ERA Reviews

We used this as a textbook in one of our classes. It was pretty helpful. Shows the direction that Congress and the Presidency are moving in with regards to polarization and explains the reason for that movement.

In Poor Whites of the Antebellum South, Charles Bolton effectively reveals the economic, social, and political complexity of landless white tenants and laborers in antebellum North Carolina and Mississippi. Through census and tax records, court and insolvent debtor documentation, and personal accounts, the lives of Old South poor whites paint a picture that tells far more of their dynamic story than does the stereotypical label "white trash." Bolton focuses on four counties of the South: Randolph and Davidson counties in the central Piedmont of North Carolina and Pontotoc and Tishomingo counties in northeast Mississippi. Arguably the most notable characteristic of the poor whites was their mobility and versatility. Many of them made frequent relocations because of their need to look for employment and the desire to make economic advancements. Poor whites, such as Edward Isham, possessed a wide range of marketable skills since the slave labor in the South made long-term jobs hard to find. Although the most common occupation was a tenant farmer or farm laborer, some poor white males worked as railroad workers, miners, and stock drivers. The wives of these men, like the yeomen, were responsible for many domestic chores, as were the children; however, unlike the yeomen, many poor white women worked outside the home. The meager wages of the poor whites gave them enough money to pay for food, but personal property was scarce (the lack of material possessions facilitated their frequent moves). With regards to the slave society of the antebellum South, poor whites basically disrupted the line between white independence and black dependence. Free blacks and poor whites had many things in common, being as they represented the backbone of the South's workforce - often working side by side in the fields. Both of the groups had horrible clothing, substandard housing, and unhealthy food. Some free blacks and poor whites even engaged in the illegal exchanging of goods such as liquor, while others gathered to gamble, drink, or make love. However, factors such as white racism, kinship ties, religion, and mobility, prevented the development of any political alliance between landless whites and blacks. Between 1830 and 1850, many poor whites began moving to the southwest frontier of the cotton kingdom in hopes of acquiring wealth and land. For the most part, however, poor white emigrants failed to become landowners. The unfortunate story of Benjamin Scarborough, whose dreams of becoming a landowner, was more common than the rags to riches story of Thomas Allred. In Mississippi, for example, the poor whites had several unpromising options: they could obtain the worst land in the area, they could travel elsewhere, or they could live as squatters or tenants on decent land owned by speculators and wealthy planters. Most of them pressed farther west towards Texas and Arkansas, but few found prosperity. Overall, this book is an interesting and comprehensive look at the lives of poor whites of the antebellum South. Bolton's strongest tool in making his presentation is his use of individual stories. The tales of the various poor whites supplies powerful imagery for the reader, and without these personal accounts the book would not be as effective.

The presidency of Andrew Jackson marks a significant change in American presidential politics. With the exception of John Quincy Adams, and a weak one at that, all previous presidents had been members of the unofficial American aristocracy that existed at the time of independence. Traditionally, they followed the principle of the office seeking the man and campaigning for the position was generally not done. There was little in the way of populist movements and political parties in the modern sense did not exist. That changed with the rise of Jackson to the presidency and expanded during his two terms in office.
Jackson was the first president who was popularly elected to office, and the prelude to the election was the first true campaign for the position. He was also the first person from the west to be elected to the presidency and a military hero many times over. His reputation as a general places him nearly on a par with George Washington.
Being the first "outsider" president, his election created a great deal of anxiety among the established powers in the east. Cole quite properly begins with a thorough discussion of this situation, as it created a good deal of tension that lasted for several years. There was also an enormous amount of economic expansion going on in the country, which began to exacerbate the regional tensions developing between the northern and southern regions of the country. A great deal of the book is spent examining these regional tendencies and with the perspective of hindsight, we can clearly see the gathering storm that finally led to war. This area is very well done, as the author properly describes all of the growing tensions, not just the problem of slavery.
Cole also does an excellent job describing the personality of Andrew Jackson, sometimes compromising and other times very much "Old Hickory", as he refused to bend. His threat to use federal troops in the south was a genuine one, sparking a lot of animosity, yet accomplishing what he wanted to do. He surprised everyone with his reluctance to become involved in the Texan attempt to gain independence from Mexico. Most expected the "Old Hero" to be much more aggressive in expanding the nations' borders. In the book, we also see the rise of Martin Van Buren, called the little magician for his political ability. He truly was the first modern political power broker, the type of person necessary for effective presidential leadership.
With the economic and physical expansion of the country beginning to proceed at an incredible pace, the
Jackson years were those where the nation began taking on the characteristics of a modern nation. Cole does an excellent job of describing this transition, as well as the man who was at the helm when it was taking place. Andrew Jackson was one of the most complex men to hold the office, as well as one of the roughest. From the book, you learn about these different aspects of his personality as well as how the country was affected by them.

