The Unpopular History of the United States by Uncle Sam Himself/The Unpopular History
THE UNPOPULAR HISTORY
This is not a complete history. If it were more complete it would be less popular. I know that, for I published it once in full, for free distribution, and I could not get anybody to read a word.
This is not nearly all I want to say. I have just gone over the rough ground, and occasionally hit the high places, giving you as much as one healthy young fellow can believe—all at once. The fact is, I did not believe it myself, and never paid a bit of attention to General Upton when he first wrote his "Military Policy of the United States." I never caught the idea that we had a Military Policy, or needed one.
General Emory Upton was a West Pointer, and while no more than a boy, became one of the most distinguished officers in our Civil War. Afterwards, on the recommendation of General Sherman, I sent him to study the armies of Europe and Asia. What he wrote in the year 1880 embodied the practical lessons of the Civil War, and the results of military science throughout the world. It never touched me. I did not even print his book. His manuscript was filed and forgotten amongst the millions of documents in the archives of the War Department. The General printed some of it himself, through a private publisher, but it wouldn't sell.
Nearly 25 years later, long after his death, other officers investigated the subject and made me realize how true were his conclusions. Thereupon I published "Upton's Military Policy of the United States."
Every word that I have spoken here you will find in there; it has my official endorsement, printed on my presses, franked through my mails, and sent free to my people.
It's true as gospel, but folks say it doesn't taste good.
That's why I call these few brief extracts from Upton "The Unpopular History of the United States," by Uncle Sam Himself.