USA > New York > A short history of New York State > Part 70
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No one should miss the magnificent collection of pictures and maps of New York City in J. A. Kouwenhoven, The Columbia Historical Portrait of New
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York (1953). Another notable book of photographs of the metropolis is K. H. Dunshee, As You Pass By (1952).
A good introduction to the life of modern New Yorkers is Meyer Berger, The Eight Million: Journal of a New York Correspondent (1942). Interesting and informative is Simeon Strunsky, No Mean City (1944). E. B. White's delightfully written sketch of the metropolis, Here Is New York, appeared in 1949. It is included in Klein's anthology cited above.
Historical Periodicals, Publications of Societies, and Libraries
The New-York Historical Society, founded in 1804, has an excellent library and has published much source material in its Collections: First Series (I-V, 1809-1830); Second Series (I-IV, 1841-1859); Proceedings (I-VI, 1843- 1849); and Publication Fund Series (1868-). It has also published a quarterly since 1917. The New York State Historical Association, with its headquarters in Cooperstown, was founded in 1899 and began its Proceedings in 1901. In 1919 the Proceedings became New York History, a quarterly which contains articles, documents, reviews, and notes on the activities of the local societies. Another journal with a wealth of fascinating material is the New York Folk- lore Quarterly (1945-). Readers interested in periodicals devoted to New York should consult J. T. Dunn, "Checklist of Current York State History Magazines (Revised)," New York History, XXXII (April 1951), 236-242.
There are scores of local and county historical societies in New York. Two are outstanding for their publication programs: the Buffalo Historical Society, whose Publications date from 1879; and the Rochester Historical Society, which issued its Publications from 1892 to 1898 and began its Publication Fund Series in 1922.
The research student will find rich collections in New York City at the New-York Historical Society, Columbia University Library, and the New York Public Library. The best collections upstate are found in the New York State Library at Albany, the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo, and the Cornell University Library, with its Collection of Regional History. Syracuse University and the library of the New York State Historical Association also have useful collections.
New York State has had a state historian since 1895. His office maintains some twenty historic sites, publishes manuscripts, and offers aid to the local historians. Approximately 1,600 towns, counties, and villages are required by law to appoint local historians.
Source Materials
Collections of source materials are abundant but scattered. Most confine themselves to certain periods and will be noted in connection with those periods. Listed at this point are a few outstanding collections and those covering more than one period. The research student of New York City will find indispensable I. P. D. Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498- 1909, Compiled from Original Sources and Illustrated by Photo-Intaglio Reproductions of Important Maps, Plans, Views and Documents (6 vols.,
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1915-1928). This invaluable account contains a detailed chronology collected from the sources, and many original maps and plates. Interesting social and economic material is brought together in Clayton Mau, The Develop- ment of Central and Western New York from the Arrival of the White Man to the Eve of the Civil War as Portrayed Chronologically in Contemporary Events (1944). The student of agriculture will find useful information in the Proceedings of the New York State Agricultural Society, 1841-1920. Vols. 1-34 (1841-1886) were known as Transactions.
The state documents are indispensable even for fields beyond the political story. The activities of the executive branch are recorded in: C. Z. Lincoln, ed., Messages from the Governors, Comprising Executive Communications to the Legislature and Other Papers ... 1683-1906 (11 vols., 1909). The state has also published the public papers of most of the governors from George Clinton to Thomas Dewey. The legislative branch has left its record in the Journals of the Assembly and the Senate and in the Documents of the two houses. The legislature has also made special studies and investigations of national significance. For example, the Hepburn investigation into railroad practices in 1879; the Armstrong investigation in insurance matters in 1907; the Report on Retrenchment and Reorganization in the State Government, Oct. 10, 1919, on proposals for reform which Governor Smith carried out during the 1920's.
Students of constitutional change will find valuable the records of the constitutional conventions of 1821, 1846, 1867-1868, 1877, 1894, 1915, and 1938. The decisions of the N.Y. State Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Judicature throw light on many issues.
Statistical material may be found in the guidebooks and manuals noted above and in the federal and state censuses. Useful summaries of the various provincial, state, and federal censuses from 1628 to 1855 are given in the Introduction to the Census of the State of New-York for 1855 (1857).
