# American History Told by Contemporaries/Volume 2/Chapter 2

CHAPTER II — USE OF SOURCES
TO the accumulating mass of original material there was till a few years ago no general guide. The historians writing in the eighteenth century used what they could find. The second group of American historians, headed by George Bancroft, Jared Sparks, and Francis Parkman, made elaborate collections of transcripts of documents. Winsor, Lecky, Tyler, Weeden, Fiske, and others of the present school of historians have liberally used the printed records and may be tracked through their foot-notes.
There are three methods of reaching the sources which bear on colonial and revolutionary history. First, and most convenient for a quick search to verify a particular point, are the elaborate foot-notes in general or local histories. A list of serviceable secondary works will be found below (No. 15). Most important for this purpose are R. Frothingham, Rise of the Republic ; J. G. Palfrey, History of New England ; George Bancroft, History of the United States (original edition) ; W. B. Weeden, Economic and Social History ; M. C. Tyler, History of American Literature and Literary History of the Revolution. Most of such books contain a bibliography of the books cited. In the monographs on colonial history and institutions, especially in the Johns Hopkins University Studies, will also be found reliable foot-notes.
The second method is through the catalogues of libraries containing valuable collections. The most important are those of the Boston Public Library (Bates Hall) and Supplement ; Boston Athenæum ; Peabody Institute (Baltimore) ; and the card catalogue of the Harvard College Library. The catalogues of the state libraries and state his torical societies are also sometimes valuable.
The third method is through special bibliographies of the subject Most elaborate is Joseph Sabin's Dictionary of Books relating to America (19 vols., New York, 1868-1891), which is an attempt to give the titles ​(alphabetically by authors) of all the books printed on America up to 1867, with many references to the libraries in which particular rarities are found. When completed, the work is to have an index by subjects ; it includes no estimate of the value of books mentioned. The most remarkable contributions to the knowledge of sources are Justin Winsor's Memorial History of Boston (4 vols., Boston, 1880-1881), Reader's Handbook of the American Revolution (Boston, 1880), and Narrative and Critical History of America (8 vols., Boston, 1886-1889). This last work, a monument of learning and well-directed industry, devotes eight large volumes to narrative accounts and to critical statements as to the bearing and value of authorities, both original and secondary ; and it makes frequent mention of libraries in which the books are to be found. It is invaluable to the student of sources, for it searches out and discriminates between editions, it mentions reprints, and it is arranged in a convenient method, and is indexed.
The most recent book (in which the authors acknowledge the help they have gained from Winsor) is Channing and Hart, Guide to the Study of American History (New York, 1896). This is a brief work, covering in 500 small pages the field of Winsor's volumes, and extending on down to 1865 ; the sources mentioned are selected out of the confused mass of available material and are arranged in successive paragraphs. In Part I are various classified lists, chiefly of sources; and under each of the topical headings is a special selection of sources.
With these and similar aids, students who have the use of a large library may go directly to the sources most important for their purpose. There is also a special guide to the voluminous collections of the state historical societies, viz., A. P. C. Griffin, Bibliography of American Historical Societies, republished from the Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1895 ; also a selected list in Channing and Hart, Guide, § 31. Colonial records are enumerated in the Guide, § 29; some of them are enumerated above (No. 6).
To locate a particular book in a library is often a matter of patience and dexterity. The first thing is to get the exact title from the catalogue or from some other printed list, and to be sure that there is no confusion of editions. A critical reprint is a help in understanding the bearing of the source, and Winsor is an unfailing aid on critical points. The first authoritative edition of a source is usually to be preferred.
In making notes and citing references, the rule is absolute that every extract which is in the words of the author should be set off by ​quotation marks ; and that all omissions within such a quoted extract should be shown by points or stars ( . . . * * * ). Exact dates should be noted, with especial observance of the fact that dates between January I and March 25 fall in one year in "Old Style" reckoning, and in the following year in "New Style." In 1752 England accepted the new calendar ; hence all later dates are in "New Style." In old documents, since March is the first month, September is the seventh (as the name suggests), and December is the tenth. A common precaution (sometimes found in the original) is to give both years : as February 1, 173132 (see No. 21 below).
