We should tell real American adventure stories to teach our boys about heroes

Part I — Introduction. 1. Definition of the social studies.—The social studies are understood to be those whose subject matter relates directly to the organization and development of human society, and to man as a member of social groups.

This document contains a reprint of the 1916 'The Social Studies in Secondary Education' ... widely believed to be the most important document in the history of citizenship education in the United States.

Thomas Jesse Jones used the phrase and described a 'social studies' curriculum for Hampton Institute prior to 1916 (earlier articles date to about 1905–1908).

GW recalled many years later that he put the fatally wounded general 'in a small covered Cart, which carried some of his most essential equipage,' and 'with some of the best Troops' took him back across the lower of the two Monongahela fords... GW ... was ordered to Dunbar's Camp and sent to secure provisions, supplies and wagons for the wounded.

‘I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt...’ (Washington's eyewitness letter describing the action at Monongahela).

Washington's report to the lieutenant governor: the troops 'were seized with a pannick'... 'it is supposed that we had 300 or more killed; abt that number we brought off wounded' — and he describes his role distributing the general's orders and helping manage the retreat.

‘Braddock’s Defeat… left the British general dead… Washington rallied the remaining forces’ — NPS account summarizing the battle and Washington’s role in rallying and organizing the retreat.

Preston's authoritative history reconstructs the battle and notes Washington rode the field delivering orders and striving to rally troops; it also explains that colonial officers (including Washington) had urged lighter, more flexible dispositions, while Braddock largely continued European close‑order tactics.

"One day I overheard the teacher tell the inspector that I was 'addled' and it would not be worth while keeping me in school any longer. I was so hurt by this last straw that I burst out crying and went home and told my mother about it."

"It was at the Port Huron public school that Edison received all the regular scholastic instruction he ever enjoyed—just three months. ... his teacher had found him 'addled.'" (also describes his mother taking charge of his education and recounts the baggage-car laboratory and an accidental fire incident)

"The Grand Trunk Herald... consisted of a single sheet... These experiments were performed in the baggage car of the train. One day... upset his bottle of phosphorus, setting the baggage car on fire. The conductor... dumped young Edison’s printing press and apparatus out of the car and went on."

"One day, at the risk of his life, he saved the child of the station-master at Mount Clemens, near Port Huron... the grateful father, Mr. J. A. Mackenzie... offered to teach him the art of sending and receiving messages."

"By the age of twelve Edison sold fruit, candy, and newspapers on the Grand Trunk Railroad... Using a small printing press in a baggage car, he wrote and printed the Grand Trunk Herald... In 1862, at age 15, he saved a three-year-old boy from a track... the boy's father... J. U. MacKenzie... trained Edison as a telegraph operator."