From the Preface of the book: What is liberty as exemplified in American Institutions? Where and how did it originate? Through what struggles and triumphs has it advanced? What peoples have always been its defenders, and how have its influence and blessings been finally extended to include all nations of the earth? This book has been prepared with a view to make the study of these subjects both interesting and profitable to American schoolboys and schoolgirls. Although its contents are largely historical, it is not strictly a history; it is rather a series of brief sketches, original or otherwise, supplemented by extracts and selections so arranged as to present a panoramic view of the beginnings and growth of political liberty among English-speaking people.