Rise of the New West, 1819-1829

by Frederick Jackson Turner

GAZETTEERS AND GUIDES

Among the important sources for understanding the growth of the country are various descriptions, gazetters, etc. Of the many books of this class may be mentioned the following: Emigrants' Guide; or, Pocket Geography of the Western States and Territories (Cincinnati, 1818); William Amphlett, Emigrants' Directory of the Western States of North America (London, 1819); D. Blowe, Geographical, Commercial, and Agricultural View of the United States (Liverpool, about 1820); John Bristed, Resources of the United States of America (New York, 1818); S. R. Brown, The Western Gazetteer (Auburn, N. Y., 1817); J. S. Buckingham, America, Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive (New York and London, 1841); J. S. Buckingham, Eastern and Western States (London, 1842); J. S. Buckingham, Slave States (London, 1842); William Cobbett, The Emigrant's Guide London, 1830); S. H. Collins, The Emigrant's Guide to and Description of the United States of America (Hull, 1830); Samuel Cumings, Western Pilot (Cincinnati, 1840); E. Dana, Geographical Sketches on the Western Country (Cincinnati, 1819); William Darby, Emigrants' Guide to Western and Southwestern States and Territories (New York, 1818); William Darby, Geographical Description of the State of Louisiana, the Southern Part of the State of Mississippi, and Territory of Alabama (New York, 1817); Timothy Flint, Condensed Geography and History of the Western States (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1828); Timothy Flint, History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1833); F. Hayward, The New England Gazetteer (3d edition, Boston, 1839); D. Hewett, The American Traveller (Washington, 1825); Isaac Holmes, An Account of the United States of America (London, 1823); Indiana Gazetteer (ad edition, Indianapolis, 1833); John Kilbourne, Ohio Gazetteer (Columbus, 1819, 1833); Win. Kingdom, Jr., America and the British Colonies (London, 1820); W. Lindsay, View of America (Hawick, 1824); E. Mackenzie, Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the United States (Newcastle- upon-Tyne, 1819); Joseph Martin, New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia (Charlottesville, 1835); John Melish, A Geographical Description of the United States (Philadelphia, 1816, 1822, 1826); John Melish, Information and Advice to Emigrants to the United States (Philadelphia, 1819); John Melish, The Travellers' Directory through the United States (Philadelphia, 1815, 1819, 1822, New York, 1825); Robert Mills, Statistics of South Carolina (Charleston, 1826); J. M. Peck, A Guide for Emigrants (Boston, 1831, 1837); J. M. Peck, New Guide to the West (Cincinnati, 1848); J. M. Peck, Gazetteer of Illinois (Jacksonville, 1834; Philadelphia, 1837); Abiel Sherwood, Gazetteer of the State of Georgia (3d edition, Washington, 1837); T. Spofford, Gazetteer of the State of New York (New York, 1824); [H. S. Tanner, publisher], View of the Valley of the Mississippi (Philadelphia, 1834); [H. S. Tanner, publisher], Geographical, Historical, and Statistical View of the Central or Middle United States (Philadelphia, 1841); D. B. Warden, Statistical, Political, and Historical Account of the United States of North America (3 vols., Edinburgh, 1819.)

TRAVELS

The life of this period is illustrated by the reports of travelers; but the reader must remember that the traveller carries his prejudices, is prone to find in striking exceptions the characteristics of a region, and is exposed to misinformation by the natives; many of these travelers are, nevertheless, keen observers, well worth attention, and, when checked by comparison with others, they are a useful source. A full list of the travels bearing on the West and South from 1819 to 1829 would take more space than can be allotted here. Bibliographies of travels in the United States may be found in Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America (1884-1889), VIII., 493; Channing and Hart, Guide to American History (1896), p. 24; W. B. Bryan, Bibliography of the District of Columbia (1900), Article "America" (Senate Document, 56 Cong., 1 Sess., No. 61); P. G. Thomson, Bibliography of Ohio (1880); R. G. Thwaites, On the Storied Ohio (1897), App.; H. T. Tuckerman, America and Her Commentators (1864); B.C. Steiner, Descriptions of Maryland (Johns Hopkins University Studies, XXII., No. 6.), 608-647. The most important collection of travels is R. G. Thwaites [editor], Early Western Travels (1748-1846), to be completed in thirty volumes and an analytical index. For an estimate of English travellers, see J. B. McMaster, United States, V., chap, xlviii. A list of travels in the period 1820-1860 will be found in Albert Bushnell Hart, Slavery and Abolition (American Nation, XVI.), chap. xxii.

