Dissent: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism ed. by Alfred F. Young (review)

476 x•S C•NXnI• rnsToracxi, ra•vmw •ch•d Wade •ites about •e ne• to r•exa•ne such old se• sto•es as ß e V•ey upr•g; and Staugh•nL•d expla•sthe ••ce o[ ma•g slave• a cen•M theme• •erican •sto•. P• • ex•es ma•or•ends Ne•o •to•, emph•g •ong others •e d•v• o[ endemic naHon•de raisin. LeonLi•ack •sc•ses •e dfie•a •ong •e antebellm abelille. S; Wade •sess• C•c•na• ra•sm in the e•ly n•et•n• cent; and •acque VoegeU defines racom• •e No•west d•ng the Ci•l War. Fromd•erent perspecHves Evere•C• and•om• C•ppsex•e •e cul•al mea•g •d •e Ne•o•' res•e toT• Bi•h oi a Nat.; L• G• DudleyCo•s• •d Jo• Sa•ond shatter old m•s by r•e•ng •e Under•o•d Ra•oa• plac•g •e Ne•o • • appropriate role• the CivfiWar mfiit•, •d •a•g •e rac•l we•ess o[ ccc• •d pra• • •e 1930s. •ere B more,but •e •end • clear;and•e ex•llenceo[ •n•pHon •d as•ten•s o[ choice be• tes•ony to •e •ough•s o[ Hoover's entente. •ere • noar•ent overchoirso[ essays (mosto[ w•ch ap• o•a•y • ]omal •cles), [or eve• teachermust,in •e end, •semble angeles. • one• to [a•t Hoover,it • pr•ely • •e one•ea overw•ch he had no •n•ol. •ere • a• t•s superlaHve re•rd is •e Ne•o, ex•pt back•o•dP •e •sue liesperha• at the hea• o[ •e •eri•n •ew of •eit • • te•s of sucks or fafl•e; rew•d•g •e fo•er, den•ng thela•er whenpossible, i•or•g it whennewsy. •e •sto• of •erica •ore b•n •e h•to• of succ•s- andsuc•sso•y h• b•n r•ord•. •e f•l•e of •e•ca v•-•s theNe•o hasme•t • •rded p• an absen• of •era• re•rd • •e modem•tori• •nceives •a• re•rd. •e •o• of •e Ne•o • •e•ca has•dorce beenl•gely non-•er•. Bu• ch•g• •e berg made:modem•torio•aphy •s moreandmoreto s•i• lo•, an•opolo•, fo•lore,m•-•o •e non-•tera•r•rd. There• when• •e newh• of the•e•can Ne•o • largely d•ive. I• • o•y nowbe•- •ng •obeexplore,•s•s•, andr•rd•. • • sense H•ver's •ea•est farine hasb•n • •ea• sucks. We do no• •om U•r•and•g NegroH•o•, •derstand Ne•o •to•; bu• rather we perceive w•e •ca• •s•o•o•aphy of theblack•e•c•. •a•, •rhapsun •gly, H•v• hastoldus• wheremuchof the newworkmustbe done. Wm• H. Universi• of M•e Dissent: Explorations in theHistory o• American Radicalism. Editedby A•n F. Yotu•c. DeKalb:Northern IllinoisUniversity Press. 1968.Pp.x, 388.$7.00 (•) cloth; $2.25(rs) paper. TI-IIS VOLUME INVlTgS COMPARISON to a bookeditedby BartonJ. Bernstein, Towardsa New Past: Dissenting Essaysin AmericanHistory (1969). Both volumes areby scholars roughly from35 to 45 yearsold.Eachis a medley by abouta dozenauthors, andthe essays varygreatlyin quality.Manypieces in eachbookare otiose; the lengthof eithercouldbe cut20 per centwithout omitting anything significant. Eachworkoftenconveys a toneof arrogance. The titlesthemselves suggest thismood, with theirflaunting of "dissent." Doubtless everyauthor represented could citesome wrongheaded interpretation fromwhich he differs, but the accumulations sweptup by Bernstein andYoungrankwell m•vmws 477 below revelation as additions to man's wisdom. Isn't it time that we tried to qualifyand refinethe viewsof earlierhistorians instead of seeking to enhance ourse]yes by belittling them,time that we showed a becoming modesty when faced bythelabours ofourbetters? Finally,the books sharean anomaly. Bernstein, a specialist in veryrecent history, offersus considerable strength in the firsthalf of his collection, much lessin studies of the lastcentury. Conversely the assortment by Young, whose interests lie in the late eighteenth century,scores highest in the yearssince World War vt. To illustrate, for Towards a New PastStaughton Lynd wrote another of hisdistinguished contributions to theinstitutional history of the New Nation.But Lynd'sforayfor Young intointellectual realms brought results that arefar less happy...