8. Use of Sources by Teachers
OF the three offices of sources in teaching, supplying material, furnishing illustration, and giving insight into the spirit of the times, — all are important. It is not to be expected that any but the most highly-trained specialist will found all or his chief knowledge of history on sources ; but parts of the field may thus be underlaid by actual contact with the material. For example, such topics as the witchcraft delusion (Nos. 16-18), the founding of Georgia (ch. vi), the expulsion of the French from North America (ch. xx), or the naval warfare of the Revolution (Nos. 177, 194, 204), may be readily worked up from the narratives of the time ; indeed, even such a limited collection as this volume contains throws light upon them.
For illustrations and additions to the text-book in class work, teachers will find some use of the sources enlivening and interesting to the pupil. For example, Washington's quest of Palatines (No. 108) shows how the labor system of the colonies troubled practical men. Chastellux and Steuben (Nos. 176, 202) bring out the merits of the American army. Story and Wesley (Nos. 98, 99) show how other churches began to rise side by side with the Episcopal and Congregational. Brief extracts from such originals, or paraphrases of the narrative recounted to the class, will serve to rivet the more general events in the minds of the pupils.
Perhaps the most important service which sources perform for the teacher is to fill his mind, — and through him the pupil's mind, — with the real spirit of the age described. Franklin (No. 81) was a man writing to fellow-men, and while reading we cannot help sharing his experiences. The records of the Providence town-meeting (No. 78) ​bring out the multifariousness of Rhode Island interests. The gossip of William Pynchon (No. 208) is a sample of the daily table-talk of his generation. Pettit (No. 61) lets us into the details of local politics in 1764; Madame Knight (No. 80) infuses into her readers her own cheerful and indomitable nature ; Doddridge (No. 136) shows us the hardship and grimness of the frontier life, which was the lot of many Americans ; and the fate of the loyalists may be read in the plaints of Samuel Curwen in England (No. 169). Contact with the sources has some of the effects of visiting the scenes, in the way of leaving in the mind a clear-cut impression.
Sources will therefore bear reading several or many times, so that the mind may be permeated with them. The teacher cannot be too familiar with the controversies over the settlement of Georgia (Nos. 39-44) ; with the character of colonial assemblies (Nos. 61-68) ; with the arguments pro and con in regard to the Revolution (Nos. 131, 138, 141, 142, 146, 147, 155, 156, 157) ; with the favorable views of the American army held by foreign observers (Nos. 172, 176, 202, 214) ; with the argument for independence (No. 186). Of course the teacher will also use connecting secondary matter, so as to show how one event follows another, and what is the relation between events (see No. 14 below).
Some very successful teachers deliberately choose what may be called the episodic method, especially with young classes : they present a series of intellectual pictures of successive stirring events, without trying to make a complete narrative. Such a method has much to commend it, and is aided by the use of brief selected sources.
9. Use of Sources by Pupils
ONE of the main objects of this work is to bring together in convenient form a body of material suitable for use by pupils, even though immature. Hence, pieces have been selected which have an interest in themselves, though taken out of their connection ; and there has been care to exclude numerous passages which are suitable enough for older students, but which are too strong and plain-spoken for children. Pupils cannot be expected to found their knowledge of history on sources, because they have not the judgment to distinguish between the different kinds of material ; but it is believed that the use of such a ​collection as this, — or of such parts of it as there may be time to read, — will fix many of the most important events and tendencies mentioned in the text-book. For example, no second-hand account of the Indians can compare in "holding power" with the narratives of Adair and Carver (Nos. 113, 116).
