Some Recent Books in American History

REVIEW ARTICLE SOME RECENT BOOKS IN AMERICAN HISTORY EZIO CAPPADOCIA TI-IV. varietyof subjects with whichthesebooks dealdoesnot admitof any readyclassification..For thesakeof convenience, those books thatareprimarily concerned withdomestic politics willbedealtwithfirst. The popularity enjoyed by Alexander Hamiltonand ThomasJefferson at anygivenperiodof American history usually reflects the extentto whichthe republicis in a conservative or liberalmood.Hamilton's popularity in the 1920's wasreplaced by thatof Jefferson in the following two decades. This year,at a timewhenthe UnitedStates is in themidstof renewed prosperity and againin a conservative frame of mind, the bicentennial of Hamilton's birthisbeingcelebrated. Theoccasion hasalready produced valuable studies. Professor Hacker'svolume,AlexanderHamilton in the AmericanTradition, is essentially an essay in politicalandeconomic ideas.The authoris aware that in spiteof Hamilton's recurrent popularity among the business groups, hehasneverbecome a folk-hero in American thought; hence,he is anxious to refurbishhim, to defendhim from the accusation that he was reactionary, anti-democratic, and mercantilist. Hacker presents his subjectas a disciple of Adam Smith, as the father of American individualism, as a libertarian devotedto a system of "perfectliberty,"as a man who hasbeenmisread, misrepresented, andmisunderstood bothby liberals andby thenewconservativesof recentvintage.In hiseffortto explainand defendHamilton,and to makehisviewson various questions relevantto contemporary American and worldproblems, Professor Hacker hasgivena sermonizing andpolemical tone to his book. But he has not turned Hamilton into a warm and likeable human being,onewhocanarouse popular adulation. Historians havemaintained, for themostpart,thatreligious revivalism was a phenomenon of the frontier,and that it wasindifferentto socialand economic problems. In Revivalism andSocial Reform Timothy L. Smithchallenges this interpretation. His thesisis that Protestantism in Americafirstbecame interested in social reform not,asisgenerally claimed, with the Social Gospel movement of thelatenineteenth century, but in the 1840'sand 1850's.And what brought aboutthe change wasnot concern overthe problems of industrialism but the revivalism of thosetwo decades, when amongrevivalists thequest forperfection wasioined with compassion forthepoor.The author hasexamined with greatcarea staggering amountof the popularreligious literature of the period.He proves that the evangelicals playeda key r61ein theattack onslavery andpoverty. Moreover, hegives ampleevidence to show that the "vitalcenter"of American Protestantism in mid-century wasnot in theruralWestofthatperiod butin thecities along theAtlantic seaboard, and heinsists thatits"cutting edge" wasrevivalism. Thedilemma ofslavery produced a decade ofindecision among churchmen in the1840's. Theevangelicals could forsake neither theslave northeGolden Rule. In the late 1850's churchmen "in tune with the new revivalism" found 229 Vol.XXXVIII, no.3, Sept.,1957 230 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW it easier thanothers to cutthrough the uncertainty created andto campaign for abolitionism. The evangelicals combined anti-slavery agitation with perfectionism andwith the doctrine of Christ's imminent conquest of the earth. The outbreakof hostilitiesbetween North and South came as a rude shock, since theyhadbelieved thatemancipation wouldbebrought about peacefully. Dr. Smith, a clergyman whose profession isoftenbetrayed in theimagery of his language, has writtena remarkable re-interpretation of revivalism in mid-nineteenth century America. Thisbookis a labourof love,since onlya clergyman couldhaveundertaken asthorough an examination of somany pamphlets andsermons devoidof intellectual content. The resultis a valuable contribution bothto church andsocial history. Ther61e played by political andreligious fanatics in the coming of the CivilWar isanalysed by Professor Ave CravenHe belongs to thatgroup ry . of historians whohavebeendebating whya recourse to armsseemed the only wayoutoftheimpasse of 1860.Hereiects boththetheory thatthewar wasaninevitable clash between themoralforceof righteousness andthesin ofslavery, andtheeconomic theory of causation. He isnotconcerned with thecauses of thewarassuch, butwiththewayin which thedemocratic process of discussion andcompromise wasunable to prevent the conflict. With fervideloquence hemaintains thatwarwasnotunavoidable; butthat the"blundering generation," driven along byreligious fanatics andbyirresponsible agitators, stumbled intowar. The democratic process couldnot resolve a crisis thatcame tobepresented interms ofabsolutes, asa struggle between good andevil,rightandwrong. Professor Craven asserts thathehaspresented anobiective study, although he admits thathehasmadea deliberate effort to approach theproblem from theangle oftheSouth. Themost remarkable aspect ofthisbook isthe wealth ofmaterial which hehas cited from even themost obscure newspapers ofthatregion. When this book first appeared in1942 it became theobiect of controversy among historians, some ofwhom accused theauthor ofdefending boththeSouth andits"peculiar institution." Yetthegeneral pointof view isneither asradical asitscritics maintained norasobiective astheauthor asserts. For this second editionno majorrevisions havebeenundertaken. Professor Craven's strongly feltand vividly presented thesis isrequired reading foranyone interested inananalysis ofthesectional emotionalism that preceded the outbreak of the CivilWar.Moreover, at a timewhenthe struggle between Communism andDemocracy...