The Journal of Negro History Volume I Part 11

[4] It was committed to the care of the Editor of the Baptist Annual Register.

[5] The Rev. Mr. Johnson was well known in London; he sailed for America in the fall of 1790; and laboured in the _Orphan House_ at Savannah, built by Mr. Whitefield, and a.s.signed in trust to the countess of Huntingdon. On May 30, 1775, the orphan house building caught fire and was entirely consumed, except the two wings which still remained. Editor of the Baptist Annual Register.

BOOK REVIEWS

_The Haitian Revolution, 1791 to 1804_. By T. G. Steward. Thomas Y.

Crowell Company, New York, 1915. 292 pages. $1.25.

In the days when the internal dissensions of Haiti are again thrusting her into the limelight such a book as this of Mr. Steward a.s.sumes a peculiar importance. It combines the unusual advantage of being both very readable and at the same time historically dependable. At the outset the author gives a brief sketch of the early settlement of Haiti, followed by a short account of her development along commercial and racial lines up to the Revolution of 1791. The story of this upheaval, of course, forms the basis of the book and is indissolubly connected with the story of Toussaint L'Overture. To most Americans this hero is known only as the subject of Wendell Phillips's stirring eulogy. As delineated by Mr. Steward, he becomes a more human creature, who performs exploits, that are nothing short of marvelous. Other men who have seemed to many of us merely names--Rigaud, Le Clerc, Desalines, and the like--are also fully discussed.

Although most of the book is naturally concerned with the revolutionary period, the author brings his account up to date by giving a very brief resume of the history of Haiti from 1804 to the present time. This history is marked by the frequent occurrence of a.s.sa.s.sinations and revolutions, but the reader will not allow himself to be affected by disgust or prejudice at these facts particularly when he is reminded, as Mr. Steward says, "that the political history of Haiti does not differ greatly from that of the majority of South American Republics, nor does it differ widely even from that of France."

The book lacks a topical index, somewhat to its own disadvantage, but it contains a map of Haiti, a rather confusing appendix, a list of the Presidents of Haiti from 1804 to 1906 and a list of the names and works of the more noted Haitian authors. The author does not give a complete bibliography. He simply mentions in the beginning the names of a few authorities consulted.

J. R. Fauset.

_The Negro in American History_. By John W. Cromwell. The American Negro Academy, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., 1914. 284 pages. $1.25 net.

In John W. Cromwell's book, "The Negro in American History," we have what is a very important work. The book is mainly biographical and topical. Some of the topics discussed are: "The Slave Code"; "Slave Insurrections"; "The Abolition of the Slave Trade"; "The Early Convention Movement"; "The Failure of Reconstruction"; "The Negro as a Soldier"; and "The Negro Church." These topics are independent of the chapters which are more particularly chronological in treatment.

In the appendices we have several topics succinctly treated. Among these are: "The Underground Railroad," "The Freedmen's Bureau," and, most important and wholly new, a list of soldiers of color who have received Congressional Medals of Honor, and the reasons for the bestowal.

The biographical sketches cover some twenty persons. Much of the information in these sketches is not new, as would be expected regarding such well-known persons as Frederick Dougla.s.s, John M. Langston, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. On the other hand, Mr. Cromwell has given us very valuable sketches of other important persons of whom much less is generally known. Among these are Sojourner Truth, Edward Wilmot Blyden, and Henry O. Tanner.

The book does not pretend to be the last word concerning the various topics and persons discussed. Indeed, some of the topics have had fuller treatment by the author in pamphlets and lectures. It is to be regretted that the author did not feel justified in giving a more extensive treatment, as the great store of his information would easily have permitted him to do.

The book is exceptionally well ill.u.s.trated, but it lacks information regarding some of the ill.u.s.trations. Not only are the readers of a book ent.i.tled to know the source of the ill.u.s.trations but in the case of copies of paintings, and other works of art, the original artist is as much ent.i.tled to credit as an author whose work is quoted or appropriated to one's use.

_Negro Culture In West Africa_. By George W. Ellis, K.C., F.R.G.S. The Neale Publis.h.i.+ng Co., New York, 1914. 290 pages. $2.00 net.

This study by Mr. Ellis of the culture of West Africa as represented by the Vai tribe, is valuable both as a doc.u.ment and as a scientific treatment of an important phase of the color problem. As a doc.u.ment it is an additional and a convincing piece of evidence of the ability of the Negro to treat scientifically so intricate a problem as the rise, development, and meaning of the social inst.i.tutions of a people. Easy, yet forceful in style; well doc.u.mented with footnotes and cross references; amply ill.u.s.trated with twenty-seven real representations of tools, weapons, musical instruments and other pieces of handwork; containing, incidentally, a good bibliography of the subject; and finally, with its conclusions condensed in the last four pages, it is a book excellent in plan and in execution. The map, however, which has been selected for the book is overcrowded and, therefore, practically useless.

As a scientific study, its value is suggested by the topics emphasized, viz., "Climate," "Inst.i.tutions," "Foreign Influence," "Proverbs,"

"Folklore," and "Writing System." Referring to the climate the author says: "In West Africa the body loses its strength, the memory its retentiveness, and the will its energy. These are the effects observed upon persons remaining in West Africa only for a short time, and they form a part of the experience of almost every person who has lived on the West Coast. White persons,--with beautiful skin, clear and soft, and with rosy cheeks,--after they have been in West Africa for a while become dark and tawny like the inhabitants of Southern Spain and Italy.