Perhaps the principal value of the educational side of sources for pupils lies in the aid which such material gives to intelligent topical work and to the preparation of "special reports." Of course, many of the advantages of topical study (which is discussed at large in Channing and Hart, Guide to American History, §§ 67, 68) may be had from the use of good secondary books, new to the user ; but such work does not teach the most important lesson of all, — that history is the search for truth, and that truth must depend on the ultimate sources. No pupil, by the use of this volume or of any other collection, can overset a conclusion of Parkman's ; but he may learn that Parkman's greatness lies in his graphic and effective grouping of what he learned from sources.
A topic prepared with access to sources is therefore to the pupil's mind a creation, or rather a building up from materials known to be sound ; it is an exercise in the kind of work which every historian must do, but which, in an elementary form, may be done by any young beginner in the subject. It often may stimulate the pupil to learn more about the picturesque men whose narratives he reads, — about the witches, who acted so like poor, tormented, innocent people (Nos. 16, 17), and the jaunty travellers, Thomas and Castelman and Byrd (Nos. 25, 28, 82). It is therefore natural that the requirements in history for entrance to college, drawn up by a conference at Columbia University in February, 1896, suggest sources as a part of the pupil s material; and that the American Historical Association also favors that method for "vitalization" of the study.
As extracts for reading, many of the pieces in this volume have unique value. The language of the eighteenth century differs little from that of our own time ; but there is a delightful freshness and vigor in such writers as Neal (No. 20), Goelet (No. 23), Beverly (No. 33), Wise (No. 47), Eliza Lucas (No. 83), Wesley (No. 99), Adair (No, 113), Knox (No. 129), Pausch (No. 179), and Greene (No. 212).
To sum up briefly : the pupil may get a foot-hold in the world of colonial thought by reading properly-chosen and related extracts from sources ; he may get a peculiar and valuable training by working out some particular point. For instance, a very good exercise might be to ​work up, from the material in this volume, the condition of slaves, or of colonial schools ; or the dealings of the colonists with Indians ; or the methods of raising troops for the Revolution ; or the early American navy.
10. Use of Sources by Students and Investigators
TWO theories of historical teaching contest for the field of education through history : the first, or English method, aims to ground students in well-chosen secondary books, which they are to read, assimilate, and compare, and the divergences between which they must note, though they have not the means to reconcile them. Even in English universities only the most highly-specialized historical students use sources as an essential part of their study and training.
The opposing method expects some knowledge of the original material. The student's work is based upon some rather brief text-book or combination of books, but from all students collateral use of sources is required. The English method may be compared to an orderly ship canal, going straight to the end, with an ascertained depth of water, but always shallow and confined : the other method, to a natural river abounding in deep pools, and joined by a multitude of branches which one cannot explore, with many unfordable places, but winding among human habitations, and giving glimpses of human life.
To facilitate study through sources, a variety of written exercises have been devised, for which students gather and compare original evidence on important points. The merits of this system have been set forth above (Nos. 8, 9). Though applicable at all ages, the use of sources becomes more and more valuable, however, as the student advances ; and when he reaches the highest stage of the student's work, — the preparation of materials for a thorough-going account of some episode or period, — sources are the reservoirs from which he must draw most of his knowledge.
Such a collection as this book contains may serve as a beginning to the ambitious student ; but it will have accomplished less than its design if it do not lead him to wish for the full texts from which these extracts are taken, for additional information on some one question which interests him, and for that acquaintance with original material and the methods of using it which gives a student at once an insight into past times and a power to reproduce them before the minds of his readers. ​Former historians have had to collect and organize their material in painful and expensive fashion. Jared Sparks and Francis Parkman each accumulated a costly set of transcripts of manuscripts. For future historians, much of the most valuable material is now in print ; and though no one will ever again set himself to George Bancroft's task of writing a general history of the United States entirely from sources, the special works which are to be the foundation of new views must rest wholly on such materials. Although large collections of printed sources are now available, many of them have not yet been examined by competent writers, and discoveries of great importance are still to be made by the investigator. For example, the manuscript of Boudinot s valuable reminiscences (No. 1 80) had not been printed till 1896.
