Underdeveloped Sources of Understanding in American History

Abstract

'W~ORK in the history of the United States has taken great steps forward in the accumulation of data and the development of techniques of research and analysis during the past two dozen years. Repeatedly demonstrated has been the fact that more historical knowledge can be gained and more generalizations tested by the use of statistics.' That work has been especially furthered during the past three years by the efforts of the American Historical Association's Committee to Collect the Basic Quantitative Data of American Political History.2 The use and usefulness of archives and manuscripts have been substantially increased, thanks in part to the accomplishments of administrators and scholars like Solon Buck and Ernst Posner and in part to the publication of finding aids like Guide to the Records in the National Archives (Washington, 1948), Alice Smith's Guide to the Manuscripts in the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, 1944), Philip Hamer's A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States (New Haven, 1961), and the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (Hamden, Conn., 1959). Other significant developments have been the spread of oral-history research, the increased publication of documents (encouraged by the reinvigorated National Historical Publications Commission), the heightened inter-