Young, Andrew W. The Citizen's Manual of Government and Law: comprising The Elementary Principles of Civil Government; A Practical View of the State Governments, and of the Government of the United States; A Digest of Common and Statutory Law, and the Law of Nations; and a Summary of Parliamentary Rules for the Practice of Deliberative Assemblies. New-York: H. Dayton, 1859. New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. [11352]
Black leather spine decorated in blind and gilt, black cloth boards, 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches, light edge-wear with small chips to the headcap, tight. 448 clean pages with index; 8 pp. publisher's adverts. The Preface and Table of contents are bound out of order, but complete. Very good. Hardcover.
A school text for teaching the principles of the American government system. The author laments the lack of such knowledge and declares that our liberties depend upon everyone, male and female alike, being well-versed in the system of government bequeathed to them by their forefathers. Treats with all matters of law, from militias to marriages.
A manual on American civil government printed just before the outbreak of the first American Civil War that reveals to you the way that Americans thought about and practiced both Federal and State management of their laws and freedoms. It compares the American system with those of the nations of Europe and concludes that a just government is founded upon the Consent of the People.
The author gives detailed accounts of both State and National laws and procedures, as well as a section on the Law of Nations. He gives a synopsis of each of the State constitutions, and relates distinguishing features of each, including each state's practice regarding slavery.
Andrew White Young (1802-1877), b. Carlisle, NY; d. Warsaw, NY. Young was a school teacher, a store clerk, and in 1830 began his career as an editor and journalist, publishing the Warsaw Sentinel. His success led him to purchase another regional news journal, and he was chosen to edit the American Citizen, the Genesee Anti-Slavery Society journal. He was a member of the New York Assembly and represented Wyoming County in the New York Constitutional Convention of 1846. Young became involved with the underground railroad and was a noted abolitionist. He wrote on American history and government, and his textbooks were widely used and went through many editions.
"Andrew W. Young, the most prolific writer in this field, having written six separate and distinct textbooks aggregating an enormous number of editions, wrote in his popular The Government Class Book (1859): 'To preserve and transmit the blessings of constitutional liberty, we need a healthy patriotism. It has been one of the objects of the writer to bring to view the excellencies of our system of government, and thus to lay, in the minds of youth, the basis of an enlightened patriotism.'" - Nietz, Old Textbooks (1961), p. 275.
