Colonial History.
The account of the thirteen colonies is of sufficient fulness to show clearly the origins of the people and their institutions. It is, however, a matter of regret that the authors have not made it clearer that the thirteen mainland colonies who won their independence were not the only English colonial establishments in America. The discovery of America is made reasonable (pp. 1-10); the varying motives of English and European colonization, and the principal difficulties in the way of permanent settlement by Europeans in America are clearly set forth (pp. 30-40, 91); the fact that the Puritans were political as well as religious refugees, of a practical character, and not merely religious idealists, is made clear (pp. 53-55). The land systems prevailing in the different colonies are explained (pp. 43, 47, 52, et passim), and the more general statement is made (p. 91): “The great underlying economic fact of this [eighteenth century] colonization was the existence in America of boundless areas of cultivable land that might be had on easy terms.” The Indians are treated in their contact with the whites, and their degeneracy is made the occasion of general remarks on the inevitable consequences attending the contact between a superior and an inferior race (pp. 98-100). Here, too, “the land question” is shown to be fundamental. The influence of the fur-trade in this and later times is dwelt upon (pp. 97-98, 108, 111). A notable statement of seventeenth century colonial conditions and of eighteenth century problems occurs on pages 101-102.
Social and economic life receives unusual attention throughout the book, and wherever possible is shown in its relation to physical conditions and environment. The West receives the best treatment we have noted in any text-book. Excellent accounts of why the settlers went to the West, how they travelled, how they obtained their land, and of how Western democracy arose and reacted on the East, are here given. (See “Westward Migration and Internal Improvements,” pp. 273-281).
The authors make no attempt to “write down” to their readers, and we suspect that some of their economic discussions of international trade, financial crises, and monetary problems will overshoot the mark. Be it said, however, that things are everywhere reduced to their simplest terms. Something must be left to the teacher,—and to providence! Some of the other more important topics treated are: Progress in invention and labor-saving devices, and their attendant effects on production; the growth of commerce due to increased facilities for transportation; the growth of capitalistic combinations, corporations, and trusts, with their attendant problems of legislative regulation; the rise of labor unions and their raison d’etre (Chapters XXVII, XXIX). Educational, literary, philanthropic, and religious history are given due attention.