If someone wants to get a one volume account on this exciting presidency, look no further. The author, Lewis Gould, shows how TR developed further the modern presidency, which began under his predecessor McKinley. One of our most fascinating presidents, there's a wonderful chapter on Roosevelt the Administrator. Excellent bibliography too!

Clements' book is an accessible, well written, though occasionally overly detailed analysis of one of the most important presidents of the twentieth century and possibly of the entire history of the presidency. This book is an investigation of Wilson's presidency, rather than a biography. His beliefs, values and political training is quite brief. Though the information that Clements does provide is insightful and incisive. Throughout the book, its structure is clear and direct. The ending of the book suggests the depth of the author's admiration for Wilson. This admiration does not prevent Clements from seeing the flaws in his subject, but occassionally it causes him to gloss over them too easily, minimizing their seriousness. Aside from key lapses, Clements is able to evaluate Wilson fairly, despite his evident admiration for the president. Overall, the book makes for a very worthwhile reading. It's not only thorough, but lively as well. The historical context of Wilson's rise to power is carfully constucted, providing a clear sense of Wilson's debt to the Progressive movement-as wellas his ocntribution to it. More importantly, he provides a complex, compelling portrayal of a very fascinating man. To read the book is to glimpse a picture of a very flesh-and-blood president, a man who left a remarkable imprint upon the presidency and the shape of our nation as a whole.

I'm biased, because I copyedited this book, but it is very well written and a fascinating study of early-twentieth-century philanthropy. Ever heard of the Russell Sage Foundation? Find out here who he was!

The most important part of Bell's book, I believe, is the chapter on Merleau-Ponty, a chapter which marks the transition from phenomenology to post-structuralism. The preceding discussion on Husserl is good, but dozens of books are out there interpreting Husserl. Rather, his exposition not only of Merleau-Ponty but of current Merleau-Ponty scholarship, is what raises this book a notch above other books of its kind. In particular, he sheds light on the contemporary debates over Merleau-Ponty's ambiguous notion of the "flesh". And he uses the ambiguity surrounding this notion as impetus into his sections on post-structuralism, notably, the philosophy of Deleuze. As far as I know, this is the first work to present the philosophical ties between Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the development of French thought in the 20th century.

This book describes in detail the many varied paths that visual artists explored during the 60's, a time of great political, cultural, and artistic ferment. The subtitle of the book, "American and European Art in the Era of Dissent," reflects Crow's observation that the experimental art of the period reflected 60's political dissent. He notes that 60's art, setting itself up as an alternative to an existing "genteel, snobbish, and unadventurous art culture," deliberately mocks mainstream values, and tends to be inaccessible to ordinary viewers. His book attempts to give a useful explanation of what that art was all about.

In order to place the period in its historical context, the book starts with mid-50's work of Jasper Johns, and of California artists whose innovative work had repercussions across the country and eventually in Europe. Crow shows how in the course of the 15 years that the book covers the normal values of fine art were rejected, how divisions between painting, sculpture, and design were breached, and how unconventional departures from artistic norms were exalted. The book details the role of theory during the period, as well as its relationship to the roiling politics of the time. The currents, cross-currents, whirlpools, and eddies of trends such as abstract expressionism, pop art, performance art, happenings, land art, and body art are detailed, as are their representative practitioners and theorists.

