Interpretations of American History, Volume 1

Gerald N. Grob and George Athan Billias, eds. Interpretations of American History, Volume 1 to 1877, Patterns and Perspectives. New York: The Free Press, 1967

This is the first of two volumes of what is somewhat of a classic of American historiography--a brief summary and sampling of shifting interpretations of some key eras and topics in American history. Written for college undergraduates, this collection is actually a decent introduction or survey for anybody wanting to get a quick overview of some key arguments in the literature.

There are nine chapters; each with an introduction by the editors followed by three selections from the historiography discussed. The first, an "Introduction", discusses general approaches historians have taken in explaining American institutions and historical development. Each chapter after that covers a particular chronological era in American history, beginning with the Puritan settling of New England (there is not a comparable chapter on the founding of the Chesapeake colonies, or any other for that matter). There is a lot of selectivity involved, but given that the editors wished to cover such a large time frame in one book that could not have been otherwise.

One welcome feature of this series--while the first volume goes through 1877, the second volume actually begins in 1865; the final chapter from volume 1 on Reconstruction is repeated in the second volume as the first volume. This repetition reflects an awareness that the Reconstruction era was both a coda to the Civil War and a precursor to events in the Gilded Age.

The chronological approach has limitations, however. This approach obviously precludes any consideration of thematic histories or other issues which transcend particular, widely-accepted 'eras' in American history. There is no chapter on slavery, for example, or on gender. There are no general discussions of economic history, transportation, or any other facet of national development in the nearly three century period this volume encompasses. Then again, this approach does realistically reflect the way in which general and undergraduate students will experience American history.

Although it was published nearly five decades ago, this book is still a handy reference and a reliable guide to some of the most contentious and fundamental arguments in American historiography.