the Rebellion") was the usual Northern name for the Civil War in the 1890s; the U.S. government's official records used that title.

Now: Today it is called the Civil War.

Study: Period U.S. history, chapters on the Civil War.

Samuel F. B. Morse: inventor of the electric telegraph and the Morse code; first line, Washington to Baltimore, 1844 ("What hath God wrought"). Eli Whitney: inventor of the cotton gin (1793), which made cotton growing very profitable; also a pioneer of interchangeable parts. Robert Fulton: built the first commercially successful steamboat, the Clermont, on the Hudson River (1807). Alexander Graham Bell: inventor of the telephone (patented 1876). Abraham Lincoln: 16th President, who led the Union through the Civil War, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and was assassinated in 1865. William Penn: English Quaker who founded Pennsylvania (1681-82) and Philadelphia, known for religious freedom and fair dealings with the Lenape (Delaware) Indians. Howe: most likely Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine (patented 1846).

Then: "Howe" is ambiguous. Since the list is mostly inventors, Elias Howe is the best guess, but General William Howe (British commander in the Revolution) or Julia Ward Howe (author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic") might also have been accepted.

Study: Period U.S. history, sections on inventions and on the colonies.

1607: Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America. 1620: the Pilgrims came on the Mayflower, signed the Mayflower Compact, and founded Plymouth. 1800: the national capital moved to Washington, D.C.; Thomas Jefferson was elected President in the election of 1800. 1849: the California gold rush (the "forty-niners"). 1865: the Civil War ended (Lee surrendered at Appomattox, April 9); Lincoln was assassinated (April 14); the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery (ratified December).

Study: Period U.S. history, chronological tables.

Alphabet: the letters of a language arranged in their regular order. Phonetic: having to do with the sounds of the voice; a phonetic spelling uses one sign for each sound. Orthography: the art of writing words with the proper letters, that is, correct spelling (and, in these books, the study of letters and sounds). Etymology: the study of the origin and derivation of words (for example, "telegraph" from Greek words meaning "far" and "write"). Syllabication: the division of words into syllables.

Then: In grammar books of the day "etymology" also meant the part of grammar that classifies words and their inflections (parts of speech); in a spelling exam the word-origin meaning is the one wanted.

Study: Reed's Word Lessons, or the introduction to Webster's speller or any 1890s orthography text.

Elementary sounds are the simplest sounds of the language, which cannot be divided further; English has about 42 to 44. They were classified as: vocals (vowel sounds, pure tones of the voice, as a in "far"); subvocals (voice sounds changed by the lips, tongue, or teeth: b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v, z); and aspirates (breath sounds without voice: p, t, k, f, s, h).

Then: Some books called the same three groups tonics, subtonics, and atonics.

Now: Today we say vowels, voiced consonants, and voiceless consonants.

Study: Any 1890s orthography or reading text (e.g., the sound charts in McGuffey's or Webster's speller).

Trigraph: three letters standing for one sound, as eau in "beau," tch in "catch," eye in "eye." Subvocals: consonant sounds made with the voice, as b, d, g (in "go"), v, z, l, m, n, r. Diphthong: two vowel sounds joined in one syllable, as oi in "oil," oy in "boy," ou in "out," ow in "now." Cognate letters: pairs made with the mouth in the same position, one with voice and one with breath only: b and p, d and t, g and k, v and f, z and s, th in "this" and th in "thin," j and ch. Linguals: sounds made chiefly with the tongue, as t, d, l, n, r (often also s, z).

Then: Books also distinguished "proper" diphthongs (both vowels sounded, as oi) from "improper" ones (two letters, one sound, as ea in "head"), which we now call digraphs.

Now: Modern terms: voiced consonants (subvocals), voiced/voiceless pairs (cognates), alveolar consonants (roughly the linguals).

Study: The sound-classification lessons in an 1890s orthography text or the front of Webster's dictionary.

