european civilization: its origin and developmentby edward eyre

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Page 1: European Civilization: Its Origin and Developmentby Edward Eyre

European Civilization: Its Origin and Development by Edward EyreReview by: C. G. WoodsonThe Journal of Negro History, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Oct., 1937), pp. 501-503Published by: Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2714242 .

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Page 2: European Civilization: Its Origin and Developmentby Edward Eyre

BOOK REVIEWS 501

European Civilization: Its Origin and Development. By Various Contributors under the direction of Edward Eyre. (London: Oxford University Press, 1937. Pp. 1,328. Price 25 shillings.)

This volume shows the gradual approach to the completion of the task undertaken by the late Edward Eyre and his cowork- ers in producing in seven volumes a work on the European Civi- lization as estimated mainly by the Catholics. Narrow-minded students adhering slavishly to the principles of modern his- toriography may underestimate the value of this work which evi- dently has a religious slant. On the other hand, however, history from the point of view of the church is just as much history and contains just as much truth as history from the point of view of a race or nation; and even if there may be found in these volumes certain claims against which others may produce weighty evidence there remains nevertheless the fact that what the Catholics think of history is as much history as the outbreak of a war. If we can raise no objection to such a movement as the German His- torical Society, the Jewish Historical Society, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, or any device to publish the information and points of view which biased writers have omitted or failed to emphasize, then we can offer no objection to this monumental work under review.

The first four volumes dealt with such problems as prehistoric man, Rome and Christendom, the Middle Ages, and the Reforma- tion Period. Volume V deals with the economic history of Europe since the reformation. The important contributions to this volume are "The effect of the Religious Changes," by Margaret James; "European Peasantry," by Montague Fordham; "European Agri- culture Since 1750," by R. R. Enfield; "The Growth of Industry in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the Present Day," by Arthur Burnie; "The Growth of the Population of Europe," by A. M. Carr-Saunders; "Money, Finance and Banking from the Renaissance to the Eighteenth Century," by A. V. Judges; "British Banking and Finance, 1793-1931," by R. C. Hawtrey; "Banking and Finance in Europe and the United States," by A. E. Peavearyear; "Theories of Wealth," by the same author; "Society," by Michael de la Bedoyere; "Modern State Law and Police," by J. L. Parker; "Government and Development of Ad- ministrations, Conscriptions, Taxation, Social Services, and Edu-

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Page 3: European Civilization: Its Origin and Developmentby Edward Eyre

502 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

cation," by Ernest Barker, and "Naval and Military Develop- ments from the Close of the Middle Ages to the Present Time," by A. Hilliard Atteridge. The book has a number of useful maps, is generally documented, and apparently well written with the exception that the arrangement might have been improved upon. This matter, however, is one of opinion inasmuch as it is difficult to arrange a treatment logically and chronologically at the same time.

With respect to the Negro the book has much more to say than in the case of preceding volumes which did not cover the period of the contact of the Negro with modern peoples. Even in this case, however, the references are only indirect in the treat- ment of European conditions and world problems when it is necessary to refer to slavery as to many other aspects of im- portant questions. In the discussion of peasant life by Montague Fordham, however, most of these matters of racial history in this volume will be found.

One probable reason for such scanty reference to American slavery or to the Negro is that the author was under the in- fluence of the propaganda found in most of the recent histories bearing upon slavery and the Negro. For example, he takes it for granted that the Negro slaves were living in contentment on the plantations in America (120). It seems that he never heard of the hundreds of uprisings of Negroes against their oppressors and the insurrections which they started in order to obtain physical freedom. In this statement the author ignores the nu- merous instances of Negroes who worked after hours, on Sun- days and holidays to earn money in order to purchase their free- dom, and of many more instances of those who were courageous enough to brave the unknown frontiers and try to reach free soil. If these had been taken into consideration certainly the author would not have thought of slaves as living in contentment on the plantations in the southern states. The slaves were happy in spite of slavery.

The author, in making comparison of the conditions of the European peasants with those of the slaves from 1600 to 1914 considers them in one case freemen in name and in another slaves in fact (123). He shows by comparison that the peasantry in Britain, Spain, Switzerland, the United Provinces and Nor-

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Page 4: European Civilization: Its Origin and Developmentby Edward Eyre

BOOK REVIEWS 503

way might properly be classified as freemen. However, says he, "In all other States there was a complexus of free and servile peasantry, though broadly speaking as one went east the servile conditions were not only more prevalent but merged in many districts into the condition of slavery, of which perhaps the worst form was to be found in Greece" (127). In Holstein, Pomerania and Meeklenburgh the peasants were not only personally en- slaved but could be bought and sold like any other commodity. He says further, "It appears that Denmark's main food supplies came from abroad, and the peasantry were relatively few in num- bers; but few as as they were, they were in fact slaves of the king or the lords, and could be bought and sold like any article of commerce" (135). Out of the chaotic condition which then developed the peasant was brought to such a state, according to this author, that free peasants sold themselves to their lords to become their serfs or slaves on the condition that they be at least fed.

C. G. WooDsoN

Suriname Folklore. By Melville J. Herskovits and Frances S. Herskovits. With transcriptions of Suriname songs and mu- sicological analysis by Dr. M. Kolinski. (New York: Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, Volume XXVII. Columbia University Press, 1936. Price $5.00.)

This volume on Suriname presents not only folklore proper. but also detailed observations on other aspects of life, notably oil religion. The material is part of the extensive results of repeated expeditions to Dutch Guiana. An earlier book' treated of the so- called Bush-Negroes in Suriname, who began to break away from the white plantations in the early 18th century and fled inland where they have maintained themselves ever since, although they eventually came to terms with the Dutch. The present material was gathered in the capital, Paramaribo, where the Negro popula- dtion consists mainly of laborers and other town-people in modest circumstances.

Naturally enough, fewer African elements have survived in the life of this city population than in that of the bush group. To a

'Bebel Destiny.

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