Globalization of the United States, 1789-1861

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Goodrich, Samuel G. Peter Parley’s Universal History, on the Basis of Geography. Boston: American Stationers’ Company; John B. Russell, 1837.

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Samuel G. Goodrich. Peter Parley's Universal History, on the Basis of Geography. Boston: American Stationers' Company; John B. Russell, 1837. 1:Title page.

Goodrich’s book blithely divided the world into four states: the savage, the barbarous, the merely civilized, and “those who are in the highest state of civilization.”

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About the different kinds of People in the World.

1. Thus you see that the whole number of the inhabitants upon the globe is about eight hundred millions. All these are descended from Adam and Eve, who, the Bible tells us, lived in the garden of Eden!

2. What an immense family to have proceeded from one pair! You may well believe that it has taken many years for the human family to increase to this extent.

3. If you were to travel in different countries, you would observe that the inhabitants differ very much in their colour, dress, and mode of living.

4. Some have dark skins, like the colour of a dead leaf, as the American Indians; some are of a yellowish or olive colour, like the Chinese; some of a deep, sooty brown, like the Hindoos; some black, like the negroes; and some are white, like the English and the people of the United States of America.

5. In some countries the people live in huts built of mud or sticks, and subsist by hunting with the bow and arrow. These are said to be in the savage state. The American Indians, some of the negroes of Africa, some of the inhabitants of Asia, and most of the Oceanians, are savages.

6. In some countries the people live in houses partly of stone and mud. They have few books, no churches or chapels, and worship idols. Such are most of the negroes of Africa, and many tribes in Asia. These are said to be in the barbarous state, and are often called barbarians. Many of their customs are very cruel.

7. In some countries the inhabitants live in tolerably good houses, and the rich have fine palaces. The people have many ingenious arts, but the schools are poor, and but a small portion are taught to read and write. The Chinese, the Hindoos, the Turks, and some other nations of Asia, with some of the inhabitants of Africa and Europe, are in this condition, which may be called a civilized state.

8. In most parts of Europe, and in the United States of America, the people live in good houses, they have good furniture, books, schools, churches, chapels, public buildings, bridges, steam-boats, and rail-roads. These are in the highest state of civilization.

9. Thus you observe that mankind may be divided into four classes; namely, those who are in the savage state, those who are in the barbarous state, those who are merely civilized, and those who are in the highest state of civilization.