11 . Use of Sources by Readers
FOR the numerous class of persons who have not the opportunity to be students, or the inclination to investigate, sources are useful by way of arousing the imagination and filling up the sketch made by the secondary writer. All that has been said about the usefulness of materials for the teacher and pupil applies equally to the self-taught. Sources alone are one-sided, because they lack perspective and comparison of views, and because they leave great gaps. Secondary works alone are also one-sided, because they tell us about people, instead of letting the people tell us about themselves. The ideal method is to read a brief sketch of colonial history, such as Professor Fisher's Colonial Era ; then some illustrative extracts from sources ; then a fuller work like that of Park man or like John Fiske's books, with a larger collateral use of sources. Upon the general subject of home study of American history, Channing and Hart have a discussion in the Guide to American History, § 13.
Among the reprints in this book likely to be most interesting to readers are the witches' testimony (No. 17) ; Goelet on Boston (Nos. 23, 84) ; Gabriel Thomas on Pennsylvania (No. 25) ; Burnaby on New York (No. 32) ; Eliza Lucas on Carolina (Nos. 35, 83) ; the slavery question in Georgia (No. 42) ; Douglass on colonial government (No. 50) ; Clinton on a governor s perquisites (No. 57) ; Morris s veto (No. 65) ; Zenger on his prosecution (No. 72) ; Providence town-meeting (No. 78) ; extracts from Franklin's autobiography (No. 81) ; a plea for protective duties ​(No. 86); Ames's college diary (No. 95); Wesley's journal (No. 99); Woolman's journal (No. 106); Colden on the fur trade (No. 111); Adair on the Indians (No. 113); Knox on Quebec (No. 129); Dod-dridge on the West (No. 136); Franklin's examination (No. 143); Andrew's account of the Tea-Party (No. 152); Sam Johnson's tory argument (No. 156) ; Scammell's love-letter (No. 162) ; Graydon on recruiting (No. 170); Chastellux's visit to Washington's camp (No. 176); Pausch's army life (No. 179); Richard Smith on the Continental Congress (No. 185); Abigail Adams on the siege of Boston (No. 192); Dr. Waldo on Valley Forge (No. 198); John Paul Jones's capture of the Serapis (No. 204); Pynchon's diary (No. 208); Gordon's retirement of Washington (No. 219).
12. Use of Sources by Libraries
THE triple object of most libraries is to entertain, to inform, and to instruct. Sources may fulfil all these objects. Boys who like Robinson Crusoe will certainly like Thomas (No. 25), Franklin (No. 81), Goelet (No. 84), Ames (No. 95), Adair (No. 113), Clark (No. 201), and Jones (No. 204). Girls who enjoy Strickland's Queens of England will like lively Eliza Lucas (Nos. 35, 83), and the steadfast Abigail Adams (No. 192). The student of German history will be glad to follow the Germans into the new world (Nos. 29, 40, 179). The colonial writers ooze with rugged, genuine human nature, interesting to those who are interested in their kind. Who can read of Oglethorpe in Georgia (No. 39), or of Daniel Boone (No. 134), or of Major Andre (No. 183), without wishing to know more of these men and their writings?
The other functions of the library—to inform and to instruct—are equally provided for by proper use of sources, which are the adjunct of the teacher, the reservoir of the pupil, and the nutritious intellectual food of the general reader. Of the extracts in this volume, those from works like Sewall's, John Adams's, and Franklin's are available in many libraries in the full text; but many of the pieces are hard to come at, and for a person whose time is limited such a selection as this may be more useful. As regular standard reading matter, the libraries may well provide some sources.
​In those larger libraries which aim at general completeness, or at special historical collections, it is an obvious duty to put abundant sources on their shelves, for the benefit of the students and investigators who must have a large range. The sources are scientific material comparable with the fossils of the palæontologists, by the use of which the popular books are to be written, as well as the general scientific treatises. Not to have them is to ignore one of the principal objects of libraries,—the preservation of accumulated knowledge from age to age.
For libraries especially is intended the list of most valuable sources printed above (Nos. 5, 6), which may suggest purchases in this field.
