Home Missions on the American Frontier, with Particular Reference to the American HomeMissionary Society by Colin Brummitt GoodykoontzReview by: William W. SweetThe American Historical Review, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Oct., 1940), pp. 168-169Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1839849 .

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i68 Reviews of Books

the apprehensions of the United States with reference to European aggres- sions against this American nation, on Anglo-American competition for its trade, and on Venezuela's turbulent politics and its social and economic conditions.

Like the previous volumes and all of Dr. Manning's works, these three attain the highest standard of scholarship. Dr. Manning is an extraordinarily able editor. The notes and citations are adequate, the volumes are almost free from typographical errors, and the indexes are as exhaustive as could reasonably be expected.

The twelve volumes of the series present the fundamental documents bearing on the relations of the United States with Latin America and the relations of the United States with the leading European nations in reference to Latin America. Of course they do not present all the documents on the subject deposited in the State Department; that would require a work many times as large. But they should constitute the starting point for any serious work on this important and vast subject. The judicious investigator will begin with these documents, supplement them by further examination of the manuscripts in the National Archives, and realize that his knowledge is not complete until he has searched the repositories of Europe and Latin America.

The University of Chicago. J. FRED RippY.

Home Missions on the American Frontier, with Particular Reference to, the American Home Missionary Society. By COLIN BRUMMIrr GOODYKOONTZ, Professor of History, University of Colorado. (Caldwell: Caxton Printers. 1939. Pp. 460. $3.50.) WE have in this volume an example of a piece of historical research

which was begun as a doctoral dissertation, carried on over a relatively long period of years, and finally brought to a full-rounded, definitive conclusion. Doctors' dissertations are often published too soon, precluding adequate research and mature judgments, and I know of no better argument for delay in publication than is furnished by this exhaustive and thoughtful study. Anyone moderately acquainted with the voluminous and widely scattered sources with which Mr. Goodykoontz has had to deal will understand why so long a time has intervened between conception and completion. Those of us who were aware that this study was in process rejoice in its appearance and congratulate the author on furnishing essential insight in helping us to understand how it was possible, often in a single generation, to transform a rough, raw frontier into orderly and intelligent communities. Religion was the leaven hidden in the lump which was largely responsible for such trans- formation, a leaven which brought a larger meaning to life, inspired to higher ideals, and raised the moral tone of society. It is with this leaven that the author deals, a factor which has been too much overlooked by those

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Canby: Thoreau I69

who would explain the frontier phase of our history. While giving chief attention to the American Home Missionary Society, probably because its archives are the most voluminous and accessible, Mr. Goodykoontz sum- marizes the home missionary activities of the Presbyterians, Methodists. Baptists, and Episcopalians. His understanding and use of the peculiar nomenclature of these several bodies is always accurate and is in itself an unusual accomplishment. The author's thorough understanding of Amer- ican history enables him to fit the activities of the home missionaries into their appropriate economic, social, and political background. In other words it is not a partial picture that is here drawn; religion is not considered a "hot-house" plant which must be given special treatment or consideration; it finds its rightful place among the multiple interests of the developing society of the frontier. The treatment is always objective, but at the same time there is intelligent appreciation and full understanding.

A phase of religious activity on the frontier which seems to have been overlooked is the work carried on by the Baptist farmer preachers. This was far more important in spreading the Baptist gospel, especially in the early West and in the South even to this day, than any formal home missionary activities carried on by the Baptists. Nor was the early Methodist advance due to formal missionary societies. The whole organization of frontier Methodism was adapted to the meeting of frontier needs. In neither case was religion transplanted from the East to the West; both were indigenous to the soil. Missionary activity, as carried on by the American Home Missionary Society, too often delayed the rise of indigenous organization and created a dependent attitude. Here we have a partial explanation, at least, why both Methodists and Baptists far outstripped Congregationalists and Presbyterians.

Some sections of the book might have been improved if the author had had access to a number of recent studies in manuscript, such as C. T. Thrift's "The American Home Missionary Society in the South, i826-I86i" and Evah 1. Ostrander's "The American Home Missionary Society in Oregon, i849-I870". Perhaps some thought should be given as to how such materials may be made more widely available.

The University of Chicago. WILLIAM W. SWEET.

Th oreau. By HENRY SEIDEL CANBY. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. I939. PP. xx, 508. $3.75.) IN a "Preview" to his book the author sketches some "half-dozen possible

biographies of Thoreau", each emphasizing a particular aspect of his com- plex character. Lesser biographers have exploited the paradoxes which this classification implies; Mr. Canby has succeeded in the far greater task of integrating the varied themes into a complete and balanced whole. The work triumphantly demonstrates that thorough scholarship is the surest pathway to freshness of interpretation.

AM. HIST. REV., VOL. XLVI.-I2

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