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.
Topics and Biographical Notes.
An excellent feature of the political and constitutional history is the presence of brief biographical sketches of important statesmen. For teachers who prefer to teach American government in connection with the history, special provision is made by means of marginal references and supplementary questions, and an elaborate outline of topics arising in the text is added (Appendix I, pp. 527-534), with appropriate references to the Constitution and to the authors’ “Government in State and Nation.” This is further supplemented by a list of topics, relating to other features of our government not naturally arising in a history course.
The book is provided with abundant and well-selected illustrations, from authentic sources; the maps are numerous and helpful, but not distinctive. At the end of each chapter are suggestive and stimulating topics and questions, with references within the compass of high school pupils. These references are almost unique in that they are specific and brief.
A few inaccuracies and misleading statements have been noticed: The statement, “There was no gold in this region” (p. 23), referring to Spanish territory in the United States, should be modified. None was found. For “Eyler” read Tyler (p. 67); for “Cheney” (p. 91), read Cheyney. The remark respecting the slave trade, that “during colonial times no protest seems to have arisen against the wickedness and inhumanity of this traffic” (p. 131) loses sight of the Mennonite protest of 1688, as well as the work and writings of John Woolman, Anthony Benezet, and others. Finally, Connecticut is correctly stated Democratic in the text, but erroneously Republican in the Election Map of 1876 (p. 447).
Taken as a whole, the book is well adapted to its purpose. The style is usually simple and direct; facts are well selected and are clearly and impartially stated; the scholarship is of a high order. The index might be made fuller with profit.
[“American History.” By James Alton James, Professor of History in Northwestern University, and Albert Hart Sanford, Professor of History in the Stevens Point, Wisconsin State Normal School. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1909. Pp. xvii, 563.]