The True Citizen: How to Become One

"The True Citizen: How to Become One" by William Fisher Markwick is a book designed for middle schoolers in the late 1800s that aimed to teach them how to be good citizens by concentrating not just on politics but also on building good character; the writers felt that schools often missed teaching values and that they could fix this by combining lessons on how the mind works with lessons on being good. Made to go along with the school year, the book has thirty-nine chapters, and each one starts with a "memory gem" to get students thinking about ethics, so the book works to improve character as the basis for being an involved citizen, arguing that a real education should grow a person's mind, body, and heart.