John Gorham Palfrey and the New England Conscience (review)

84CIVIL WAR HISTORY They highlight northern racial prejudice and its inflammation whenever a locality confronts a sudden increase in Negroes. Above all, the story demonstrates how unproductive were the steps taken over a century ago to solve the Negro problem by trying to train Negroes in segregated communities . Charles L. Wagandt Baltimore, Maryland John Gorham Palfrey and the New England Conscience. By Frank Otto Gatell. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963. Pp. x, 337. $6.95.) Frank Gatell here contributes to the growing collection of materials on the antislavery movement. John Gorham Palfrey of MassachusettsUnitarian reformer, Conscience Whig congressman, and Free-Soil leaderwas one of the minor characters in the movement and Gatell rightly recognizes him as such. However, in tracing Palfrey's long b'fe Gatell gives us much insight into American life in the first half of the nineteenth century. Since Palfrey was able to escape from his originally poor circumstances , his journey upward to prestige and comfort must be taken as a pointed essay in the possibilities of New England social mobility, given the right family background and connections. Yet Palfrey himself, as Gatell constantly indicates, was more conscious of his failures than of any success he achieved. Palfrey wanted the comforts of wealth, but his life was a continual financial struggle. As dean of the Harvard Divinity School he sponsored reforms, but accomplished little. He wanted political success, but failed. These repeated defeats stemmed from both Palfrey's inflexible and uncompromising character and from the changing social milieu in which he lived, as traditional leadership patterns gave way to the rising power of manufacturing and democratic politics. All of this Gatell describes with much depth, some sympathy, and great stylistic skill. One suffers with Palfrey. To those interested in the Civil War, two episodes stand out. Gatell devotes almost half the book to Palfrey's relatively brief political career and deftly demonstrates many of the realities of American politics after 1846. Life was difficult for the antislavery advocate. Too many political leaders had too many interests at stake to look upon those opposing slavery as anything more than troublemakers, political defectors, and destructive revolutionaries. The result was bitter and sustained conflict. And within the antislavery movement itself there were strains and tactical differences which made miserable a man as dependent upon the good opinion of his peers as was Palfrey. Much of this story is familiar, but Gatell brings a richness of detail and understanding to the political environment of the antebellum era. Also of much interest is the story of the Boston post office during the war. Postmaster Palfrey was bedeviled by the political and patronage BOOK REVIEWS85 pressures of his office, yet at the same time there was much opportunity for entrepreneurial endeavor. Palfrey remained financially comfortable for the remainder of his life after his service there. The material here is a rich vein of information on one part of the civil administration and politics of the war. A major problem of antislavery historiography has been that of motivation . Were the abolitionists and their less extreme cohorts socially disorganized neurotics or morally committed ideologues? Gatell does not deal with this as effectively as he could. A primary element underlying Palfrey's actions apparently was his desire for esteem and social acceptance, but at other times he flew in the face of this in his commitment against slavery. This ambiguity can be ascribed to the complexity underlying antislavery activity, but the problem of motivation is not clearly drawn. Perhaps a more important criticism is one of method. Gatell has mined every source, drawn together every fact, and presented a vivid and traditional life of a man. We are treated to much interesting detail on Palfrey's childhood and college days. One could maintain that this is necessary for an understanding of later actions and motives. On the other hand, John Morton Blum demonstrated a few years ago in a neglected byway of biographical scholarship, The Republican Roosevelt, that much can be done quite effectively without detailing every day of a subject's life. Finally, one might ask for some comparative biographical material: Were Palfrey's characteristics and dominant drives unique to him and other antislavery advocates...