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CHAPTER XXI

CRITICAL ESSAY ON AUTHORITIES

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AIDS

'N finding his way through the great mass of historical literature relative to the period covered by this volume, the student will obtain especially useful assistance from three works. J. N. Larned, The Literature of American History, a Bibliographical Guide (1902), is written on the co-operative plan by about forty specialists, the materials being subdivided into classified lists and each title accompanied by a brief critical evaluation; those of greatest importance for the westward-extension movement will be found grouped under "Period of the Slavery Question" and "Midcontinental and Pacific Regions." Channing and Hart, Guide to the Study of American History (1896), is of special value to teachers and advanced students: chapters xxi. and xxii. contain a list of specific references in which are included those belonging to the period of 18411850. Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America (8 vols., 1886-1889), though it deals with only a few of the more important aspects of the history of the United States under the Constitution, is still very useful for the field of this book, especially vol. VII., chaps. v.-vii., and Appendix (first part). Worthy of mention also are William E. Foster, References to the History of Presidential Administrations, 1789-1885 (1885); Edwin E. Sparks, Topical Reference Lists in American History, etc. (1893), and the references appended to the chapters in Woodrow Wilson, A History of the American People (5 vols., 1902). The best guide to the publications of the United

States government is the Table of and Annotated Index to the Congressional Series of United States Public Documents (1902), prepared in the office of the superintendent of documents. A general indication of the nature of the unpublished material in possession of the national government will be found in Van Tyne and Leland, Guide to the Archives of the Government of the United States in Washington (1904). For investigation that leads into periodicals, W. F. Poole, An Index to Periodical Literature (several editions), is indispensable.

GENERAL SECONDARY WORKS

Foremost among the elaborate works covering the period are Hermann E. von Holst, Constitutional and Political History of the United States (translated from the German by Lalor, Mason, and Shorey, 8 vols., 1876-1892), and James Schouler, History of the United States of America under the Constitution (6 vols., 1899). Both these histories are valuable, but in the ethical rather than the true historical vein, and neither shows insight into the real motives of the South in joining issue with the North as to slavery. Bryant and Gay, A Popular History of the United States (4 vols., 1876-1881), is subject to the same criticism, and is, moreover, ill-proportioned and of small value to the investigator. Woodrow Wilson, A History of the American People (5 vols., 1905), gives a brief general survey of the westward movement, which, while not always accurate in detail, is illuminating in many of its generalizations and rational in its exposition. In this, as in other periods of United States history, the student will find useful Alexander Johnston's summarized descriptions and explanations in John J. Lalor, Cyclopædia of Political Science (3 vols., 1890), reprinted separately, edited by J. A. Woodburn (2 vols., 1905). For the series of presidential elections, a good treatment, though not entirely free from prejudice, is Edward Stanwood, A History of the Presidency (1898).

GENERAL COLLECTIONS OF SOURCES

First in value for the study of the acts of the United States government is the official record of the proceedings of Congress in The Congressional Globe, containing the Debates and Proceedings (108 vols., 1834-1873). In Thomas H. Benton, Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856 [actually 1850] (16 vols., 1857-1861), is a selection of matter from the record of congressional proceedings, in which the abridging process is not by condensation or summary, but by excerpt, in unchanged form, of what the abridger regarded as most important, especially his own speeches; the latter part of vol. XIV. and the whole of vols. XV. and XVI. belong to the field of this work. The Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States (18 vols., 1828-1887) contains material of importance not to be found elsewhere.

