The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1910-08-05
GREENvuLE MISS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 5th 1910
ONS OF A LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY"

concrete subjects which possess a broad
appeal to students of American history,
than is afforded right here at home
And | may say just here that / have
IN mind the territory surrounding us
the entire so-called Delta section OF
the State. / would not by any means
confine either the activities or member
ship of the association to the county
after which it is named.
The Southern States have ha uni
que history. A very brief analysis
will indicate the factors which have
influenced our history along peculiar
lines, and have served to differentiate
its course and development from that
of the rest of the country. Modern
history is tax lg much more into ac-
count the factor of physiography than
was formerly the ease. Under this
general designation are included eli
mate, rainfall, the character Of the
soil, the course and character of
streams, the presence or absence of
M mountain ranges, the nature of local
plant life. These simple things are
in truth the very origin and founda
tion of the important differences be-
tween widely separated countries and
between different parts of the same
country. If Massachusetts, had an
average rainfall of some sixty inches,
with long, hot summers and practically
no real winter, coupled with a soil orr
ginally fertile-it is venturing nothing
to say that slavery would have persist
ed there, instead of gradually disap-
pearing. IF, on the other hand, Mis-
sissippi mad the soil and climate of
Massachusetts, the institution of slav-
cry could never have gained a perma-
nent foothold in the State This is
but another way of saying that if the
try along the upper Atlantic seaboard
had been peculiarly adapted to the pro-
duction of the great semi-tropical agri-
cultural staples, such as indigo rice,
tobacco, cotton and sugar, and the ply
steal environment of the South Atlant
lie region had been hostile to those
crops, then they would have dominated
the development and history of the
former, instead of the latter, section.
,nh in
graphic names. Historians are com
ing more and more to realize the impOr
tance of the economic aspects of his
tory, and this carries with it an inevi-
table realization of the Importance of
these influences which shape a people, g
economic life. And this in turn leads
to a broader and more sympathetic in
depreciation of history than would 9th
erwise be possible, for it enables men
to account for differences between
themselves and others upon natural,
rather than artificial grounds. This
growing appreciation of the force of
physical considerations in history has
altered, within the past decade and a
half, the traditional attitude of the
New England historian toward the
study of the most vital of all the con
tloversial questions of American his
tory-the institution of slavery And
it has led to an increasing and a gen
timely sympathetic interest in that
branch of American history which it
is now recognized is peculiarly "Sou-
thern' only through force of natural
causes, rather than because of the per
versity or caprice of the people who
chance to dwell in the region known
as the South
Southern historical associations are
responding to this interest by render
ing available a mass of material the
value of which is recognized through
out the country. But the work thus
far has been done mainly by State or
ganizations, and there is great field
of usefulness open to local societies.
In fact, the latter, with smaller, more
membership, and a smaller
territory to explore, can render a SER
vice never likely to be performed by