Bancroft, George

Bancroft, George

(1800–91) historian, diplomat; born in Worcester, Mass. He tried unsuccessfully to establish a preparatory school for boys before he began writing his 10-volume History of the United States (1834–74). His writing showed a marked bias in favor of democracy; he viewed the American political experiment as the highest form of civilization. He supported James K. Polk's "dark horse" candidacy for the Democratic nomination in 1844 and was rewarded with the post of secretary of the navy (1845–46). He established the Naval Academy at Annapolis (1845) and aided the work of the Naval Observatory. He served as ambassador to Great Britain (1846–49) and later to Prussia and Germany (1867–74). After returning to the U.S.A. he spent his final years writing various historical books and articles.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Bancroft, George

 

Born Oct. 3, 1800, in Worcester, Massachusetts; died Jan. 17, 1891, in Washington, D. C. American political figure, diplomat, historian, and prominent representative of the romantic school of historiography.

In 1845–46, Bancroft was secretary of the navy. He participated in the planning of the expansionist war of the USA against Mexico (1846–48). From 1846 to 1849 he was minister to London, and in 1867–74, he was minister to Berlin. Between 1834 and 1874, Bancroft’s principal work, the ten-volume History of the United States, was published. Using archival documents, Bancroft was one of the first in American historiography to give elementary criticism of sources. However, he limited his inquiry to purely political problems. His work was permeated by ideas of nationalism and praise of the American political system, the making of which Bancroft linked to the religious concept of a “chosen people,” the Puritan settlers. Bancroft is known as one of the founders of the so-called early school, which was the leading one in American historiography in the first half of the 19th century.

WORKS

The History of the United States, vols. 1–10. Boston, 1834–74.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.