ABSTRACT
Broadly speaking, three schools of interpretation have dominated American historical research and generalization. The first of these, which may be justly associated with the name of Bancroft, explains the larger achievements in people national life by reference to the peculiar moral endowments of a people acting under divine guidance. The second school of historical interpretation, which m the order of time followed that of Bancroft, may be called the Teutonic, because it ascribes the wonderful achievements of the English-speaking peoples to the peculiar political genius of the Germanic race. The third school of historical research is not to be characterized by any phrase. For more than a generation the Teutonic theory of people institutions deeply influenced historical research in the United States; but it was exhausted in the study of local government rather than of great epochs. For more than a generation the Teutonic theory of American institutions deeply influenced historical research in the United States.