"Caret u" is u with a caret or circumflex mark (u^), Webster's sign for the sound of u in "urn," "fur," "burn." Other letters ("substitutes" or "equivalents") that spell the same sound: e in "her," i in "sir," y in "myrrh," o in "word" or "work." Others that would count: ea in "earth," ou in "journey."

Now: Dictionaries now write this sound as ur (Merriam-Webster uses ər).

Study: The pronunciation key and table of "equivalents" in Webster's dictionary or speller.

Rule 1: Final silent e is usually dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel: love, loving; write, writing; move, movable. Exceptions: words ending in ce or ge keep the e before -able or -ous, to keep the c or g soft: peaceable, changeable, courageous; also dyeing, singeing, hoeing, shoeing (kept to avoid confusion or awkwardness). Rule 2: Final silent e is kept before a suffix beginning with a consonant: hope, hopeful; care, careless; move, movement. Exceptions: truly, duly, argument, judgment, awful, wholly, ninth.

Study: The rules for spelling in any orthography text (Reed's Word Lessons, Webster's speller).

Any two: (1) to show that the vowel before it is long: the e in "hate" (compare "hat"), "pine" (compare "pin"); (2) to show that c or g is soft: "peace," "change"; or to keep g hard: u in "guest," "guide"; (3) to tell apart words that sound alike: "plumb/plum," "write/rite," "knew/new"; (4) to show where a word came from: b in "debt" (Latin debitum), g in "sign" (signal).

Study: Orthography texts, the lesson on silent letters.

bi = two, twice (biweekly, bicycle). dis = not, apart, the opposite of (dislike, disagree). mis = wrong, badly (misspell, mislead). pre = before (prepay, prefix). semi = half, partly (semicircle). post = after (postscript, postpone). non = not (nonsense, nonresident). inter = between, among (international, interstate). mono = one, single (monotone, monorail). sup = sub, "under," written sup before a p (suppress, support, supplant).

Then: One copy reads "super" instead of "sup." If so: super = over, above, beyond (superhuman, supervise).

Study: The prefix tables in Reed's Word Lessons or the back of Webster's speller.

Using Webster's marks (each word is one syllable except mercy): card = car with two dots over the a (diaeresis), as in "far." ball = a with two dots under it, as in "all." mer-cy = e with a wave (tilde) over it, as in "her"; c with a cedilla (soft c, sounds like s); y sounds as short i. sir = i with a wave (tilde), sounds like the u in "urn." odd = o with a breve (short mark). cell = c with a cedilla, e with a breve. rise = i with a macron (long mark); the s sounds like z (marked in Webster's key with a small sign under the s). blood = the oo sounds like short u (Webster's respelled it "blud" with a breve on the u). fare = a with a caret (circumflex), as in "care." last = a with one dot over it, the "intermediate" a of "ask," "grass."

Then: The names expected were: macron (long), breve (short), diaeresis (two dots above), caret or circumflex, tilde or wave, cedilla, dot above, and two dots below.

Now: Exact marks varied a little between Webster's and Worcester's dictionaries; check against the key in whichever book the child is using. The "intermediate a" of "last" is not marked separately in most modern American dictionaries.

Study: The pronunciation key at the front of Webster's International Dictionary (1890) or Webster's school dictionaries.

Example sentences. cite (to quote or name as proof): "The lawyer cited an earlier case." site (a place or location): "This is the site of the new schoolhouse." sight (something seen; the power of seeing): "The prairie fire was a fearful sight." fane (a temple, a poetic word): "The pilgrims knelt in the ancient fane." fain (gladly): "I would fain go with you." feign (to pretend): "The opossum feigns death." vane (a pointer that shows the wind): "The weather vane on the barn points north." vain (proud of oneself; or useless): "He tried in vain to lift the stone." vein (a blood vessel; a streak of ore): "The miners found a vein of silver." raze (to tear down to the ground): "The old mill was razed." raise (to lift, or to grow): "Kansas farmers raise wheat." rays (beams of light): "The sun's rays warmed the field."

