The National Reader: a Selection of Exercises in Reading and Speaking, Designed to Fill the Same Place in the Schools of the United States That Is Held in Those of Great Britain

The National Reader: A Selection Of Exercises In Reading And Speaking, Designed To Fill The Same Place In The Schools Of The United States That Is Held In Those Of Great Britain by John Pierpont is an 1828 educational anthology compiled for American public schools. It gathers prose and poetry selections from British and American authors to cultivate reading, speaking, moral sensibility, and patriotism. The Preface explains the aim to create a national reader distinct from English books, focusing on American history, virtue, religious sentiments, and civic instruction. Its contents include lessons in prose and poetry with authors such as Jefferson, Logan, Bryant, and Moodie; many pieces emphasize virtue, temperance, obedience to God, religious devotion, and the duties of life. The work served as a standard tool for public schools, intended to improve taste, moral sensibility, and national character, and to encourage reverence for liberty, religion, and education as foundations of a republic.