Stanley I. Kutler – Dictionary of American History (10 Volumes, Third edition)

Автор: Stanley I. Kutler
Название книги: Dictionary of American History (10 Volumes, Third edition)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: История Америки, Австралии, Океании
Страницы: 600х10
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The Dictionary of American History has been the leading reference work in United
States history for more than six decades. This third edition builds on the original,
edited by James Truslow Adams (six volumes,1940),the 1976 revision in eight volumes,
and the two-volume supplement edited by Robert H. Ferrell and Joan Hoff in
1996. As promised in 1940,the Dictionary is committed to making the voluminous
record of the past readily available in one convenient source,where the interested
reader can locate the facts,events,trends,or policies of American history. Once again,
we have contributions from a wide array of authorities,representing varied professions,
occupations,and regions.
For this edition,we have been especially mindful that as new generations of Americans
examine their history,the priorities,importance, and interpretations of this history
evolve. History changes—and it does not. The facts historians choose to emphasize,
and the manner in which they render certain events, mirror the way society views
itself and its past. Those who study U.S. history will find that these volumes retain
the original edition’s thorough coverage of political,military,and economic developments.
But the scope of the historical profession’s interest has significantly expanded
during the past quarter century,as historians increasingly have emphasized social,
cultural,personal,and demographic considerations—all of which contribute to our
ever-expanding knowledge of the American experience.
Diversity always has been a major theme of American history. But in recent years,
American historical writing has reflected a heightened search for inclusiveness to better
acknowledge and comprehend that diversity. The Dictionary originally focused on political
and military history,reflecting the discipline’s chief concerns at the time. But
today we talk about “political culture,” not just politics. Political history is not just
about compiling electoral results or noting the passage of laws or programs. The social,
cultural,and economic forces that propel political agendas are very much within its
scope. The new Dictionary of American History therefore devotes proper attention to
the roles of women,blacks,Indians,and various ethnic groups and socioeconomic
classes. We recognize that we cannot discuss slavery,the struggle for civil rights, or
poverty without noting the agency of blacks themselves,as instigators of change. And
we cannot discuss industrialization and labor in America without considering the
women—New England mill girls,immigrant workers in the needle trades, “career
girl” clerks—whose actions and experiences are vital to understanding these processes.
This new edition significantly expands the Dictionary to over three million words,
roughly 20 percent more than the previous edition. Bibliographies have been greatly
increased and brought up to date. For the first time,the Dictionary is illustrated. This
edition features more than 1,200 photographs and 252 maps. Cross-referencing has been
greatly enhanced by the use of both internal highlighting (Manifest Destiny) and
copious see also references. The cross-references also direct the reader to an entirely new
resource: the whole of volume 9 is a major archive of primary source documents and
original period maps. This collection will enable the student to advance beyond narrative summary to the sine qua non of historical research: examination of the original materials.
Finally,the index volume is now supplemented by a guide to historical writing, with
pedagogical examples drawn from the Dictionary itself,as well as a section correlating
hundreds of entries to widely adopted American history textbooks.
In one respect,however,the contents have been simplified. The total number of
articles has been reduced. When the editors first convened in November 1996,they
faced the question that confronts all encyclopedists—whether to lump subjects together
for the sake of comparative analysis or atomize them for easy look-up. Previous editions
had tended in the latter direction. There were 6,425 separate entries in the second
edition,supplemented by 757 more in 1996. The editors felt that readers would be
better served by a degree of consolidation. The present edition contains 4,434 entries.
Instead of detailing dozens of separate colonial explorations,for example,the subject is
treated in five major essays on explorations and expeditions (British,Dutch, French,
Russian,and Spanish). The related topic of U.S.-sponsored expeditions is treated in this
same complex of articles. This editorial change is one of degree. No one suggested
omitting de Soto or Coronado or Lewis and Clark. Individual entries on those major
expeditions remain. But many others no longer claim their own subject headings. Instead
they are treated contextually and comparatively in the essays noted above. Of course,
readers in search of specific details can still access them in the full-length index of the
present set and in the several forthcoming electronic versions of the Dictionary.