Study: Lists of homonyms in any speller or Reed's Word Lessons.

Any ten common errors, marked and divided. Examples: of-ten (ŏf'n; t silent, not "off-ten"); Feb-ru-a-ry (not "Feb-u-ary"); li-bra-ry (lī'brā-ry; not "li-ber-ry"); I-tal-ian (ĭ-tăl'yan; not "Eye-talian"); gen-u-ine (jĕn'u-ĭn; not "-ine" as in wine); ath-lete (ăth'lēte; two syllables, not "ath-a-lete"); chim-ney (chĭm'ny; not "chim-bly"); drowned (one syllable, not "drown-ded"); col-umn (kŏl'ŭm; n silent); height (hīt; not "heighth"); ac-ross (not "a-crost"); rec-og-nize (rĕk'og-nīze; the g must be sounded).

Then: Pupils used the same diacritical marks as in question 8.

Study: The "words often mispronounced" lists in Webster's speller or school dictionaries.

Climate is the average or usual condition of the weather of a place (its heat and cold, moisture, and winds) over many years. It depends on: latitude (distance from the equator); altitude (height above the sea); distance from the ocean or large lakes; prevailing winds; ocean currents; and the position of mountain ranges.

Then: Some textbooks also listed the slope of the land and the kind of soil and vegetation.

Study: The chapter on climate in a period geography (Frye's, Harper's, or Barnes's).

Kansas is in the middle of the continent, far from any ocean, and land heats up and cools off much faster than water, so summers are hot and winters cold. There are no mountains to the north or south, so cold north winds and blizzards from Canada and hot south winds sweep across the open plains. The air is fairly dry, especially in the west, so the land loses heat quickly at night and in winter.

Now: Today this is called a continental climate.

Study: The climate chapter of a period geography, and its section on the plains states.

Rivers drain the land; supply water for drinking, stock, and irrigation; furnish power for mills and factories; serve as highways for boats and commerce; build up rich bottom lands with the soil they carry; and supply fish. The ocean is the great highway of commerce between nations; it supplies the moisture that falls as rain and snow; it moderates (softens) the climate of nearby lands; its currents carry heat from warm regions to cold; and it supplies food (fish), salt, and other products.

Study: Introductory chapters of a period geography.

North America has two great mountain systems. In the west, the Rocky Mountain (Cordilleran) system runs from Alaska to Mexico. It includes the Rocky Mountains proper, and nearer the Pacific the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, and the Coast Ranges, with high plateaus between; in Mexico it continues as the Sierra Madre. It is high, rugged, and rich in gold and silver. In the east, the Appalachian system runs from Canada to Alabama, parallel to the Atlantic coast: the White and Green Mountains, the Catskills, the Alleghenies, and the Blue Ridge. These are much lower, older, rounded, and wooded, and rich in coal and iron. Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina (6,684 ft.) is the highest point in the east.

Then: 1890s books usually named Mount St. Elias in Alaska, or Orizaba or Popocatepetl in Mexico, as the highest peaks; the great height of Denali (Mount McKinley) was not measured until 1897-98.

Now: Denali (20,310 ft.) in Alaska is the highest peak in North America. Its official U.S. name was changed back to Mount McKinley in 2025; Alaskans and many maps still say Denali. The Adirondacks are now considered separate from the Appalachians.

Study: The physical-geography chapter on North America in a period geography.

Monrovia: capital and seaport of Liberia, on the west coast of Africa; founded in 1822 as a settlement for freed Black Americans and named for President Monroe. Odessa: a large seaport of southern Russia on the Black Sea, a great wheat-shipping port. Denver: capital of Colorado, on the South Platte River at the foot of the Rockies; a mining, smelting, and railroad center. Manitoba: a province of Canada west of Ontario, a rich wheat region, capital Winnipeg (also a lake there). Hecla (Hekla): a famous volcano in Iceland. Yukon: a great river that rises in northwestern Canada and flows west across Alaska into the Bering Sea. St. Helena: a small British island in the South Atlantic, west of Africa, where Napoleon was exiled and died (1821); once a stopping place for ships. Juan Fernandez: a group of islands in the Pacific about 400 miles west of Chile, belonging to Chile; Alexander Selkirk lived alone there (1704-1709), and his story inspired Robinson Crusoe. Aspinwall: the Atlantic (Caribbean) port of the Isthmus of Panama, then part of Colombia, at the end of the Panama Railroad. Orinoco: a large river of Venezuela that flows into the Atlantic through a wide delta.

