Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS The Legend of the Founding Fathers. By WESLEY FRANK CRAVEN. [Anson G. Phelps Lectureship on Early American History, New York University, Stokes Foundation.] (New York: New York University Press, 1956. [viii], 191 p. Index. JS4.50.) Originally delivered as a series of lectures, these urbane and careful essays examine several questions that have not previously called forth the effort required to understand them. Mr. Craven's own field of research has decided the shape and urgency of some of his queries. He has been determined, for example, to find a more satisfying answer than those at hand as to why the founding fathers of New England have been given more attention than the founding fathers of Virginia. He is similarly concerned about the tendency to obscure the earliest colonial leaders with images of the founding fathers of the Revolutionary era. From such questions he moves to the considera- tion of the growth of these legends and the uses of history down to our own time. The volume is the fruit not only of years of study and thought about early American history, but also of much specific research into the reflec- tions of that history in more recent American society. The annotations to the six chronological chapters which comprise the book form something of a guide to this material. The author shows particular interest in early state and national histories, but also uses sermons, patriotic speeches, records of immigrant and patriotic societies, the writings of Revolutionary leaders, and even the debunking writings of the years before the second World War. In covering this large field, Mr. Craven displays understanding, humor, and sympathy. He makes no effort to test the validity of the various legends he examines. He merely describes them and demonstrates how one set of images may replace another. Despite this objectivity, the running com- mentary is incisive and enlightening. It is easy enough to find humor in the multiplicity of patriotic societies and in their forms and rules, but Mr. Craven finds much more. His examina- tion of the Daughters of the American Revolution demonstrates that they have not been the solid phalanx of reaction they are often taken for. Moreover, he suggests that care must be taken in branding the societies as undemocratic. There is certainly truth in his impression that a major attrac- tion to membership is the opportunity for the undistinguished to associate with the elite of the town. The legend of the founding fathers is perhaps brought closest to home in the discussion of the current rage for the physical restoration of the build- 91 9^ BOOK REVIEWS January ings and towns of the past. Recognizing their value, Mr. Craven still per- ceives the danger in giving concrete, three-dimensional reality to incomplete and selected data. He has the courage to ask whether graduate fellowships might not provide better investments. Again, he asks how many can view the beauties of the new Williamsburg, freed as it is from the unpleasant- nesses of the colonial town, and recall that "it all rested originally on the back of a Negro." Thoughtful and thought-provoking, these essays will give both the professional historian and the professional joiner of patriotic societies a better perspective. New York University BROOKE HINDLE The Province of West New Jersey, 1609-1702. A History of the Origins of an American Colony. By JOHN E. POMFRET. (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1956. xii, 298 p, Appendix, index. $5.00.) Published as a part of the Princeton series on the history of New Jersey, this book makes an important contribution to the understanding of the early history of the Delaware Valley, and especially the east bank of the river, the region known as West New Jersey. In the most important part of the book, Dr. Pomfret patiently traces the complex story of the purchase of the Berkeley share of New Jersey by two Quakers, Edward Byllynge and John Fenwick, and the subsequent sales, transactions, and financial maneuvers before the Crown took over in 1702. As an example of the complications, we might observe the initial steps taken in connection with West New Jersey. Sir John Berkeley, who owned New Jersey along with Sir George Carteret, decided in 1674 to sell his share to his friend Byllynge, who faced bankruptcy and needed some new and profitable project to recoup his fortunes. Since Byllynge was in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings, he prevailed upon his friend Fenwick to appear to be the purchaser. Fenwick claimed later that he used his own money to make the purchase, and forced Byllynge to grant him one tenth of the land for his services. Byllynge planned to sell his nine tenths of the land to raise money to pay his creditors. However, his creditors forced him to turn his rights over to trustees: William Penn, Gawen Lawrie, and Nicholas Lucas. Fenwick was also caught in dire financial distress and he turned his deeds over to John Eldridge and Edmund Warner. The affair was complicated further by the fact that the sale by Berkeley to the two Quakers was not recognized by James, the Duke of York, who had granted the land to the noble, and the title to the land was not entirely clear until a later date. In addition, the Quakers wanted the right to govern the land, but could not obtain that right from Berkeley, and the permission to govern was not obtained from James until 1680. I957 BOOK REVIEWS 93 If by this time the reader feels slightly confused, he should take comfort from the fact that this is only the beginning; matters became much more complicated before they began to straighten out. The first four chapters of the book summarize the period of Dutch and Swedish occupation of the Delaware Valley, and the early occupation of the Middle Atlantic region by the English after the Second Dutch War. These chapters provide a concise portrayal of the duel over the Delaware between the Dutch and Swedes. It would have been helpful if a map had been pro- vided listing the places mentioned, or if modern locations had been indi- cated in the text along with the original names. A handsome map of New Jersey (c. 1700) is included as the frontispiece, which is helpful in locating places in West New Jersey near the end of the period covered by this study. The final chapters discuss the religious picture in West New Jersey, with major emphasis upon the Quakers, plus a description of the growth of the Anglicans, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others. George Keith, a schismatic Quaker who worked actively for the Anglican Church through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, played a prominent part on both sides of the Delaware. The author frequently goes beyond 1702 in his religious discussion. Socially and economically, West New Jersey was closely related to the settlements on the west side of the Delaware from the earliest settlement until long after 1702. In terms of land policy and government, this region can be treated as a separate entity. However, even in these areas there were strong ties between the Quakers on the two sides of the river with Penn, Robert Turner, Samuel Jenings, and others active in both colonies. Students of New Jersey history will be grateful to Dr. Pomfret for this thoughtful and well-documented study of the early years of West New Jersey. Temple University EDWIN B. BRONNER Jonathan Trumbull> Connecticut's Merchant Magistrate (1710-1785). By GLENN WEAVER. (Hartford, Conn.: The Connecticut Historical So- ciety, 1956. x, 182 p. Illustrations, bibliographical note, index. $4.00.) As a merchant and public servant, Jonathan Trumbull occupied a major place in the life of eighteenth-century Connecticut. This fact is indisputable; yet this biography, concerned almost entirely with TrumbulFs business career, leaves one wondering whether this prominence was justified. The plain fact is that TrumbuH's business career was a failure from start to finish, and he died a bankrupt. He went from one mercantile enterprise to another, never achieving the financial rewards he so avidly desired. It be- comes evident early in the book that, failing a miracle, bankruptcy was to be the inevitable result of Trumbull's activities. The fact that he was able to 94 BOOK REVIEWS January stave off the end until 1767 (all the while enjoying a generous standard of living) is a tribute to his remarkable ability to cajole his creditors into silence and even to find new sources of credit to continue his activities. Some may ask, "Why preserve the record of a failure?" If we are fully to understand colonial commerce, we must be aware of its difficulties as well as its triumphs. Many of the problems Trumbull faced were those of all colonial merchants: obtaining credit, collecting debts, getting accurate market information, finding means of making remittances to England, and the like. TrumbulPs unsuccessful attempts to cope with these problems are no less instructive than the more successful efforts of many of his mercantile brethren. Trumbull's failure must be attributed in part to the unalterable fact of Connecticut's geographical location. Caught between the upper and nether millstones of Boston and New York, the Connecticut merchant had little chance of competition on equal terms with the merchants of those metropolises. Furthermore, Trumbull made the foolish mistake of trying to conduct an overseas trade from an inland location in Lebanon. In addition, he seems to have been blessed with an unusually large share of poor business judgment and a singular ability to extend credit to people who had no intention of paying their debts.

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