Because the original Dictionary of American History is itself a valuable cross-section
of American historiography,Scribners has preserved the old material in digital form
(presently available as Scribner’s American History and Culture on CD-ROM and as a
prime component of the Gale Group’s History Resource Center,a massive online compilation
of history reference materials accessible via major public and research libraries).
We have deleted old entries and added new ones. Nearly 2,500 of the old Dictionary
entries,mostly brief,have been consigned to the archives: Adams Express
Company; Battle of Adobe Walls; Anti–Horse Thief Association; Bank of the U.S. v.
Planter’s Bank of Georgia; Camp Butler; Immunity Bath; Fort Mifflin; Old Fuss and
Feathers; Raisin River Massacre; Society of Colonial Wars; Visible Admixture Law;
and Zoar Society,to name a few. These writings,primarily from 1940, will remain
available as a fascinating tool for those who study the profession of history.
To consolidate the Dictionary’s wealth of material and bring it up to date,the
editors decided on a four-part approach. In the making of the present edition,each
article was classified as retained,revised, replaced,or brand new.
• Retained (1,785 articles). Where the original material was judged sound and the
original contributor particularly distinguished (Allan Nevins on Standard Oil,
Perry Ellis on the Antinomian Controversy,or even General John J. Pershing on
American Expeditionary Forces),the core of the old entry has been retained. A
team based at the University of Wisconsin under the direction of Andrew Rieser
was assigned to check the old material for accuracy in the light of new scholarship
and to bring the bibliographies up to date. These articles are generally signed by
the original authors,with the reviser’s initials following (Allan Nevins / a. r.).
• Revised (448 articles). Some articles were deemed to be essentially valid but in need
of significant addition or change of emphasis. All such articles were assigned to
contemporary scholars,who were given a flexible mandate to revise to a greater
or lesser degree. Many different judgments were rendered by the contemporary
scholarly community. Some experts decided to retain the bulk of the old material
and supply only a silent emendation. More often the rewriting was extensive and
appears over a joint signature or that of the new author alone.
• Replaced (1,360 articles). For the entries judged unsatisfactory in the light of present
knowledge,entirely new scholarly treatments have been commissioned. • New (841 articles). Events like the contested presidential election of 2000 and the
9/11 attacks obviously demanded articles of their own. Likewise such concepts as
African American Studies,Creationism,Sexual Orientation, and Zionism are
treated here for the first time.
While radically refashioning the contents of the Dictionary, the editors did adhere
to one of its original distinguishing traits. Unlike other U.S. history compendiums,
the Dictionary does not include biographies. This decision stems from the work’s origin
as a complement to Scribner’s Dictionary of American Biography (1927–1995). Today
the Dictionary of American Biography,supplemented by the newer Scribner Encyclopedia
of American Lives and many other biographical reference works,remains a prime source
for the lives of famous Americans. We found that by omitting the standard short lives,
the Dictionary of American History would have room for far more substantial treatments
of other subjects. Of course,countless individuals who have influenced American life
can still be traced in the Dictionary’s index.
The cumulative result of the editors’ work is the most thorough reworking in the
history of historical reference books. “Sandusky” has been archived,while “San Diego,”
now one of the nation’s ten largest cities, has been substantially expanded. We
also have shifted our emphasis. In 1940,the Dictionary had an entry on Archangel,a
Russian port,occupied and used by Allied Expeditionary Forces who went to the Soviet
Union to contain the Bolshevik Revolution. But the old Dictionary had no essay on
the larger scope of the Russian intervention in 1918,and obviously,if students need
to know about that intervention,it is unlikely that they would simply search for a piece
on Archangel. The new edition includes an entry on the intervention and a larger one
on the whole course of Russian-American relations.
Time obviously adds to the body of facts. But altered circumstances force us to
change emphasis or focus,and our interpretations of events and historical processes
are constantly evolving. Consider:
The South. For more than 350 years,the South represented a major component of
American colonial and national history. The region played a large role in the settlement
and development of the nation,but the central historical concern was riveted on
its economic system of slavery,and the political and social implications of the “peculiar
institution.” That system,of course,resulted in the Civil War, an event of transcendent
importance in American history. The impact of the war—whether in the events of
Reconstruction,the continued subjugation of the large African American minority, or
the region’s semicolonial status in the American economic system—offered standard
fare for historical narrative until well past the midpoint of the twentieth century. But
the South’s “Lost Cause” eventually became just that,and the history of the South in
the past forty to fifty years has become something substantially different. The civil
rights movement eventually liberated white and black people alike,as President Jimmy
Carter famously said. The entrenched power of the region’s congressmen provided a
substantial flow of federal money for military and economic spending in the region.