Then: "Juan Fermandez" in one transcription is a misspelling of Juan Fernandez. Yukon in 1895 meant chiefly the river; the Klondike gold rush began in 1896-97.

Now: Odessa (Odesa) is now in Ukraine. Aspinwall is now called Colon, Panama (Panama broke away from Colombia in 1903). The Yukon became a separate Canadian territory in 1898. Liberia is still independent; St. Helena is still a British territory. One Juan Fernandez island is now officially named Robinson Crusoe Island.

Study: The gazetteer or pronouncing index at the back of a period geography.

New York (largest, on the Atlantic at the mouth of the Hudson; chief port and money center); Chicago (on Lake Michigan; grain, meat-packing, lumber, and railroad center); Philadelphia (on the Delaware River; manufacturing and shipping); Boston (on Massachusetts Bay; trade and manufactures of New England); Baltimore (on Chesapeake Bay); St. Louis (on the Mississippi just below the mouth of the Missouri); San Francisco (chief Pacific port, on San Francisco Bay); New Orleans (near the mouth of the Mississippi; cotton and sugar port); Cincinnati (on the Ohio River). A Kansas pupil might also name Kansas City (where the Kansas River joins the Missouri; cattle and grain market).

Study: Period geography, chapters on the United States and its commerce.

As of 1895: France, capital Paris; Switzerland, capital Bern (Berne); San Marino, capital San Marino; Andorra, capital Andorra (Andorra la Vella).

Then: Many textbooks named only France and Switzerland as the "republics of Europe," and a few added the tiny states of San Marino and Andorra. Andorra was really a co-principality under France and a Spanish bishop, but schoolbooks often called it a republic. Accept France and Switzerland as the core answer.

Now: Today most European countries are republics; the remaining monarchies include the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra (co-principality), and Vatican City.

Study: Period geography, chapter on Europe (governments and capitals).

Because the prevailing westerly winds in those latitudes blow from the land onto the Atlantic coast, bringing cold air from the interior in winter, while on the Pacific coast they blow in from the ocean, which is mild all year. Also, a warm ocean current (the Japan Current, Kuro Siwo) flows toward the Pacific coast, while the cold Labrador Current runs down the Atlantic coast as far as New England and the Gulf Stream turns away from the shore. The western mountains also help shut out cold interior air from the Pacific coast.

Study: Period geography, sections on winds and ocean currents.

The sun's heat evaporates water from the ocean into invisible vapor. Winds carry the vapor over the land. When the air is cooled (for example, by rising over mountains), the vapor condenses into clouds and falls as rain or snow. Part runs off the surface into brooks; part soaks into the ground and comes out again in springs. The springs and brooks feed the rivers, which carry the water back to the ocean, and the process goes on again.

Now: Today this is called the water cycle (hydrologic cycle).

Study: Period geography, introductory chapter on the atmosphere and rainfall.

The earth has two chief movements. Rotation: it turns on its axis from west to east once in about 24 hours, causing day and night. Revolution: it travels around the sun once a year (about 365 1/4 days), which, together with the tilt of the axis, causes the seasons. Inclination: the axis is tilted about 23 1/2 degrees from a line perpendicular to the plane of the earth's orbit (that is, about 66 1/2 degrees to the plane of the orbit itself).

Now: The tilt is now measured at about 23.44 degrees, slowly decreasing.

Study: The opening chapter (the earth as a globe) of any period geography.