– + Putnam’s. 1: 319. D. ’06. 100w.
Merriam, George Spring. [Negro and the nation; A history of American slavery and enfranchisement.] *$1.75. Holt.
Strong pro-negro feeling is shown thruout this volume, which beginning with the growth of slavery in America, traces the history of the black race in our country down to the present day. All the events in our national life which had to do with slavery are carefully considered, while chapters are devoted to the leading men both white and black whose influence has helped to mold the black man’s destiny. It is a comprehensive study, written in an interesting style and leading logically up to the conclusion that the solution of the race problem lies in dealing with each man according to his merits, regardless of color, and leaving the ultimate relation of the races to nature and the sovereign powers.
“The author’s general knowledge of ordinary historical facts seems, on the whole, adequate, but some mistakes have crept in. The negro is present only as a lay-figure. The style is terse and interesting, and the book has a good index.” Carl Russell Fish.
+ – Am. Hist. R. 11: 903. Jl. ’06. 650w.
“That tendency to idealize the negro which has been the bane of almost every northern writer on the negro question since the publication of ‘Uncle Tom’s cabin,’ is not wholly absent from this book, in spite of its sane and judicious spirit. On the whole, however, the book is to be commended as another evidence that the time has arrived when the negro question can be approached by writers in both sections in an impartial and scientific spirit.” Charles A. Ellwood.
+ + – Am. J. Soc. 12: 274. S. ’06. 340w.
“The treatment of reconstruction is at once the freshest and most systematic part of the book.” H. Paul Douglass.
+ + Ann. Am. Acad. 28: 349. S. ’06. 630w.