Bppletons' /IDontblp ^Bulletin. 



Prof. John Bach McMaster. 



The fifth volume of Prof. J. B. Mc- 

 Master's History of the People of the 

 United States will cover the time of the 

 administrations of John Ouincy Adams 

 and Andrew Jackson, and will describe 

 the development of the democratic 

 spirit, the manifestations of new interest 

 in social problems, and the various con- 

 ditions and plans presented between 

 1825 and 1837. To a large extent the 

 intimate phases of the subjects which 

 are treated have received scant attention 

 heretofore. A peculiar interest attaches 

 to the various banking and financial ex- 

 periments proposed and adopted at that 

 time, to the humanitarian and socialistic 

 movements, the improvements in the 

 conditions of city life, to the author's full 

 presentation of the literary activity of 

 the country, and his treatment of the re- 

 lations of the East and West. Many of 

 these subjects have necessitated years of 

 first-hand investigation and are now 

 treated adequately for the first time. 



The volume opens with a chapter on 

 the early settlement of Texas by Austin 

 and his imitators, and on the origin and 

 first temporary settlement of the Oregon 

 dispute by the establishment of the line 

 54 40'. It was in connection with this 

 line that Adams announced to Russia 

 the anti-colonization part of the Monroe 

 Doctrine. 



The second chapter, therefore, under 

 the caption Growth of the Monroe Doc- 

 trine, reviews the gradual development 

 and assertions of the three principles of 

 that doctrine from Washington's day 

 2 



to 1823 ; the Holy Allies and their work 

 in Europe, their preparation for inter- 

 ference with the late Spanish-American 

 colonies, and the final assertion of the 

 doctrine of Monroe. 



After thus reviewing the important 

 foreign relations of Monroe's second 

 term, Mr. McMaster returns to domestic 

 concerns, and in the next chapter treats 

 of The Breaking Up of the Republican 

 Party. The economic, industrial, and 

 political conditions which led to section- 

 alism, the rise of the rival candidates, and 

 the long presidential campaign ending 

 in the failure of the colleges to elect, 

 are given with great fullness. 



The election of Adams marked the 

 end of the first half century of the re- 

 public. The next eight chapters are 

 therefore given up to an examination or 

 review of certain social, political, literary, 

 and industrial conditions which arose 

 during the period and paved the way for 

 the triumph of Jackson and democracy. 



In the chapter on Socialistic and La- 

 bor Reforms we have the story of the 

 entrance of the workingman into poli- 

 tics ; of that curious socialistic move- 

 ment of Owen and Fanny Wright ; the 

 Owenite communities at New Harmony 

 and elsewhere ; the rise of " Workey- 

 ism " and "Free Inquiry"; the begin- 

 ning of the Antimasonic party, and the 

 early signs of native Americanism. 



The next chapter is a full account 

 of The State of the Country from 1825 

 to 1829: the rapid growth of cities; 

 early problems in city government ; the 

 introduction of gas and anthracite coal, 

 the opening of the Erie Canal and the 

 tremendous struggle for Western trade ; 

 the early railroad schemes; the great 

 questions of internal improvements at 

 Federal expense ; descriptions of life on 

 the Western frontier ; the long struggle 

 between the Old Court and and the New 

 Court parties in Kentucky ; the rise of 

 the cotton industry in the South and 

 Southwest ; the Indian troubles in Geor- 

 gia, and the quarrel between that State 

 and the Executive. 



