NEW ENGLAND.—The history of this section, since the Revolution, has been neglected, but indications of its importance appear in Justin Winsor, Memorial History of Boston (4 vols., 1880-1882), III., IV., and I.B. Richman, Rhode Island: a Study in Separatism (1905). M. Louise Greene, The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut (1905), deals with the toleration movement. The various historical societies print documentary material; but, for the most part, New England's activity in this decade must be sought in original material, biographies, travels, scattered monographs, and, in fragments, in state histories.
MIDDLE STATES.—The state and local histories of the middle region are more satisfactory on this period, but the political life must be sought chiefly in biographies; and the economic and social conditions in the scattered material elsewhere cited in this bibliography. J.G. Wilson, Memorial History of the City of New York (4 vols., 1891-1893); and Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia (3 vols., 1884), are serviceable accounts of the development of the great cities of the section.
THE SOUTH.—Virginia has been neglected in this period, but the travelers afford interesting material; and a good view of plantation life is T.C. Johnson, Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney (1903). For North Carolina, the literature is cited in S.B. Weeks, Bibliography of the Historical Literature of North Carolina (1895). Two monographs by J.S. Bassett, Anti-Slavery Leaders of North Carolina (Johns Hopkins University Studies, XVI., No. 6), and History of Slavery in North Carolina (ibid., XVII., Nos. 7, 8), are especially important for the up-country. W.E. Dodd, Life of Nathaniel Macon (1903), is useful on this period. South Carolina conditions are shown in R. Mills, Statistics of South Carolina (1826); and W.A. Schaper, Sectionalism and Representation in South Carolina (American Historical Association, Report, 1900, I.). Georgia is depicted in U.B. Phillips, Georgia and State Rights (ibid., 1901, II.); [G.R. Gilmer], Sketches of Some of the First Settlers of Upper Georgia (1855); and [A.B. Longstreet], Georgia Scenes (last edition, 1897), the latter made up of rollicking character-sketches. Among the many travelers useful (after criticism) for the South and Southwest may be mentioned, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Murat, Paulding, Hodgson, and Mrs. Royall. Correspondence illustrating Mississippi conditions is printed in J.F.H. Claiborne, Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman (2 vols., 1860). Two lists by T.M. Owen, Bibliography of Alabama (American Historical Association, Report, 1897); and Bibliography of Mississippi (ibid., 1889, I.), open a wealth of southwestern material. For Louisiana, there are various popular histories of New Orleans; and A. Fortier, History of Louisiana (1904), III.; S.D. Smedes, Memorials of a Southern Planter [Thomas Dabney], (1887, also 1890), is highly valuable in the developed opening of the Gulf area. One of the best pictures of southwestern conditions is Lincecum's "Autobiography" (so called), in the Mississippi Historical Society, Publications, VIII. W.G. Brown, Lower South in American History (1902), is illuminative.
THE WEST.—The material for the West is scattered, the general histories of the Mississippi Valley failing to deal extensively with settlement. John B. McMaster, History of the People of the United States (1883-1900), IV., chap, xxxiii., and V., chap, xlv., give good accounts of the westward movement. B.A. Hinsdale, Old Northwest (2 vols., 1888, 1899), is scholarly, but brief on this period. W.H. Venable, Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Ohio Valley (1891), is important. Of especial value are the travelers, gazetteers, etc., among which the following are exceptionally useful: Timothy Flint, Recollections of the Last Ten Years (1826); Timothy Flint, History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley (2 vols., 2d edition, 1832); four books by J. Hall, viz.: Letters from the West (1828), Legends of the West (1833 and 1869), Notes on the Western States (1838), Statistics of the West (1836); Ohio Navigator (1821 and many other editions); J.M. Peck, Guide for Emigrants (1831); H.S. Tanner, View of the Valley of the Mississippi (1834). All of these, of course, must be used critically.
Among the contemporaneous state histories, T. Ford, History of Illinois (1854); J. Reynolds, My Own Times (1854-1855, also 1879), though unreliable in detail, have a value as material on pioneer conditions. The historical societies of the western states abound in old settlers' accounts. W.C. Howells, Recollections of Life in Ohio (1895), is a gem. P.G. Thomson, Bibliography of Ohio (1880), is the key to an extensive literature. There is no good history of Kentucky in this period; but J. Phelan, History of Tennessee (1888), is excellent. Lives of Clay, Jackson, and Benton all aid in understanding the region.
THE FAR WEST.—H.M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West (3 vols., 1902), is excellent. The larger histories of the Pacific states, viz.: H. . Bancroft, Works; Hittell, California; and Lyman, Oregon, are characterized by Garrison, Westward Expansion (American Nation, XVII.). The publications of the Oregon Historical Society and the Quarterly of the Texas Historical Society are extremely useful. D.G. Wooten [editor], Comprehensive History of Texas (2 vols., 1899), has material on settlement in this period. G.P. Garrison, Texas (1903), is an excellent little book. Brief accounts of exploration in this period are in E.C. Semple, American History and Its Geographic Conditions (1903); and R.G. Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Exploration (1904). J. Schafer, History of the Pacific Northwest (1905), and G.W. James, In and about the Old Missions of California (1905), are useful brief presentations of conditions on the coast. For all this field the H.H. Bancroft library, now the property of the University of California, is the great collection of documentary material. Illustrative books by contemporaries are: R.H. Dana, Two Years before the Mast (1849 and other editions), giving California life; W. Irving, Adventures of Captain Bonneville (1849), giving Rocky Mountain life; and J. Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies; or, the Journal of a Santa Fe Trader (2 vols., 1844, also in Thwaites, Early Western Travels, XIX., XX.).
HISTORIES OF PARTIES AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Charles McCarthy, The Antimasonic Party (American Historical Association, Report, 1902, I.), sets a high standard as a monographic party history; C.H. Rammelkamp gives a detailed study of the Campaign of 1824 in New York (in ibid., 1904, pp. 175-202); all of the biographies of the contemporary statesmen deal with the parties of this period; and J.D. Hammond, History of Political Parties in the State of New York (2 vols., 1852), is a good history by a contemporary. U.B. Phillips, Georgia and State Rights (American Historical Association, Report, 1901, II.), gives a modern treatment of state politics.
On political institutions the following are particularly useful:
Edward Stanwood, History of the Presidency (1898); M. P. Pollett,
The Speaker of the House of Representatives (1896); L. G.
McConachie, Congressional Committees (1898); C. R. Fish, The Civil
Service and the Patronage (Harvard Historical Studies, XI., 1905);
F. W. Dallinger, Nominations for Elective Office in the United
States (ibid., IV., 1897); J. B. McMaster, Acquisition of Political,
Social, and Industrial Rights of Man in America (1903).