Stanley Maurice Elkins (April 27, 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts – September 16, 2013 in

Leeds, Massachusetts Leeds is a village in the western portion of the city of Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, bordering Williamsburg—along the Mill River—and Florence. The ZIP Code for Leeds is 01053. The village was named after the city of Leeds, in ...

) was an 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 ...

, best known for his unique and controversial comparison of

slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...

, and for his collaborations (in a book and numerous articles) with Eric McKitrick regarding the early American Republic. They together wrote ''The Age of Federalism'', on the history of the founding fathers of America. He obtained his BA from Harvard University (under the GI bill scholarship) and his Ph.D. in history from

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 ...

. Elkins first taught at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

but spent most of his career as a professor of history at Smith College in Northampton, MA, where he raised his family and eventually retired.

Career

Elkins was born in Boston to Frank and Frances Elkins (née Reiner). He attended Boston English High School and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943, serving in the 36th Infantry Regiment, fighting in France but primarily Italy during World War II. He served as initially a Scout and later a Prisoner Transport Guard (of German POWs). After the war, he married Dorothy Adele Lamken and attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

on the GI Bill (A.B. 1949), followed by Columbia University for graduate school in American history (M.A. 1951, Ph.D. 1958), where he studied under

Richard Hofstadter Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier historic ...

. He and fellow graduate student Eric McKitrick received a joint appointment as assistant professors of history at the

, where they taught from 1955 to 1960. In 1960 he joined the faculty at Smith College, where he was appointed the Sydenham Clark Parsons Professor Emeritus of History from 1969 until his death in 2013.

''Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life''

Based on Elkins' doctoral dissertation at

, this work was theoretically innovative and enormously influential when first published, although largely superseded today. In it, Elkins made two major, and controversial, statements, the first being

American abolitionists American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

reduced their effectiveness by insisting on ideological consistency and purity, and refusing to compromise with the slave system. He argued British abolitionists were more pragmatic and thus effective, allowing them to abolish slavery without war. He went on to contrast slavery in North America with that in

Spanish America Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' imperial era between 15th and 19th centuries. To the e ...

, suggesting it was more important to focus on the structures governing the institution, rather than its conditions. In North America, slaves were deprived of any legal rights, including the ability to marry or have a family, be protected from violence, own property or make a will. With the exception of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, slave states even passed legislation making it illegal for anyone to teach slaves to read and write, or allow them to own books. The removal of personal rights and utter dependence on their owners resulted in what Elkins called "chattel slavery", which he contrasted with the system prevailing in Spanish America. Although conditions could be just as harsh, slaves generally had a variety of legal rights, including the ability to use the court system, purchase their freedom or contract their labour out to others. In addition, slavery in North America was almost exclusively a black experience, while in Spanish America it began as a "misfortune" that could happen to anyone who fell into debt. As a result, "chattel slavery" had a lasting impact on how black Americans viewed themselves and how they were perceived by wider society. Then-recent research by

Bruno Bettelheim Bruno Bettelheim (August 28, 1903 – March 13, 1990) was an Austrian-born psychologist, scholar, public intellectual and writer who spent most of his academic and clinical career in the United States. An early writer on autism, Bettelheim's wor ...

and others on inmates of

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

showed their totalitarian environment systematically destroyed the ability of inmates to resist, plan or form positive relationships with one another. Elkins suggested pre-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

slavery was a similar environment, views that were influential in the late 1960s when politicians like Daniel Patrick Moynihan supported affirmative action programs as a way to counteract the longterm impact of slavery on black culture. His arguments have since been heavily criticised, particularly for his use of the racial slur "

Sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

" to describe the allegedly "infantilised" state which black Americans were reduced to by slavery. In addition, critics point out Elkins provided no data or methodology for his comparison between WWII concentration camp victims, largely white Europeans, and black Americans. Initially heralded by the black community as an important and positive contribution, this comparison was considered offensive by descendants of both groups. Finally, it is suggested his criticism of American abolitionists ignores the reality of the society within which they operated, since every attempt made to achieve partial reform was blocked. The controversy is discussed in more detail in a collection of essays by Ann Lane, and also by historian John Wesley Blassingame.