SLAVERY, COTTON, AND THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE

For works on slavery, see Hart, Slavery and Abolition (American Nation, XVI.), chap. xxii. The general histories, such as W. H. Smith, Political History of Slavery (1903), and G. W. Williams, History of the Negro Race in America (2 vols., 1883), leave much to be desired. Among the most important references are the Reports of the American Colonization Society; J. H. T. McPherson, History of Liberia (Johns Hopkins University Studies, IX., No. 10.); John S. Bassett, Anti-Slavery Leaders of North Carolina (ibid., XVI., No. 6); and Slavery in the State of North Carolina (ibid., XVII., Nos. 7, 8); H. S. Cooley, Study of Slavery in New Jersey (ibid., XIV., Nos. 9, 10); S. B. Weeks, Anti-Slavery Sentiment in the South (Southern History Association, Publications, II., No. 2); S. B. Weeks, Southern Quakers and Slavery (1896); William Birney, James G. Birney and His Times (1890); W. H. Collins, Domestic Slave-Trade (1904); W. E. B. Du Bois, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America (Harvard Historical Studies, I., 1896); Mary S. Locke, Anti-Slavery in America… 1619-1808 (Radcliffe College Monographs, No. 11, 1901); J. P. Dunn, Indiana, a Redemption from Slavery (1888); N. D. Harris, The History of Negro Servitude in Illinois (1904); E. B. Washburne, Sketch of Edward Coles, Second Governor of Illinois, and of the Slavery Struggle of 1823-4 (1882). The economic history of slavery can be written only after much monographic work; compare U. B. Phillips, "Economic Cost of Slave-Holding in the Cotton Belt," in Political Science Quarterly, XX., 267.

On the history of cotton, see M. B. Hammond, Cotton Industry, in American Economic Association, Publications, new series, No. 1 (1897); E. Von Halle, Baumwollproduktion (in Schmoller, Staats und Social-wissenschaftliche Forschungen, XV.); E. G. Donnell, History of Cotton (1872); J. L. Watkins, Production and Price of Cotton for One Hundred Years (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Statistics, Miscellaneous Series, Bulletin, No. 9, 1895).

The best sketch of the Missouri Compromise is J. A. Woodburn, The Historical Significance of the Missouri Compromise (American Historical Association, Report, 1893, pp. 249-298). Source material is in the Annals of Congress; the works of King, Jefferson, Benton, and J. Q. Adams, above-mentioned; and also Congressional Globe, 30 Cong., 2 Sess., App.; William and Mary College Quarterly, X.

STATE SOVEREIGNTY

On the reaction towards state sovereignty, documentary material so well selected as to have the effect of a monograph is in H. V. Ames, State Documents on Federal Relations (1900-1905), Nos. 3-5. The works of John Taylor of Caroline are essential, especially Construction Construed (1820), Tyranny Unmasked (1822), and New Views of the Constitution of the United States (1823); Brutus [R. Turnbull], The Crisis; or, Essays on the Usurpations of the Federal Government (1827), is equally important. Defense of a Liberal Construction of the Powers of Congress as regards Internal Improvements, etc., with a Complete Refutation of the Ultra Doctrines Respecting Consolidation and State Sovereignty, Written by George M'Duffle, Esq., in the Year 1821 over the Signature "One of the People" (1831), is an important pamphlet to mark the extent of the changing views of southern leaders. Judge Spencer Roane's antagonism to Marshall's nationalizing decisions is brought out in his articles in Randolph-Macon College, John P. Branch Historical Papers, No. 2; see also Jefferson, Writings (Ford's edition), X.; Massachusetts Historical Society, Proceedings, ad series, XIV., 327 (Marshall's strictures on Roane); and the case of Cohens vs. Virginia, in 6 Wheaton, 264. Calhoun's "Exposition of 1828" is in his Works, VI., 1-59. Governor Troup's defiance of the United States is best given in E. J. Harden, Life of George M. Troup (1859), containing many of his letters. T. Cooper, Consolidation, an Account of Parties (2d edition, 1830, and in Examiner, II., 86, 100), is a South Carolina view. The best monographs in this field are David F. Houston, A Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina (Harvard Historical Studies, III., 1893), and U. B. Phillips, Georgia and State Rights (American Historical Association, Report, 1901, II.).