There is a great mass of detail in House Executive Documents, Senate Executive Documents, House Reports, Senate Reports, and other documents of the official series, relating to boundaries, annexations, the Mexican War, etc., which is often very important, and through which the patient reader can find his way with the help of the "Table and Index" named under Bibliographical Aids above. Texts of the various treaties are printed in Treaties and Conventions Concluded between the United States and Other Powers since July 5, 1776 (1889), printed as Senate Executive Documents, 48 Cong., 2 Sess., 47. James H. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897 (10 vols., 1896-1899), is a convenient collection of the materials indicated by its title. Among unofficial collections the most useful are William MacDonald, Select Documents Illustrative of the History of the United States, 1776-1861 (1898), and Albert Bushnell Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries (4 vols., 1897-1901), of which vols. III. and IV. cover the period of westward extension.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS OF SOURCES

Useful among these are Lyon G. Tyler, Letters and Times of the Tylers (3 vols., 1884-1896); and the manuscript collection in the Texas State Library entitled Diplomatic, Consular, and Domestic Correspondence of the Republic of Texas. There is a general description of the correspondence between the United States and Texas on file at Washington, in Andrew C. McLaughlin, Report on the Diplomatic Archives of the Department of State, 1776-1840 (1904). Here should be mentioned also John C. Calhoun, Works (edited by Richard K. Crallé, 6 vols., 1853-1855); Daniel Webster, Works (6 vols., 1851); Henry Clay, Works, comprising his Life, Correspondence, and Speeches (edited by Calvin Colton, 6 vols., 1857, reprinted with additional matter, 7 vols., 1897); Rufus Choate, Works (with a memoir of his life by S. G. Brown, 2 vols., 1862); Josiah Morrow, Life and Speeches of Thomas Corwin (1896); John Adams Dix, Speeches and Occasional Addresses (2 vols., 1865); Levi Woodbury, Writings, Political, Judicial, and Literary (1852); Diary and Correspondence of Salmon P. Chase (edited by Edward G. Bourne and Frederick W. Moore), in American Historical Association, Annual Report (1902, II.); Mrs. Chapman Coleman, The Life of John J. Crittenden, with Selections from his Correspondence and Speeches (2 vols., 1871); The Correspondence of John C. Calhoun (edited by J. Franklin Jameson), in American Historical Association, Annual Report (1899, II.); Anson Jones, Memoranda and Official Correspondence relating to the Republic of Texas, its History and Annexation (1859); Wendell P. and Francis J. Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 18051879; the Story of his Life Told by his Children (4 vols., 1885-1889; new ed., 4 vols., 1894), of which vol. III. covers the years 1841-1860; George W. Julian, Life of Joshua R. Giddings (1892).

DIARIES AND NARRATIVES BY CONTEMPORARIES, ETC.

Among the most valuable of such materials belonging either wholly or in part to the period of this book is the

diary of James K. Polk, extending from August 27, 1845, to April 29, 1849. The voluminous original (not yet published) is in possession of the Chicago Historical Society, and a copy made for George Bancroft is in the Lenox Library. Three additional typewritten copies have recently been made, one of which has been used in the preparation of this volume. Other records of contemporaneous experience. and opinion will be found in John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, comprising Portions of his Diary from 1795 to 1848 (edited by Charles Francis Adams, 12 vols., 1874-1877), of which the latter part of vol. X. and the whole of vols. XI. and XII. fall within the field of this book; Thomas H. Benton, Thirty Years' View; or, a History of the Working of the American Government for Thirty Years, from 1820 to 1850 (2 vols., 1854-1857); Nathan Sargent, Public Men and Events from the Commencement of Mr. Monroe's Administration, in 1817, to the Close of Mr. Fillmore's Administration, in 1853 (2 vols., 1875), of which vol. II. begins with Van Buren's administration; Henry A. Wise, Seven Decades of the Union (1881); Henry Wilson, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America (3 vols., 1872-1877), which reaches the Tyler administration near the close of vol. I., and the compromise of 1850 about the middle of vol. II. Concerning all these works it should be said that they are of great importance for the period; but, while there is no room. to question the honesty of the writers, allowance must always be made for their point of view.

BOOKS OF TRAVEL

For a long list of foreign travels in this period, see Albert Bushnell Hart, Slavery and Abolition (American Nation, XVI.), chap. xxii.

CONTEMPORANEOUS PERIODICAL LITERATURE

Of greatest value for the period among the materials of this class is Niles' National Register (76 vols., 1811-1849),

VOL. XVII.-22

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