13. Caution in using Sources
VALUABLE as are original records, they must be used intelligently or they will mislead. First of all, they are not all of equal authority or of equal value. To turn an inexperienced student unguided among sources is to invite errors, for sometimes even sources are untruthful. How is the tyro to know, for example, that letters purporting to be written by George Washington were forged and set afloat during the Revolution? Sometimes a writer bears internal evidence of malice or of untruthfulness, as Simcoe in his account of his loyalist corps (No. 181), in which his animus against the patriots is plain enough. But, without warning, how is one to know that Edward Randolph (No. 34), shrewd observer as he was, was sent to the colonies with the mission of finding something wrong, and was bound to justify his employment? The value of many sources depends on the writer s truthfulness, which cannot be attacked without training and the sifting of later evidence. Most reprints of old pieces, especially those in the proceedings of historical societies, include a critical account of the writer. Other criticisms may be found in Moses Coit Tyler, History of American Literature during the Colonial Time (2 vols.), and Literary History of the American Revolution (2 vols., New York, 1897); in Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America (8 vols., Boston, 1886-1889); in Henry T. Tuckerman, America and her Commentators (New York, 1864); in S. Austin Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature, and British and American Authors (3 vols., Philadelphia, 1858-1871). Extracts from records and formal documents (as in Nos. 21, 38, 78, 187), may usually be relied ​upon; but even such a document as Vergennes's despatch (No. 216) is a special plea, and does not state the whole truth.
In the next place, even contemporaries had not all the same opportunities for seeing things. Maury (No. 37) knew that Patrick Henry had made a tremendous speech against him, but he probably understood the law of his case very imperfectly. Dr. Douglass's views of his countrymen (No. 50) are tinged by his conviction that other doctors did not understand how to treat small-pox; Edmund Burke (No. 44) was at a long distance from the colonies; Colonel Winslow (No. 126) did not take seriously to heart the misery of the transported Acadians; Captain Pausch (No. 179) felt a natural hostility toward the rival British troops. Nearly all the pieces in this volume are the statements of eye-witnesses, recorded at or near the time; but even they must have taken flying rumors, as did Dunmore (No. 154), Williams (No. 160), and Pynchon (No. 208). Violent prejudices and prepossessions make it necessary to supplement such narratives as Lawson's (No. 16), Sam Johnson's (No. 156), and Drayton's (No. 157) by calmer testimony and by statements from the other side; and this is especially necessary in the intensity of feeling attending such a period as the Revolution. We cannot understand the real causes and force of that mighty movement unless we realize how strong was the opposition; inasmuch as even good and honest writers may not have the gift of lucid description, and may flounder about like Dr. Douglass (No. 50) or Thomas Story (No. 98).
But while secondary writers may correct the errors of the original writers, and show the relation of one event with another, they have also their prejudices and make their mistakes. One of the first lessons to be learned by a child beginning the study of history is that it is difficult and often impossible to get at the exact truth, just as it is hard to get at the facts of every-day current events. To the secondary book one must look for a survey of the whole field,—an indispensable service; to sources we must still turn for that reality, that flavor of real human life and thought, which may be had only by reading the words written while history was making.
14. Use of Secondary Works
FOR the indispensable background of narrative history there is a large literature. The best way of teaching a young class is by a text-book ; but the ground as fast as traversed must be extended by the use of sources for reading, — perhaps for reading aloud, — and for simple topical work (see No. 9 above). The pupil should go beyond the material in this volume, if libraries be available. For older classes there should be a fuller text-book, preferably one which has brief specific bibliographies ; and pupils may be encouraged to make little studies of the biography of writers in this volume, and of the events of which parts are related, using additional sources so far as available. For college classes a more extended narrative may be used as the basis ; and the reading of all the selections in this volume may be required, and enforced by proper examinations ; in addition there should be written work. For the most advanced students of American history this collection is only a nucleus around which to group their studies from sources.
