The Life of Robert Toombs. By Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, Ph. D., Professor of American History in the University of Michigan. (New York, The Macmillan Co. 1913. Pp. 281. $2.00.)
This volume from the pen of one of the ablest students of American history gives in available form an interesting and instructive account of one of the leading "fire-eaters" of the ante-bellum period. Professor Phillips treats Toombs as an exponent of the social and industrial history of his period and section and therefore emphasizes these factors rather than those that are purely biographical. In very large measure he allows Toombs to speak for himself through his speeches and letters.
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. By Charles A. Beard, Associate Professor of Politics, Columbia University. (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1913. Pp. VII, 330. $2.25 net.)
Professor Beard in this work is concerned with the "forces which condition" a great movement in politics, viz., the making of our national constitution. Rapidly sketching the economic interests in 1787, the movement for the constitution and the property-safeguards in the election of delegates, he leads up to the most direct contribution in the book, viz., a study of the personal and financial interests of the framers of that document. Biographical sketches of the members are given from this new angle. The basis being a careful study of the extant records of the Treasury Department at Washington now used for the first time in this connection. Emphasis is laid upon the economic interests represented in "personality in public securities," "personality invested in lands for speculation," "personality in the form of money loaned at interest," "personality in mercantile, manufacturing, and shipping lines" and "personality in slaves." The remaining chapters treat of the political doctrines of the "framers" and the process of ratification. Professor Beard states frankly that his study is fragmentary, but he has unquestionably made available to students a body of facts that must be taken into account by anyone desiring to understand the making of our constitution.
Other Books Received
American Antiquarian Society. Proceedings, New Series, Volume 23, Part I. (Worcester, Society, 1913. Pp. 169.)
American Jewish Historical Society. Publications, Number 21. (N. Y. Society, 1913. Pp. 304.)
American Historical Association. Annual Report, 1911. Volume 1. (Washington, Govt. 1913. Pp. 842.)