''The Age of Federalism''

''The Age of Federalism: The Early Republic, 1788-1800'', co-authored by Elkins and Eric McKitrick, was described as a "dazzling book," featuring an "elegant and penetrating pen portrait of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

."''The Age of Federalism'' won the

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...

. The book explores the history of the Federalist party, discusses the relationships among key players, among them

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the f ...

, and Alexander Hamilton, and analyzes the administrations of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

Awards and fellowships

* 1954–55 Rockefeller Foundation Fellow * 1959–60 Rockefeller Foundation Grant * 1963–64 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship * 1967–68 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant * 1970–71 Guggenheim Fellow * 1970–71 Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton * 1980 Visiting Fellow, St. Catherine's College, Oxford * 1994 Bancroft Prize * 1995 Order of Cincinnatus Prize

Published works

Books

* (1959, 1963, 1976 editions
reviews
* Publisher's Summary
/ref> *

Articles

* Stanley M. Elkins and Eric L. McKitrick. "A Meaning for Turner's Frontier: Part I: Democracy in the Old Northwest," ''Political Science Quarterly,'' Vol. 69, No. 3 (Sep., 1954), pp. 321–35
in JSTOR
* Stanley M. Elkins and Eric L. McKitrick, "A Meaning for Turner's Frontier: Part II: The Southwest Frontier and New England," ''Political Science Quarterly,'' Vol. 69, No. 4 (Dec., 1954), pp. 565–60
in JSTOR
* Stanley M. Elkins and Eric L. McKitrick, "Institutions and the Law of Slavery: The Dynamics of Unopposed Capitalism," ''American Quarterly,'' Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring, 1957), pp. 3–2
in JSTOR
* Stanley Elkins and Eric L. McKitrick, "Institutions and the Law of Slavery: Slavery in Capitalist and Non-Capitalist Cultures," ''American Quarterly,'' Vol. 9, No. 2, Part 1 (Summer, 1957), pp. 159–17
in JSTOR
* Stanley M. Elkins and Eric L. McKitrick, "The Founding Fathers: Young Men of the Revolution," ''Political Science Quarterly,'' Vol. 76, No. 2 (Jun., 1961), pp. 181–21
in JSTOR

References

Bibliography

* Budick, E. Miller. "Plantations and Pogroms, Slavery and the Holocaust: Disentangling Black and Jewish History (Stanley Elkins, Ralph Waldo Ellison, and Hannah Arendt)." In ''Blacks and Jews in Literary Conversation'' (1998). * Fermaglich, Kirsten. "'One of the Lucky Ones': Stanley Elkins and the Concentration Camp Analogy in ''Slavery''." In ''American Dreams and Nazi Nightmares: Early Holocaust Consciousness and Liberal America, 1957-1965'' (2007). * * King, Richard H. "Domination and Fabrication: Re-thinking Stanley Elkins' ''Slavery''," ''Slavery & Abolition'', Vol. 22, No. 2 (2001), pp. 1–28. * Kolchin, Peter. "Reevaluating the Antebellum Slave Community: A Comparative Perspective." ''The Journal of American History,'' Vol. 70, No. 3 (December, 1983). * Lane, Ann, ed. ''The Debate Over "Slavery": Stanley Elkins and His Critics''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1971. Essays by 13 scholars. * Wyatt-Brown, Bertram. "Stanley Elkins and Northern Reform Culture." In ''Yankee Saints and Southern Sinners'' (1986, 1990). * Wyatt-Brown, Bertram. "Stanley Elkins' Slavery: The Antislavery Interpretation Reexamined." ''American Quarterly,'' Vol. 25, No. 2 (May, 1973), pp. 154–17
in JSTOR

External links

Stanley Elkins Author Page on Amazon.com

Stanley Elkins Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elkins, Stanley 1925 births 2013 deaths Harvard University alumni American historians Historians of slavery Columbia University alumni Smith College faculty Jewish American historians University of Chicago faculty Bancroft Prize winners 21st-century American Jews