success in america: the yeoman dream and the industrial revolution

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210 REVIEWS conscious omission was obviously intended to confirm the author’s contention that by 1702 English economic hegemony had been indisputably established. Yet such an omission raises more questions than it lays to rest. In addition, a number of incorrect dates in the chapter detailing the course of Leisler’s Rebellion will confuse the reader. Archdeacon also has the annoying habit of citing both primary and secondary sources in support of the same fact. This may be intended to suggest more research, whereas it actually implies less rigorous scholarship than one might wish for. New York City, 1664-1710 will be of special interest to historical geographers because it includes an eighteen-page chapter entitled ‘Social geography’. By analysing patterns of residential segregation this chapter adds an extra dimension to the author’s view that the English and French became socially dominant in New York. Wealth and cultural cohesiveness were the determinants in the creation of urban wards which were either wholly English or predominantly Dutch. City University of New York T. W. POHL REX BURNS, Success in America: The Yeoman Dream and the Industrial Revolution (Amherst: University at Massachusetts Press, 1976. Pp. x+212. $10~00) Historical geographers, particularly those of a geosophical bent, will find Success in America interesting. Burns, a member of the English Department at the University of Colorado, focuses on the idea that success in this country has not always been measured in terms of monetary wealth : it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that dollars and cents became the yardstick of achievement. Instead, the agrarian ideal associated with the yeoman-farmer provided the earlier success model. Success, with regard to the yeoman dream, was defined by wealth somewhat beyond basic needs, freedom from economic or statutory subservience, and respect from society for fruitful, honest industry. Burns traces the development of this model from its origins with the Puritans to its general decline wrought by the radical social changes associated with the industrial revolution. Through a variety of literary sources he shows how widely the image of the yeoman dream was projected and defended on the printed page. Popular literature, children’s magazines, labour journals and the novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne provide the major source materials, The title and source materials are somewhat incongruous. The majority of children’s magazines and labour journals which Burns uses were published in Massachusetts and their editors were New Englanders; Hawthorne was a descendant of a New England colonist. A significant question remains unanswered. How widely, in a geographical sense, was this image held in America ? Were there regional differences? The book contains no maps and only scanty statistics of the number of magazine subscribers. Even though the book is nicely written, well conceived and convincing, I cannot say that it belongs on the bookshelves of all historical geographers. The topic is interesting and a growing cadre of historical geographers are becoming inclined to take note of work of this kind. But even in this short book some readers may feel that the detail utilized to support the argument may be too much for the geographer with anything less than a serious research interest in the perception of success. University of South Carolina CHARLES F. KOVACIK P. R. CUTRIGHT, A History of the Lewis and Clark Journals (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976. Pp. xxi+311. $17.50) The graphic and personal narratives of explorers are both the trade tools of the student of exploration and discovery and an important component of world literature. Near the top of the list of works of this genre, in their capacity to excite the imagination and to

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Page 1: Success in America: The yeoman dream and the industrial revolution

210 REVIEWS

conscious omission was obviously intended to confirm the author’s contention that by 1702 English economic hegemony had been indisputably established. Yet such an omission raises more questions than it lays to rest. In addition, a number of incorrect dates in the chapter detailing the course of Leisler’s Rebellion will confuse the reader. Archdeacon also has the annoying habit of citing both primary and secondary sources in support of the same fact. This may be intended to suggest more research, whereas it actually implies less rigorous scholarship than one might wish for.

New York City, 1664-1710 will be of special interest to historical geographers because it includes an eighteen-page chapter entitled ‘Social geography’. By analysing patterns of residential segregation this chapter adds an extra dimension to the author’s view that the English and French became socially dominant in New York. Wealth and cultural cohesiveness were the determinants in the creation of urban wards which were either wholly English or predominantly Dutch.

City University of New York T. W. POHL

REX BURNS, Success in America: The Yeoman Dream and the Industrial Revolution (Amherst: University at Massachusetts Press, 1976. Pp. x+212. $10~00)

Historical geographers, particularly those of a geosophical bent, will find Success in America interesting. Burns, a member of the English Department at the University of Colorado, focuses on the idea that success in this country has not always been measured in terms of monetary wealth : it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that dollars and cents became the yardstick of achievement. Instead, the agrarian ideal associated with the yeoman-farmer provided the earlier success model. Success, with regard to the yeoman dream, was defined by wealth somewhat beyond basic needs, freedom from economic or statutory subservience, and respect from society for fruitful, honest industry.

Burns traces the development of this model from its origins with the Puritans to its general decline wrought by the radical social changes associated with the industrial revolution. Through a variety of literary sources he shows how widely the image of the yeoman dream was projected and defended on the printed page. Popular literature, children’s magazines, labour journals and the novels of Nathaniel Hawthorne provide the major source materials,

The title and source materials are somewhat incongruous. The majority of children’s magazines and labour journals which Burns uses were published in Massachusetts and their editors were New Englanders; Hawthorne was a descendant of a New England colonist. A significant question remains unanswered. How widely, in a geographical sense, was this image held in America ? Were there regional differences? The book contains no maps and only scanty statistics of the number of magazine subscribers.

Even though the book is nicely written, well conceived and convincing, I cannot say that it belongs on the bookshelves of all historical geographers. The topic is interesting and a growing cadre of historical geographers are becoming inclined to take note of work of this kind. But even in this short book some readers may feel that the detail utilized to support the argument may be too much for the geographer with anything less than a serious research interest in the perception of success.

University of South Carolina CHARLES F. KOVACIK

P. R. CUTRIGHT, A History of the Lewis and Clark Journals (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976. Pp. xxi+311. $17.50)

The graphic and personal narratives of explorers are both the trade tools of the student of exploration and discovery and an important component of world literature. Near the top of the list of works of this genre, in their capacity to excite the imagination and to