The Significance of the Frontier in American History
I had intended to begin my review of this book of essays by recommending that every subscriber to the Journal of the Early Republic read and ponder it. That was before I noticed the list price. Given the price tag, my first recommendation is to try to persuade your college or university library to acquire more than one copy of it. This strongly positive recommendation is not based on a conviction that every essay here provides the last word on its subject, but that the collection exemplifies a powerful and rewarding perspective on antebellum American history with wideranging implications, one that may well help shape a coming generation of scholarship. A salient contribution of the anthology is its demonstration of the international quality of present scholarly innovation in the field of American history. This volume views the century from 1763 to 1863 as united by a competition, often violent, over the domination and exploitation of the North American continent. The acquisition of land and of labor to work it are obviously central to such a perspective. Specific issues (including revolution, slavery, Indian relations, party politics, ideas of liberty, economic fluctuations, and warfare) are viewed as they arise within this context. The individual contributions to the collection exemplify solid, original scholarship. The Atlantic vision of American history, which has been so rewarding for over a generation, is implicitly enlisted by these authors in the service of their approach. Embracing their common perspective by