Moore, Marinda Branson (1829-1864) The Geographical Reader for the Dixie Children

Published by Branson, Farrar & Co. A Confederate textbook of American geography that was written because the author "having found most of the juvenile books too complex for young minds, has for some time intended making an effort to simplify the science of Geography." Consists of 26 lessons, each about one or two columns in length. The first 10 are on the technical terms of geography and the last 16 are on specific places. Each Confederate state, as well as the border states of Missouri and Kentucky, has its own lesson, while no northern states are discussed. Includes 6 full page maps. Pages 33-39 consists of review questions for the first ten lessons. Page 43-48 has advertisements for other publications by the publisher. Reflects the beliefs and prejudices of the nineteenth-century South. In lesson one, claims that children should study geography to understand the countries of the world, but the book only discusses the geography of the Western Hemisphere, and only North and South America in a cursory way. Claims "God made the earth and put it in motion, and it will move until he commands it to stop. Should we not love him for making such a beautiful home?" Lesson ten describes the races of the world through the prejudice of the time. For example, "The African or negro race is found in Africa. They are slothful and vicious, but possess little cunning ... They know nothing about Jesus ... The slaves who are found in America are in much better condition ... We can not tell how they came to be black, and have wool on their heads." In a brief discussion of the United States she blames the Abolitionists and Abraham Lincoln for starting the war, but goes on to say the North has good sense "on all subjects but that of negro slavery, on this they are mad." Inside front cover has a faded and unreadable inscription.