George Louis Beer (July 26, 1872 – March 15, 1920) was a renowned American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

of the "Imperial school".

Early life and education

Born in Staten Island, New York, to an affluent family that was prominent in New York's German-Jewish community, Beer's father owned a successful tobacco importing business. He studied at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he received the A.B. degree (1892) and then an A.M. degree in 1893. Beer's master's thesis ("The Commercial Policy of England Toward the American Colonies") was supervised by Professor Herbert Levi Osgood and was immediately published in the ''Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law''.

Academic career

He taught European History at Columbia from 1893 to 1897 while he also worked in the tobacco business. After retiring from business in 1903, he devoted his time to extensive research in British archives, and wrote three highly regarded and influential books on the British-American colonial period. In 1913, he was the first

Loubat Prize The Loubat Prize was a pair of prizes awarded by Columbia University every five years between 1898 and 1958 for the best social science works in the English language about North America. The awards were established and endowed by Joseph Florimond, ...

recipient for ''The Origins of the British Colonial System, 1578-1660'', one of those books. His work ''The English Speaking Peoples'', was published in 1917. He stressed the successful workings of the commercial dimensions of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and was part of the "Imperial School" which emphasized the economic benefits and efficient administration of the Empire. He was American correspondent of the British '' Round Table Journal''.

Advisor to Woodrow Wilson

Beer served as colonial expert to President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

's American Commission of Inquiry during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and attended the 1919 Paris Peace Conference as a member of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, for which he was chief of the Colonial Division in 1918-1919. He was also a member of the Mandates Commission of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

and was appointed director of the Mandatory Section of the League's

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

in 1919. Beer was a strong proponent of an Anglo-American alliance, arguing it would contribute to greater peace in world politics. Beer opposed giving Germany back its colonies. Beer did not consider the prospect of Africans governing themselves, as "the negro race has hitherto shown no capacity for progressive development except under the tutelage of other peoples." He supported a mandates system whereby former colonies were governed through international collaboration in a way distinguishable from imperial rule and under open public scrutiny. At the League of Nations negotiations, Beer describes Wilson as having ignored the reports and plans prepared before the negotiations, as well as the dozens of experts that were part of the American delegation. According to Beer, American experts tried to give ideas to the French who would pass them onto the British in the hopes that the British brought them to Wilson. At one point during the negotiation, Wilson left it to Beer and Edward House to negotiate on his behalf.

Permanent Mandates Commission

Sir

Eric Drummond James Eric Drummond, 7th Earl of Perth, (17 August 1876 – 15 December 1951), was a British politician and diplomat who was the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations (1920–1933). Quiet and unassuming, he succeeded in building an e ...

, the first Secretary General of the League of Nations, appointed Beer as the head of the Mandates Section of the League of Nations's permanent secretariat. Due to Beer's absence, much of the work in the mandates section was done by

Philip Noel-Baker Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, (1 November 1889 – 8 October 1982), born Philip John Baker, was a British politician, diplomat, academic, athlete, and renowned campaigner for disarmament. He carried the British team flag and won a ...

instead.

The George Louis Beer Prize

Beer left a bequest to establish a prize recognizing outstanding historical writing relating to European international history since 1895. American citizens or permanent residents are eligible, for books published in the year preceding the award. The George Louis Beer Prize has been awarded in most years since 1923.American Historical Association
accessed April 5, 2010

Bibliography

* ''The Commercial Policy of England Toward the American Colonies'' (1893
full text online
* ''British Colonial Policy, 1754-1765'' (1907
full text online
* ''Origins of the British Colonial System, 1578-1660'' (1908
full text online
* ''The Old Colonial System, 1660-1754'' (2 vols., 1912
full text online
* ''The English Speaking Peoples: Their Future Relations and Joint International Obligations'' (1917
full text online
* ''African Questions at the Paris Peace Conference'' (1923
full text online
* Coclanis, Peter A. "George L. Beer." In Clyde Norman Wilson (ed.), ''American Historians, 1866-1912''. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 47. Detroit: Gale Research, 1986. ''Literature Resource Center''. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. * Schuyler, Robert Livingston. "Beer, George Louis." In Allen Johnson et al. (eds.), ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936).

Personal life

Beer married Edith Hellman on November 11, 1896. She was the niece of one of his early mentors at Columbia, E. R. A. Seligman, who had also married Beer's sister. Beer and his wife had one daughter, and the marriage lasted until Beer's untimely death on March 15, 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer, George Louis 1872 births 1920 deaths American historians Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia University faculty