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BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES Edited by Edwin B. Bronner Colonial Rhode Island: A History. By Sydney V. James. (A Hutory of the American Colonies. By Milton M. Klein and Jacob E. Cooke, Editors.) New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975. Pp. xviii, 423. $15.00. Sydney James' study of colonial Rhode Island fills a void in an important aspect of colonial American history. His work supplies a comprehensive study noteworthy for its reliability. James is a careful historian and this work demonstrates his steadiness in synthesizing a vast amount of material. Rhode Island originated with at best an uncertain chance of enduring. Founded by malcontents, it barely survived their bickering, attacks by Massachusetts , boundary disputes with Connecticut, and die uncertainties of English politics. Merged briefly with the Dominion of New England, Rhode Island resumed its separate ways after the Dominion's overthrow in 1689, but not for long as English authorities sought to bring it under control . In one of the most important chapters of the book, James details how Governor Samuel Cranston managed early in the eighteenth century to continue Rhode Island's separate ways, mollify English authorities, and bring order to a hitherto rather disorganized colony. Subsequent chapters discuss the paper money controversies and the Ward-Hopkins factional disputes. In die latter case, James argues that religious affiliation was probably the most important factor in determining political preference (Friends, for example , tended to favor the Hopkins faction). With a similarly capable touch, James examines the coming of independence and Rhode Island's adjustments to the new nation. In other chapters James deals widi social and economic history and with religious groups. Readers of this journal will be particularly interested in the treatment of Friends which is carefully and accurately done. Also useful is James' discussion of other churches, a helpful perspective against which to measure Rhode Island Quakers. As a detailed survey of colonial Rhode Island, this book will be the standard work for years. James has done extensive research in all pertinent primary and secondary sources. The book reads well and a current of quiet humor runs throughout: James does not take eidier himself or colonial Rhode Islanders too seriously. Among the many volumes of recent vintage which focus on the colonial and revolutionary periods, this book stands out as the best encountered by this reviewer. Colorado State UniversityArthur J. Worrall Colonial New Jersey—A History. By John E. Pomfret. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. xix, 327 pages. Illus. $12.50. Historians of Massachusetts, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have an easy task compared widi those who write about New Jersey. In die colonial period 59 60QUAKER HISTORY these other states existed as reasonably separate and intelligible units and their economic development and political controversies have significance for an understanding of colonial society and the coming of the Revolution. Not so New Jersey. From almost the beginning East Jersey was culturally oriented to New York while West Jersey was in Pennsylvania's orbit. After unification, New Jersey's distinctive cultural and scientific achievements were few; her distinguished sons tended to migrate to neighboring states, and her foreign trade was channeled through the ports at New York or Philadelphia. This land of small farmers and religious diversity should have experienced tranquility but complications over land titles, rights to govern, avaricious officials, and paper money caused great turmoil. The colonists here reluctantly became revolutionaries, because the difficulties that had plagued earlier periods had eased by the 1770s. Even though independence was thrust upon her from outside, the state experienced civil war and bitter fighting between British and American armies. In Professor Pomfret's book historians now have a guide to use in deciphering the confused tangle of events in early New Jersey. Colonial New Jersey is most helpful in relating land disputes to politics and in showing how many standard interpretations of the Revolution do not easily apply to events in New Jersey. On religious, educational, and cultural events Pomfret is less original but he provides a competent summary . Richard McCormick's New Jersey from Colony to State (1967), the only other recent survey of the area's colonial history, is shorter and more readable than Pomfret's work...

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