America First: 100 Stories from Our Own History

Leif the Lucky, the swamp march to Vincennes, the Pony Express — a hundred true adventure stories from American history, told the way children begged to hear them in 1920.

Laying the Atlantic Cable

4 pages in this part of America First.

Laying the Atlantic Cable

A number of years ago, a wealthy, retired merchant of New York City, named Cyrus W. Field, sat in the library of his home, studying a large…

Laying the Atlantic Cable: Cooper

The next morning, he not only talked the matter over with Peter Cooper, but wrote a letter to Samuel Morse.

Laying the Atlantic Cable: British

Field and Morse then went to England, and appeared before the British Government. "We have come to propose to your lordships that you join…

Laying the Atlantic Cable: Niagara

The British ship, Agamemnon, and the American ship, Niagara, were set apart for the work. Each vessel carried a load of cable, and they…

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of America First (1916) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.