Comprehensive Histories of New York
No individual work covers the history of New York from its beginning to the present. The most successful history was the co-operative undertaking edited by Flick, History of the State of New York. The most recently written one-volume history is the textbook for junior high schools by B. M. Wainger, Dorothy Furman, and Edith Oagley, Exploring New York State (3rd ed., 1956). The lengthy work by C. Z. Lincoln, The Constitutional History of New York (5 vols., 1906), should be compared with the one-volume summary by J. H. Dougherty, Constitutional History of the State of New York (1915). Still important, although unsatisfactory for many periods, is De A. S. Alexander, Political History of the State of New York (4 vols., 1906-1923). R. B. Smith, ed., Political and Governmental History of the State of New York (4 vols., 1922), is a rather pedestrian summary of political changes. D. M. Schneider, The History of Public Welfare in New York State, 1609-1866 (1938), has continued the story into the latter period. See Schneider's book with Albert Deutsch, The History of Public Welfare in New York State, 1867-1940 (1941). Hedrick's, History of Agriculture is also a valuable work.
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Three works on New York City should be mentioned here. Old fashioned but standard is J. G. Wilson, ed., Memorial History of the City of New York from Its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1892 (4 vols., 1892-1893). Cleveland Rodger and Rebecca Rankin, New York: The World's Capital City (1948), is well written and topically organized. New York Panorama has a series of articles on all aspects of city life.
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COLONIAL PERIOD 1609-1763
General Works (not previously cited)
No one has written a comprehensive history of colonial New York, although the early histories devoted most of their attention to this period. The classic history written by a participant is William Smith, The History of the Late Province of New York from Its Discovery to 1762, which appeared in New York Historical Society Collections (2 vols., 1829-1830). The standard ac- count for the seventeenth century remains the old work by J. R. Brodhead, History of the State of New York (2 vols., 1853-1871). The student can find excellent chapters on the political and administrative history of New York scattered through the volumes of H. L. Osgood; see his American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century (3 vols., 1904-1907) and American Colonies in the Eighteenth Century (4 vols., 1924). C. L. Becker, The History of Political Parties in the Province of New York, 1760-1776 (1909), remains the best account of those troubled years. Brief, popular, but superficial is Maud Good- win, Dutch and English on the Hudson (1919).
The developments in New York City can be traced in Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century (2 vols., 1909), and A. E. Peterson and G. W. Edwards, New York as an Eight- eenth Century Municipality (1917). Brilliant studies by Carl Bridenbaugh on cities in colonial America include several excellent chapters on New York City. See his Cities in the Wilderness (1938) and Cities in Revolt (1955). The long struggle between New York and New England over borders is charmingly described in D. R. Fox, Yankees and Yorkers (1940). Customs and everyday life are pleasantly described in A. M. Earle, Colonial Days in Old New York (1896).
Source Materials
An indispensable collection is E. B. O'Callaghan, ed., Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York (10 vols. and Index, 1853- 1861, Berthold Fernow, ed., vols. XII, XIII, and XIV, 1877-1883). This tremendous work contains papers from Holland, London, and Paris and docu- ments relating to the early settlements in the Mohawk region and on Long Island. The writings of royal officials are generously represented in these volumes though their one-sided reports must be used with care. O'Callaghan
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was also editor of The Documentary History of the State of New York (4 vols., 1849-1851), which contains many miscellaneous documents and is particularly valuable for the Leisler revolt of 1689. The student will find considerable in- formation about Indians and the French missions in central and western New York in R. G. Thwaites, ed., The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (73 vols., 1896-1903). Iroquois negotiations with the English colonies from 1666 to 1723 are described in Lawrence H. Leder, ed., The Livingston Indian Records (1956).
Cadwallader Colden, who was active in politics for over fifty years, was a keen but biased observer. See The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden, 1711-1775 (9 vols., 1917-1937); The Colden Letter Books (2 vols., 1876- 1877); The Colden Letters on Smith's History: New-York Historical Society Collections (1868). A heroic achievement in collecting and editing are the Papers of Sir William Johnson (11 vols., 1921-1953). These documents are basic for any study of the fur trade, the land system, and the English rela- tions with the Indians and the French during the third quarter of the eight- eenth century. Religious and denominational history is treated in Hugh Hastings, ed., The Ecclesiastical Records of New York State (7 vols., 1901-1916).
In addition to Stokes' Iconography, the student interested in New York City will find valuable H. L. Osgood, ed., Common Council Minutes of New York City, 1675-1776 (1905). Records and information of Albany are given in Joel Munsell, ed., Annals of Albany (10 vols., 1850-1859).
Much history is codified in the Colonial Laws of New York from the Year 1664 to the Revolution (5 vols., 1894). The significant land history must be searched for in Calendar of New York Colonial Manuscripts, Endorsed Land Papers, 1643-1803 (1864).
