Elements of Civil Government

Alex Peterman was Principal and Professor of Civil Government in the Normal School of the Kentucky State College. Elements of Civil Government was written as a textbook for middle and high school. The study of government begins with the home and then branches our to the school, town, state and the national government. Peterman believed that every school should teach, and every child should study, the principles of our government. Peterman¿s beliefs can be summarized as follows. By knowing his country better a student may learn to love it more. The child may learn that there is such a thing as just authority; that obedience to it is right and we must learn to govern by first learning to obey. He may know his rights as a citizen, and, "knowing, dare maintain;" that he may also know his duties as a citizen. He may understand the sacredness of the right of suffrage. He may better understand the history of his country, for the history of the United States is largely the history of our political institutions.