The area’s resistance to unionization made it a magnet for the migration of northern
industry. Technological change,such as air conditioning, substantially contributed to
making the area habitable and attracting new population from the northern and midwestern
parts of the country.
Today,“the South” is a vastly different place,with a drastically altered political,
economic,and social standing within the American nation. All these considerations
can be found in the new volumes,under such varied headings as the South, Civil Rights
Laws,Discrimination,Right-to-Work Laws,and Air Conditioning. And yet we have
retained (and revised) the historical description of the slave economy and the social
system it sustained (Plantation System; Slave Trade; Slavery),for such institutions
remain essential to understanding the historical and evolving nature of the South,and
indeed of the nation as a whole The West. The 1940s perception of the American West also was vastly different from
today’s. The image of the “Wild West,” romanticized and exaggerated in such popular
works as The Virginian and Stagecoach, now has been replaced by one of a vibrant
economy,a leader in technological development, and an innovator of unique lifestyles.
Again,we must examine a major population shift, migrations of peoples and industries,
the growth of new cities,and the role of vast outlays of federal money. Yet such key
concepts of more traditional American historiography as transportation,public lands,
and mining still must be addressed in order to understand the region’s history. Furthermore,
the role of water—and the lack of it—remains essential for interpreting the
development of what essentially remains the “Great American Desert.”
African American life today is vastly different than it was sixty years ago,when segregation,
by law in the South and by informal custom elsewhere, retained a firm grip
on American life. World War II and its aftermath brought important changes,fueled
in part by population exchange and migration. In the decades since,African American
history and its relationship to the history of the nation as a whole have changed greatly
as well. In 1940,the “Negro” generally was discussed in a passive sense; now we
examine African American life and culture for their dynamic contributions to American
life. Today,diversity,race,and ethnicity are celebrated as integral components of
American culture,not ignored or swept aside. In this edition of the Dictionary of American
History, the student will find a broad range of topics illustrating the experience
and cultural life of a group that now constitutes approximately 13 percent of the
population. These topics include African American Religions and Sects,and African
American Studies. Elsewhere there are integrated treatments of the black experience
in higher education,literature,the military,and the polling place (Suffrage). Readers
may also consult such topics as Black Cavalry in the West,Black Nationalism, Black
Panthers,Black Power,the Civil Rights Movement, the Harlem Renaissance, Race
Relations,and many others.
The World Trade Center,of course,was not included in the 1940 or 1976 editions.
But in this revision,we include it as representative and symbolic of U.S. preeminence
in world economic affairs. In the past decade,the Trade Center has become,
too,a symbol of American vulnerability to a new threat of terrorism. Both the bombing
of 1993 and the events of 11 September 2001 are treated in the new work.
Producing the Dictionary of American History has been a cooperative effort. Charles
Scribner’s Sons sponsored the project from its outset in the 1930s. The inevitable
corporate changes have not altered its commitment. Publisher Karen Day inaugurated
this revision in 1996. She and Frank Menchaca,her successor, consistently offered the
necessary leadership and material support. Managing Editor John Fitzpatrick and Associate
Editor Anna Grojec provided the direction and daily attention to keep things
going. Their fine staff of assistants and copy editors has been superb. Valued and
respected friends and colleagues contributed mightily to the completion of this task.
Lizabeth Cohen,Pauline Maier,and Louis Masur participated in the formulation and
conception of the volumes. Andrew Rieser directed a team of enthusiastic,hardworking
graduate students in updating many hundreds of entries. Frederick Hoxie provided
his unrivaled knowledge of Native American history and completely revamped the
editorial content for that area. Last but hardly least,Associate Editors Michael Bernstein,
Hasia Diner, David Hollinger, and Graham Hodges supplied the bulk of editorial
direction and substantive criticism of the work,supplemented by the expertise
of Philip Pauly in the life sciences and Rolf Achilles in the visual arts. I am grateful to
all who joined me in this venture.
Stanley I. Kutler