Algonkians and Iroquois
The leading authority on the Iroquois, A. C. Parker, has written several studies, many of which have appeared in the New York State Museum Bulletin. He has an excellent brief summary in the Flick history, vol. I. W. N. Fenton is the author of "Problems Arising from the Historic Northeastern Position of the Iroquois," in Essays in Historical Anthropology of North America, Smith- sonian Miscellaneous Collections, I (1940). The earliest French contact is beautifully told in Morris Bishop, Champlain, The Life of Fortitude (1948). An old but useful account of the Indians of eastern New York is E. M. Rut- tenber, History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson's River (1872). P. A. W. Wallace, The White Roots of Peace (1949), tells the legend of the founding of the Five Nations Confederacy. T. R. Henry, Wilderness Messiah: The Story of Hiawatha and the Iroquois (1955), is a lively biography which may exag- gerate the significance of the Iroquois Confederacy. A provocative interpre- tation of the rise of the Iroquois to supremacy in the seventeenth century is presented in G. T. Hunt, The Wars of the Iroquois: A Study in Intertribal Trade Relations (1940). For the following century, the best account of Iroquois relations with the English remains the introduction by C. H. McIlwain to his edition of Wraxall's Abridgement of the Indian Affairs Transacted in New York (1915). No student should miss L. H. Morgan, League of the Ho-de-
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no-sau-nee or Iroquois (1851), the monumental study by the father of Amer- ican anthropology. Less valuable but still interesting is Cadwallader Colden, The History of the Five Indian Nations (1747), which has appeared in many editions since 1902. An account of New York's relations with the Iroquois is contained in J. W. Lydekker, The Faithful Mohawks (1938).
The Dutch in New York, 1609-1664
Valuable are the Flick, Brodhead, and Osgood volumes cited above. A recent account stressing religious, literary, and social aspects is E. L. Raesly, Portrait of New Netherland (1945). Students interested in architecture and the Americanization of the Dutch Reformed church will find stimulating com- ments in T. J. Wertenbaker, The Founding of American Civilization: The Middle Colonies (1938). A popular account is J. H. Innes, New Amsterdam and Its People (1902). The best collection of source materials is J. F. Jame- son, Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664 (1909). A. J. F. Van Laer, ed., Van Rensselaer Bowier Manuscripts (1908), has many documents re- lating to the colony of Rensselaerswyck.
Revolt against Autocracy and the Rise of the Assembly
Competent surveys of political changes are given by Osgood and the con- tributors to the Flick history, vol. II. Provocative and thorough, but not easily accessible, is the thesis of Beverly McAnear, "Politics in Provincial New York" (Stanford University, 1932). J. R. Reich, Leisler's Rebellion: A Study of De- mocracy in New York, 1664-1720 (1953), analyzes the career of this con- troversial figure. A recent monograph tracing the influence of prominent lawyers associated with the Livingston party from 1750 to the Revolution is D. R. Dillon, The New York Triumvirate: A Study of the Legal and Political Careers of William Livingston, John Morin Scott, William Smith, Jr. (1949). Useful despite its poor organization is A. M. Keys, Cadwallader Colden: A Representative Eighteenth Century Official (1906), the biography of an im- portant eighteenth century official. Most of the sources listed at the beginning of the colonial section of this bibliography are useful. See especially the two massive collections edited by O'Callaghan.
Outpost of Empire
There are dozens of general histories of the United States which have a good account of the Anglo-French wars of the eighteenth century. Francis Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe (2 vols., 1884), should be read for its literary charm as well as for its solid worth as history. The role of New York is well treated in the monumental work by L. H. Gipson, The British Empire before the American Revolution (vols. IV-VII, 1940-1949). F. H. Severance, An Old Frontier of France, the Niagara Region and Adjacent Lakes under French Control (2 vols., 1917), describes French activities in New York. T. W. Clarke, The Bloody Mohawk (1940), follows the struggle in the Mohawk Valley and includes several excellent maps. F. P. Van de Water, Lake Champlain and Lake George (1946), and Arthur Pound, Lake Ontario (1945), are popular
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accounts of warfare on those historic water routes. No first rate life of Wil- liam Johnson is yet available, although Arthur Pound, Johnson of the Mohawks (1930), has much interesting material on his personal life. The student must turn to the Papers of Sir William Johnson. M. Hamilton, editor of the Johnson Papers, has written a brilliant exposé of some of the so-called biographers of Johnson. See his "Myths and Legends of Sir William Johnson," New York History, XXXIV (Jan. 1953), 3-26. Fortunately there are two excellent biog- raphies of important Indian agents and land speculators: A. T. Volwiler, George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741-1782 (1926); P. A. W. Wallace, Conrad Weiser, 1696-1760 (1945).
