Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/863

 REVIEWS 849

this late day Dr. Curry's sagacity and breadth, and his express affirma- tion that "slavery has fortunately ceased to exist" (p. 89 ; cf. pp. 185-6)^ do not save him from the inconsistency of seeming to imply that seces- sion and the peculiar institution were not only historically justifiable, but that they were indorsed by the dictates of sound and progressive statesmanship. The author's acceptance of the changed situation still conveys the impression that in his judgment reaffirmation of outgrown state sovereignty would have been more desirable than the changes registered as results of the war (vid. chap. ix). This view is as unten- able as the Websterian mythology. The South was strong in its histori- cal position, but weak in its insight into the immanent demands of civilization. The North dogmatized its instinct of political and eco- nomic necessity into the events of the revolutionary era, and turned the record of that period into apocrypha. The war was a conflict between past and present. The men of the younger generation in the North have no doubts about the relative merits of the practical issue which the war decided. They have long ago, however, begun to distinguish between the worthlessness of the cause for which the South fought and the worth of the men who espoused the cause. We are already as proud of the conscientiousness and courage and resourcefulness and self-sacrifice and heroism, both in victory and in defeat, displayed by men of the type of Robert E. Lee, as we are of the spirit and deeds of representative men on our own side of the struggle. Dr. Curry's argument has been to a considerable extent anticipated in our own feelings, but his book will be a valuable aid in clarifying our vision. ALBION W. SMALL.

The American Negro. By W. H. THOMAS. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1901. Pp. 440. $2.

THE book purports to be a practical and critical discussion of the negro problem.

In the first place, the book is wrongly named. The phrase "Ameri- can negro " has a distinct meaning to the minds of all people, as referring to all people of African descent (so used by the United States Census, 1890; see Vol. V, p. xciii). He says, however:

Neither the phrase "negro people" nor its kindred appellatives, as employed in these pages, are to be understood as invariably implying a black segment of mankind, but rather as a uniform designation of a pro- nounced set of characteristics, specifically exemplified in the physical, mental, and moral qualities of a type of humanity. Color, then, apart from defined negroid characteristics, in no wise enters into the questions under