rbocker
Magazine_, distinguished by the contributions of Washington Irving, the
Nestor of American writers, tried to keep pace. Both the Harpers and the
Putnams did an enormous business in books of all kinds, now that so many
Americans had grown rich. Walter Scott's novels were imported for the
South in carload lots, while Dickens's numberless volumes found ready
sale in the East, thus showing the different tastes of the sections.

And the historians had increased their vogue with a people just
beginning to realize that they had ancestors and taking a becoming pride
in their early history. Bancroft's _History of the United States_ was
sold in all sections in a way that would astound present-day historians.
Richard Hildreth, a sturdy partisan, added his six volumes to Bancroft's
in 1849-54 by way of antidote; and George Tucker, of the University of
Virginia, still further "corrected" the history of his country, the
better to suit the tastes of Southerners. John L. Motley published his
_Rise of the Dutch Republic_ in 1856 at his own expense, and suddenly
found himself one of the foremost historians of his time, his work being
quickly translated into all the important languages of Europe. William
H. Prescott, an older man and a greater historian, already well known
for his _Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella_, gave to the printer his
_Reign of Philip II_ in 1855-58, and easily maintained his supremacy in
the field of history.

It was an aspiring generation that produced Poe, Hawthorne, Lowell, and
the rest, and if one considers the character of American culture, its
lack of unity, and the still youthful nature of its people, it is easy
to understand the pride in its budding art and maturer literature, the
sensitiveness to foreign criticism, the provincialism which demands
attention and a "place in the sun." Carlyle's scorn and Macaulay's
contempt were indeed as irritating as they were unjust, for America had
gone a long way since the rough backwoodsman, Andrew Jackson, came to
the Presidency by almost unanimous consent in 1829.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

James Ford Rhodes in his _History of the United States_, vol. _I_, chap.
_IV_, gives an account of social conditions in the South just prior to
the war and, in vol. _III_, chap. _XII_, there is a similar picture of
conditions in the North. McMaster's last volume describes the life of
the people for this period. But I have found most valuable information
in works of travel l