Society and Culture
Population estimates are assembled in American Population before the Federal Census of 1790 (1932), compiled by E. B. Greene and V. D. Har- rington. The most thorough analysis of immigrant elements is the "Report" of the Committee on Linguistic and National Stocks in the Population of the United States, printed in American Historical Association, Annual Report for 1931, 1. An outstanding monograph is W. A. Knittle, The Early Eighteenth Century Palatine Emigration: A British Government Redemptioner Project to Manufacture Naval Stores (1936). The best account of the Negro popula- tion is included in Samuel McKee, Labor in Colonial New York 1664-1776 (1935).
Problems facing the Dutch Reformed church are touched upon by Werten- baker, Founding of American Civilization. The most helpful guides to Anglican- ism in New York are D. R. Fox, Caleb Heathcote, Gentleman Colonist: The Story of a Career in the Province of New York, 1692-1721 (1926), and F. J. Klingberg, Anglican Humanitarianism in Colonial New York (1940). Informa- tion on the Anglican church is also given in the Papers of Sir William Johnson, and Herbert and Carol Schneider, eds., Samuel Johnson, President of King's College: His Career and Writings (4 vols., 1929). C. H. Maxson, Great Awaken- ing in Middle Colonies (1920), has little information about New York.
Readers interested in comparing New York City's development of cultural institutions with those of Boston, Philadelphia, Newport, and Charleston should consult Bridenbaugh, Cities in the Wilderness and Cities in Revolt, and Michael Kraus, Intercolonial Aspects of American Culture on the Eve of the Revolution (1928). For Anglican schools, see William Kemp, The Support of Schools in Colonial New York by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (1913). Two accounts with choice material on social life in New York have been left by the Swede, Peter Kalm, Travels into North America (1770, translation; and later editions), and the Scot, Dr. Hamilton. See Carl Bridenbaugh, ed., Gentleman's Progress: The Intinerarium of Dr. Alexander Hamilton 1744 (1948).
Landlords and Farmers
A scholarly and well-organized analysis of the land system and tenant unrest is Irving Mark, Agrarian Conflicts in Colonial New York 1711-1775
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(1940). Older accounts containing information on land are E. W. Spaulding, New York in the Critical Period, 1783-1789 (1932), and R. L. Higgins, Expansion in New York with Especial Reference to the Eighteenth Century (1931). Readers interested in a detailed and exhaustive study of the land activities of a royal official should see E. M. Fox, Land Speculation in the Mohawk Country (1949). S. G. Nissenson, The Patroon's Domain (1937), is a microscopic study of Van Rensselaer Manor. The Vermont difficulties are covered in many books. Perhaps the best balanced short account is found in Fox, Yankees and Yorkers.
The important source collections on the colonial period listed above are full of material on land questions. The recollections of Mrs. Anne Grant, Memoirs of an American Lady (2 vols., 1808), are an idyllic picture of manorial life. No one should miss the inimitable observations of M. G. J. de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer (1783). The best source on agriculture is American Husbandry, published anonymously in London (1775) but recently edited by H. J. Carman (1939).
Traders and Artisans
The best general account of the economic pattern is the sketch by Samuel McKee, Jr., in Flick, History, vol. II. McKee, Labor in Colonial New York, is an exhaustive study and contains information on slave as well as free labor. Carl Bridenbaugh, The Colonial Craftsman (1950), is thorough. An account of mercantile activities is given by Virginia Harrington, The New York Mer- chant on the Eve of the Revolution (1935). A scholarly analysis of trade be- tween North American colonies and the West Indies is Richard Pares, Yankees and Creoles (1956). Two articles deal with both the fur trade and imperial rivalries: A. H. Buffinton, "The Policy of Albany and English Westward Ex- pansion," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, VIII (March 1922), and Helen Broshar, "The First Push Westward of the Albany Traders," ibid., VII (Dec. 1920).
