Excerpt from The Rescue of Cuba: An Episode in the Growth of Free Government This book has been written for young Americans. Its purpose is twofold: it aims, first, to exhibit the war of 1898 as one more step, and an important step, in the steady progress of the world towards universal liberty; it also aims to offer such a faithful picture of the heroism and manly quality of the American soldiers and sailors who gave their lives for the rescue of their oppressed neighbors, as may help my young countrymen to realize what it costs to extend free institutions, and to appreciate what it means to be an American citizen. The story of the slow movement of the human race out from the dark ages of universal tyranny into the modern age of freedom, enlightenment, and equality has never yet been clearly taught in our schools below the universities. For the last six or seven centuries the world has been moving from densest ignorance towards the era of the common school for everybody; from continuous disorder, warfare, and robbery, to peaceful commerce and safe industry; from the unbridled power of kings and nobles, to the security of a free, law-abiding state; from intolerance and persecution, to freedom of thought and liberty of speech. In this steady progress the topics of our special histories are only episodes, and they can be fully understood only when the student is able to give them their proper setting as parts of the grand human movement towards liberty. This progress of the world towards emancipation has met terrible antagonism. Kings and nobles have been against it. Ignorance, intolerance, and selfishness have always been in opposition to it. It has occasioned the greatest battles of history and has brought out the most conspicuous heroes of the race. Every free land has been made free by the richest human blood shed for liberty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.