The book includes good, clear illustrations throughout, and adds a useful year-by-year chart of political, cultural, and artistic events of the period. While the writing is generally straightforward, and non-judgmental, it sometimes becomes turgid. (For example, "in an art without significant internal relationships, it was necessary to dominate a context of sufficient order and clarity to make a light-fixture or a stack of bricks register as an art event.")

Robert Hughes wrote in The Shock of the New that "the elite corps of criticism struggled in the sixties to codify its high-art credential and endow it with a problematic or critical content that it did not possess." For devotees of contemporary art with an interest in the 60's, the book gives a thorough review of the struggles of that period. Readers with a more general interest in art, however, while finding the book informative and interesting, may also learn more than they want to know about many artists and theories that are ultimately of minor interest.

Robert W. Harms reconstructs the development of trade routes and merchant houses (canoe houses) along the Zaire (Congo) River from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth. Harms gives an informative sketch of how societies along the river adjusted to accommodate the demands and opportunities presented by commerce, first in slaves, then in ivory. Harms, for instance, offers an interesting suggestion of how wealth among the commercial class changed (for the worse) the nature and quality of married life for women.

For a discussion of similar developments in Southeastern Nigeria, see Trading States of the Oil Rivers, by G. I. Jones. John Thornton has authored a number of articles and books on the era of the slave trade in West Central Africa (the Congo-Angola region), while David Eltis, et al., Routes to Slavery, presents essays on the slave trade. Readers interested in Central Africa should also consider works by Jan Vansina.

Daily Life in the Kingdom of the Kongo, by Georges Balandier, translated by Helen Weaver (1968), remains a highly-readable, greatly-informative work.

The late Don E. Fehrenbacher, probably the greatest historian of American Law, Politics, and sectionalism in the 19th century, presents a thin volume of two series of lectures he gave in the late 1970s.

The first of these 'The South and Three Sectional Crises', details the Missouri controversy, the 1846-1850 arguments about the Wilmot Provido, and the Kansas-Nebraska fights. The second, 'Constitutions and Constitutionalism in the Slaveholding South' deals with constitutions in Southern states, the South's views of the US constitution, and finally, the Confederate constitution and its applications during the short life span of the Confederacy.

Both essays, and especially the second, suffer from the shortness of the lecture format. Fehrenbacher can only barely touch upon the issues he raise here, particularly in the second essay, which deals with three separate issues.

Although Fehrenbacher has written often about the sectional crises, he always manages to look at the issues from a new perspective. Here, Fehrenbacher focuses on the South's perspective. He shows that the Missouri crisis was not a secession crisis, but that it played a large part in developing Southern strategies for dealing with future conflicts. The South has learned that the North could be pressured with threats of secession, and used the threat to have its way in the following crisis. After winning the first two sectional crisis, the South lost the third. Unlike the previous secession crisis, the South finally seceded because of an occurrence in the executive rather then the legislative branch of government. Unlike Congress, where negotiations led naturally to some form of compromise or at least the appearance of compromise, the election of an anti-Slavery president was a clear signal, a black or white issue, and the most logical and natural basis for secession.

The second essay, less coherent, is nonetheless interesting. The Southern state constitutions, because they reflected little conflict with antislavery feelings, proved to be remarkably similar to Northern state constitution. In the relationship with the constitution, the South engaged on two parallel, somewhat contradictory strategies. On the One hand, it advocated a form of a weak Union, unable to coerce its will on States. One the other hand, the South used the lesser unity of the Northern states to form Southern dominated bi-sectional parties - both the Jeffersonian Republicans and later the Democrats in the 1840s and 50s - which led the South to be the dominating section in the union.

After secession, the Confederate constitution formed was very similar to the US one, although it reflected the South's commitment to Slavery, and its distrust of Politics. So similar was the Southern legal framework to the Federal one, that Confederate prosecutors, judges and juries continued legal proceedings from before secession, as if it has never occurred.

In an interesting and perceptive introduction. Fehrenbacher notices that all Post-CW histories of the South are also histories of secession. Although brief, this, like all of Fehrenbacher's writings, is a significant contribution to the effort to understand the roots of the American Civil War.