RISE OF THE EMPIRE STATE, 1763-1825
General Works (not previously cited )
Perhaps the best introduction to this period is J. A. Krout and D. R. Fox, The Completion of Independence 1790-1830 (1944). The writings of E. W. Spaulding provide a good survey of the period from the Revolution to 1800. See his important studies: New York in the Critical Period and His Excellency, George Clinton, Critic of the Constitution (1938). An outstanding study is D. R. Fox, The Decline of Aristocracy in the Politics of New York (1919). A well-rounded survey covering social, economic, and political events in the "metropolis" is S. I. Pomerantz, New York-An American City, 1783-1803 (1938). Merrill Jensen, The New Nation: A History of the United States during the Confederation, 1781-1789 (1950), refutes the earlier stress on intercolonial bickerings. T. C. Cochran, New York in the Confederation (1932), examines changes in land, trade, and the like.
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Source Materials
Source materials dealing with specific topics are listed under topical head- ings. Interesting and often very helpful are the accounts of travelers. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, left some excellent descriptions as did Crèvecoeur, already mentioned. One of the keenest observers was Elkanah Watson, whose writings are very useful. See Men and Times of the Revolution; or, Memoirs of Elkanah Watson . . . 1777-1842 (1856); Rise, Progress, and Existing State of Modern Agricultural Societies on the Berkshire System (1820); History of the Rise, Progress, and Existing Condition of the Western Canals in the State of New York (1820). The reader can find lists of travelers in such books as J. L. Mesick, The English Traveller in America, 1785-1835 (1922); Frank Monaghan, French Travellers in the United States, 1765-1932 (1933); H. T. Tuckerman, America and Her Commentators (1864).
New York in the Revolutionary War, 1763-1783
Brief but authoritative is the account in A. C. Flick, The American Revolu- tion in New York (1926). General histories are satisfactory for the causes and events of the Revolution. For the events leading to the break with England in the province of New York, see Becker, History of Political Parties; Dillon, New York Triumvirate; the first chapters of T. J. Wertenbaker, Father Knicker- bocker Rebels (1948); and Keys, Cadwallader Colden. An excellent life of a significant figure is E. P. Alexander, A Revolutionary Conservative: James Duane of New York (1938).
The opening of the Edmund Burke papers in 1949 has led to many scholarly publications. R. J. S. Hoffman has described Burke's work as a colonial agent and included many letters in his Edmund Burke, New York Agent, with His Letters to the New York Assembly and Intimate Correspondence with Charles O'Hara, 1761-1776 (1956). An interesting account by a Loyalist who is often critical of British policy is Thomas Jones, History of New York during the Revolution (E. F. DeLancey, ed., 1879). A. C. Flick, Loyalism in New York during the Revolution (1901), is penetrating and exhaustive. The confiscation of Tory holdings is told in H. B. Yoshpe, The Disposition of Loyalist Estates in Southern New York (1939). The role of New York City is ably presented by Wertenbaker, Father Knickerbocker Rebels; W. C. Abbott, New York in the American Revolution (1929); O. T. Barck, Jr., New York City during the War for Independence (1931).
The campaigns in New York are described in all general accounts of the Revolution. One of the most recent is J. R. Alden, The American Revolution, 1775-1783 (1954). Howard Thomas, Marinus Willett: Soldier Patriot, 1740- 1830 (1954), gives a lively account of an almost-forgotten but important figure. A well-balanced account of Benedict Arnold's treason is given in Wil- lard Wallace, Traitorous Hero: The Life and Fortunes of Benedict Arnold (1954). For the war on the frontier, see Howard Swiggett, War out of Niagara (1933); A. C. Flick (chairman), The Sullivan-Clinton Campaign in 1779 (1929); Francis W. Halsey, The Old New York Frontier (1901); and Hoffman Nickerson, The Turning Point of the Revolution (1928). The latter deals authoritatively with the Burgoyne campaign.
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Valuable source materials can be found in the two multivolume works edited by O'Callaghan and in the following materials published by the state of New York: Journal of the Legislative Council of the Colony of New York: 1691-1775 (2 vols., 1861), Journal of the Votes and Proceedings of the Colony of New York from 1766-1776 (1820); Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention, Committee of Safety and Council of Safety of the State of New York, 1775-1777 (2 vols., 1842); and Minutes of the Com- missioners for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies in the State of New York: Albany County Sessions 1778-1781 (3 vols., 1910). Useful for both military and civilian affairs are the papers of the first governor, Public Papers of George Clinton (10 vols., 1899). W. Smith, one of the Whig triumvirate who also adhered to the Crown in 1776, has left a fascinating memoir of political intrigue. One must use with caution the highly partisan Historical Memoirs from 16 March 1763 to 9 July 1776 of William Smith . . . (ed. with an Introduction, Biography, and Notes by W. W. H. Sabine (1956).
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