THE
FOOTPRINTS OF TIME:
AND A COMPLETE
ANALYSIS
OF OUR AMERICAN
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT,
WITH A
CONCISE HISTORY OF THE ORIGINAL COLONIES
AND OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER: FACTS AND STATISTICS
FROM OFFICIAL
SOURCES.
By CHARLES BANCROFT.
R. T. ROOT, PUBLISHER,
BURLINGTON, IOWA.
1875.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874,
By R. T. ROOT,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
George Washington
Painted by G. Stuart Engraved by A.B. Walter, Phila.
PREFACE.
It is the object of this book to supply the means of formingan accurate idea of the American government. The authorhas adopted the proposition that the highest style of governmentis one “of the people, by the people, and for the people,”and believes that a constant progress, commencing in the earliesttimes, has reached its full development in the Great Republic.He therefore traces The Footprints of Time throughall history; notes the gradual unfolding of institutions, therise and fall of empires, the causes that produced and destroyedthe ancient republics, and the origin of the forces thatgive so much more strength and stability to modern civilization.All this he considers essential to a correct appreciationof the wonderful events of our age and country.
He then proceeds to a close and clear analysis of the wholestructure of the government. Each general division, with itssub-divisions, is examined in detail, but successively; so that adefinite picture of it, with all its branches, operations, and relationsto other parts, stands before the mind as a sharplydefined whole. The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial divisions—thedependent parts of each kept in proper place—comein order, one after the other, before the mind, the structure,powers and working of each being fully explained.
The book is indeed a compilation, and the matter in largepart from official sources, but collected from an astonishinglylarge number of books, all of which are not to be found evenin the largest public libraries; but the labor and merit of gathering[6]so much from all directions and compressing a libraryinto a form and compass so convenient, and so well arranged,in so few and well chosen words, has been great indeed.
All the works heretofore brought before the public proposingto meet this want have been fragmentary, or have treated attoo great length but a portion of the subject. A completesummary, or Citizens’ Manual, is here furnished, that includesa sufficiently detailed Analysis of the entire structure of thegovernment, developing in a clear and comprehensive mannerthe organization, powers, relations, and mode of working ofeach department, small or larg