If we can detect these effects of the West African climate in only a short time upon persons who come to the West Coast, what must have been the effect of such a climate upon the Negroes who for centuries have been exposed to its hards.h.i.+ps?"

The moral life of the Vais appears to be the product of their social inst.i.tutions and their severe environment. These inst.i.tutions grow out of the necessities of government for the tribe under circ.u.mstances which suggest and enforce their superst.i.tions and beliefs. This is not so with respect to education. It seems that the influence of the "Greegree Bush" (a school system) is now considerably weakened by the Liberian inst.i.tutions on the one hand, the Mohammedan faith and customs on the other. So that now this inst.i.tution falls short of achieving its aims, and putting its principles into practice.

The study as a whole gives evidence of the author's eight years of travel and research, and can be read with profit by all friends of mankind.

Walter Dyson.

_The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861_. By C. G. Woodson, Ph.D. G.

P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1915. 460 pages. $2.00 net.

The very t.i.tle of Dr. Woodson's book causes one who is interested in the race history to ask questions and think. There are comparatively few people who know anything about the efforts made to educate the Negro prior to 1861. Consequently, from the first page of the book to the last, the reader is continually acquiring facts concerning this most interesting and important phase of the Colored-American's history of which he has never heard before, and some of which seem too wonderful to be true. But it is not possible to doubt anything which is found in Dr. Woodson's book. One knows that every statement he reads concerning the education of the Negro prior to 1861 is true, for the author has taken pains to substantiate every fact that he presents.

It is difficult to imagine any phase of race history more fascinating and more thrilling than an account of the desperate and prolonged struggle between the forces which made for the mental and spiritual enlightenment of the slave and those which opposed these humane and Christian efforts with all the bitterness and strength at their command. The reasons a.s.signed by those who favored the education of the slaves and the methods suggested together with the arguments used by those who were opposed to it and the laws enacted to prevent it furnish an illuminating study in human nature.

One is surprised to find that very early in the history of the colonies there were scholars and statesmen who did not hesitate to declare their belief in the intellectual possibilities of the Negro. These men agreed with George Buchanan that the Negro had talent for the fine arts and under favorable circ.u.mstances could achieve something worth while in literature, mathematics and philosophy. The high estimate placed upon the innate ability of the Negro may be attributed to the fact that early in the history of the country there was a goodly number of slaves who had managed to attain a certain intellectual proficiency in spite of the difficulties which had to be overcome. By 1791 a colored minister had so distinguished himself that he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church (white) of Portsmouth, Va. Benjamin Banneker's proficiency in mathematics enabled him to make the first clock manufactured in the United States. As the author himself says, "the instances of Negroes struggling to obtain an education read like the beautiful romances of a people in an heroic age."

Indeed the reaction which developed against allowing the slaves to pick up the few fragments of knowledge which they had been able to secure was due to some extent to the enthusiasm and eagerness with which they availed themselves of the opportunities afforded them and the salutary effect which the enlightenment had on their character. The account of the establishment of schools and churches for slaves who were transplanted to free soil is one of the most interesting chapters in the book. The struggle for the higher education shows that tremendous obstacles had been removed, before the race was allowed to secure the opportunity which it so earnestly desired. In the chapter on vocational training the effort made by colored people themselves to secure economic equality, and the determined opposition to it manifested by white mechanics are clearly and strongly set forth. In the appendix of the book one finds a number of interesting and valuable treatises, while the bibliography is of great a.s.sistance to any student of race history.

In addition to the fund of information which is secured by reading Dr.

Woodson's book, a perusal of it can not help but increase one's respect for a race which under the most disheartening and discouraging circ.u.mstances strove so heroically and persistently to cultivate its mind and allowed nothing to turn it aside and conquer its will.

"The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861" is a work of profound historical research, full of interesting data on a most important phase of race life which has. .h.i.therto remained unexplored and neglected.

Mary Church Terrell.

NOTES

In the death of Booker T. Was.h.i.+ngton the field of history lost one of its greatest figures. He will be remembered mainly as an educational reformer, a man of vision, who had the will power to make his dreams come true. In the field of history, however, he accomplished sufficient to make his name immortal. His "_Up from Slavery_" is a long chapter of the story of a rising race; his "_Frederick Dougla.s.s_" is the interpretation of the life of a distinguished leader by a great citizen; and his "_Story of the Negro_" is one of the first successful efforts to give the Negro a larger place in history.

Doubleday, Page and Company will in the near future publish an extensive biography of Booker T. Was.h.i.+ngton.

During the Inauguration Week of Fisk University a number of Negro scholars held a conference to consider making a systematic study of Negro life. A committee was appointed to arrange for a larger meeting.

Dr. C. G. Woodson is now writing a volume to be ent.i.tled "_The Negro in the Northwest Territory_"

The Neale Publis.h.i.+ng Company has brought out "_The Political History of Slavery in the United States_" by J. Z. George.

"_Lincoln and Episodes of the Civil War_" by W. E. Doster, appears among the publications of the Putnams.

"_Black and White in the South_" is the t.i.tle of a volume from the pen of M. S. Evans, appearing with the imprint of Longmans, Green and Company.

T. Fisher Unwin has brought out "_The Savage Man in Central Africa"_ by A. L. Cureau.

"_Reconstruction in Georgia, Social, Political, 1865-1872"_ by C. Mildred Thompson, appears as a comprehensive volume in the Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law.