The secondary book has then two functions : to cover the whole field, bridging over the gaps between sources ; and to furnish a starting-point from which the pupil, reader, or student may reach the sources, so as to extend the text- book, to check its statements, and to enliven them.
15. Select List of Secondary Works on the Eighteenth Century and the Revolution
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Not less than forty school histories of the United States have been put upon the market. Of these the older ones are now quite useless for proper study, because they were usually prepared by writers who knew little of American history ; because they are dull ; because they give too much space to obscure Indian wars ; and because they are not adapted to use in connection with other books. A new literature of text-books has sprung up, written by some of the foremost scholars in American history, interesting, beautifully illustrated, provided with maps, and aiming to lead those who use them to consult and read other books. Some of these useful text-books are the following : —
Mary Sheldon Barnes and Earl Barnes, Studies in American History. Boston, 1896 (pp. x, 433). — Made up in great part of extracts from sources.
Edward Channing, A Student's History of the United States. New York, (pp. xxxix, 603). — Especially arranged for work on secondary writers and in sources ; abounds in practical suggestions, lists of books, references to sources, etc. Excellent for the home reader.
Edward Eggleston, A History of the United States audits People for the Use of Schools. New York, 1888 (pp. x, 416). — Very strong on colonial life ; excellent pictures.
John Fiske, A History of the United States for Schools. Boston, 1894 (pp. xxi, 553). — Delightfully written, but brief; excellent questions, involving topical study.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Young Folks' History of the United States. New York, revised to 1886 (pp. vi, 460, 33). — A very popular and successful book ; of especial interest on the colonial period.
Alexander Johnston, A History of the United States for Schools. New York, revised, 1895 (pp. xx. 489) — Stronger on the period after 1787; many maps, and a list of secondary books.
Harry Pratt Judson, The Growth of the American Nation. (College edition.) Meadville, 1895 (pp. 359). — Continuous text ; convenient form.
John Bach McMaster, A School History of the United States. New York, (pp. 476, 31). — More relative space to the period after 1783; many references to secondary material.
D. H. Montgomery, The Student's American History. Boston, 1897 (pp. 523, lv) . — Many sketch maps ; lists of books, including sources.
William A. Mowry and Arthur May Mowry, A History of the United States for Schools. Boston, 1896 (pp. xii, 437). — Very attractive make-up; convenient for class use.
Allen C. Thomas, A History of the United States. Boston, 1894 (pp. xiii, 415, lxxiii). — A good, plain, sensible book, with abundant references for parallel reading.
BRIEF GENERAL HISTORIES
For class use or for reading, the most convenient short accounts of colonial conditions and of the Revolution are as follows : —
Edward Charming, The United States of America [1765-1865]. New York, 1896. — A hundred pages on the causes and conditions of the Revolution.
George Park Fisher, The Colonial Era (American History Series, I). New York, 1892. — Comes down to 1756, with an intelligent account of the condition of the colonies.
George Washington Greene, Historical View of the American Revolution, Boston, 1865. — One of the best brief expositions of the Revolution.
Albert Bushnell Hart, Formation of the Union [1750-1829] (Epochs of American History, II). New York, revised, 1897. — Four chapters on the revolutionary period.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, A Larger History of the United States. New York, 1886. — A charming study of American life, and especially of the conditions of frontier warfare.
Henry Cabot Lodge, A Short History of the English Colonies in America. New York, 1881. — Deals particularly with social conditions in the eighteenth century.
Henry Cabot Lodge, George Washington (American Statesmen Series). 2 vols. Boston, 1889. — Vol. I is an excellent account of the political and military progress of the Revolution.
John T. Morse, Jr., Benjamin Franklin (American Statesmen Series). Boston, 1889. — A good life of the American most representative of his time.
William Milligan Sloane, The French War and the Revolution (American History Series, II). New York, 1893. — A good survey of the revolutionary period.
Reuben Gold Thwaites, The Colonies (Epochs of American History, I). New York, revised, 1897. — Four chapters on the colonies after 1700.