Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "William Graham Sumner" - New World

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'''William Graham Sumner''' (1840 - 1910), [[United States|American]] professor at Yale College for many years where he had a reputation among students as one of the most influential teachers.  He was a polymath with numerous books and essays in American history, economic history, political theory, sociology, and anthropology. His popular essays gave him a wide autdience for his laissez-faire advocacy of [[free markets]], [[anti-imperialism]], and the [[gold standard]].  
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'''William Graham Sumner''' (born October 30, 1840 – died April 12, 1910) was an [[United States|American]] historian, economist, and sociologist, famous for his strong support of [[laissez-faire]] economy, [[free markets]], and [[anti-imperialism]], and is often regarded as one of the fathers of modern [[United States|American]] [[sociology]].  
  
He graduated from [[Yale University|Yale College]] in 1863, where he had been a member of [[Skull & Bones]]. Later he became a professor of sociology at Yale. As a sociologist, his major accomplishments were developing the concepts of [[Diffusion (anthropology)|diffusion]], [[folkways (sociology)|folkways]], and [[ethnocentrism]]. Sumner's work with folkways led him to conclude that attempts at government-mandated [[Reform movement|reform]] were useless. He was a staunch advocate of [[laissez-faire]] economics. Sumner was active in the intellectual promotion of free-trade [[classical liberalism]], and in his heyday and after there were Sumner Clubs here and there. He heavily criticized socialism/communism.  One adversary he mentioned by name was [[Edward Bellamy]], whose national variant of socialism was set forth in ''[[Looking Backward]]'', published in 1888, and the much more powerful sequel "Equality."
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==Life==
  
Like many classical liberals at the time, including [[Edward Atkinson]], [[Moorfield Storey]], and [[Grover Cleveland]], Sumner opposed the Spanish American War and the subsequent U.S. effort to quell the insurgency in the Philippines.  He was a vice president of the [[Anti-Imperialist League]] which had been formed after the war to oppose the annexation of territories.  In his speech "The Conquest of the United States," he lambasted imperialism as a betrayal of the small government ideals of anti-militarism, the gold standard, and free trade.  According to Sumner,  imperialism would enthrone a new group of "plutocrats," or businesspeople who depended on government subsidies and contracts.
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'''William Sumner''' was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Thomas Sumner and Sarah Graham, working-class English immigrants. His family moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where Sumner grew up and received education. When he was eight his mother died, and Sumner and his two siblings were raised by stepmother. Sumner graduated from [[Yale University]] in 1863 with honors, being a member of [[Skull & Bones]] society.  
  
In the 1870s Sumner was strongly influenced by the English evolutionary thinker [[Herbert Spencer]]; he never agreed with Spencer that ecolution produced progress. After 1885 or so Spencer's influence faded. Among Sumner's students were the anthropologist [[Albert Galloway Keller]] and the economist [[Thorstein Bunde Veblen]].  
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After graduation Sumner left for [[Europe]] to study [[ministry]]. He studied languages at [[Geneva]] and [[Gottingen]], and theology at [[Oxford University|Oxford]]. In 1869 he was ordained a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church. At the same time he worked as a tutor in Yale. His early ministry career was rather successful, and in 1870 Sumner became a rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Morristown, New Jersey. In 1871 he married Jeannie Elliott with whom he had three sons.
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However, Sumner’s interest steadily shifted from [[ministry]] to [[economy]], as he struggled with the conflict between [[religion]] and scientific [[positivism]]. In 1872 he accepted a chair at Yale in political and social science.
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Sumner’s career at Yale was distinctive. He was a well known lecturer, whose classes were always full with students. He became part of the “Young Yale” movement, a group of reformists who criticized traditional classroom teaching style. The movement ultimately led to the reformation of the American university system. Sumner eventually grew into one of Yale’s most popular and controversial professors. From 1875 he offered one of the first sociology classes in [[United States]], using [[Herbert Spencer]]’s ''The Study of Sociology'' for textbook.
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In 1873 Sumner engaged with politics. He first served as New Haven alderman until 1876, and then participated in a commission to investigate [[New Orleans]] presidential election fraud. After those experiences he decided to turn to [[economy]] and [[education]]. He served on the Connecticut State Board of Education from 1882 to 1910. He published numerous works in this period, among others ''What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other'' (1883), ''Protectionism: The –ism that Teaches that Waste Makes Wealth'' (1885), and ''The Financier and the Finances of the American Revolution'' (1891). He became an ardent defender of [[laissez-faire]] economy. In 1878 he testified before the U.S. [[House of Representatives]] concerning the investigating of the causes of the General Depression.
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Sumner’s health suffered in 1890s and he generally withdrew from public life. In 1899 he returned, becoming the Vice President of the Anti-Imperialist League, and serving on the Philippine Independence Committee. Sumner turned his focus entirely to sociology and started to research social phenomena. His famous book ''Folkways'' (1906) is from this period.
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Sumner suffered stroke in 1907, but recovered and continued to work at Yale. He was elected President of the [[American Sociological Society]] in 1908, serving as its second President for two years.
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Sumner died in Englewood, New Jersey, on April 12, 1910.
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==Work==
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Although Sumner was a polymath, writing in the areas of [[sociology]], [[history]], economical theory, [[anthropology]], [[politics]], and some other social fields, he remains famous mostly for his economical and sociological views.
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===Economical views===
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Sumner’s views on economics are characterized by his strong support of extreme laissez-faire, opposing any government measures that interfere with the natural economics of trade. He believed that middle-class society is the pillar of both democracy and capitalism, and thus the whole sociaty dwells on it. Empathizing with the middle-class, he wrote:
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:“The forgotten man…He works, he votes, generally he prays, but his chief business in life is to pay.” (''The Forgotten Man'', 1919).
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Sumner believed that [[middle-class]] is in constant danger from both the selfishness of wealthy elite and self-interests of poor masses. He claimed:
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:"The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man." (''The Forgotten Man'', 1919).
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Sumner believed that corporate [[monopoly]] is a threat to social equality and democracy, as it shifts power toward rich minority and blocks free trade. Sumner’s own experience when he was on the committee to investigate flaws in presidential elections in New Orleans, influenced his criticism of corruption in politics, and his several essays on the danger of [[plutocracy]]. He wrote:
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:"The great foe of democracy now and in the near future is plutocracy. Every year that passes brings out this antagonism more distinctly. It is to be the social war of the twentieth century. In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy. In the first place, war and expansion will favor jobbery, both in the dependencies and at home. In the second place, they will take away the attention of the people from what the plutocrats are doing. In the third place, they will cause large expenditures of the people’s money, the return for which will not go into the treasury, but into the hands of a few schemers. In the fourth place, they will call for a large public debt and taxes, and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong, and so make the weak weaker and the strong stronger. Therefore expansion and imperialism are a grand onslaught on democracy." (''The Conquest of the United States by Spain'', 1899)
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Like many classical liberals at the time, including [[Edward Atkinson]], [[Moorfield Storey]], and [[Grover Cleveland]], Sumner opposed the Spanish American War and the subsequent U.S. effort to quell the insurgency in the Philippines.  He was a vice president of the [[Anti-Imperialist League]] which had been formed after the war to oppose the annexation of territories.  According to Sumner, imperialism would enthrone a new group of "plutocrats," or businesspeople, who depended on government subsidies and contracts. Democracy then is in danger.
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===Sociological views===
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William Sumner is often regarded as one of the founding fathers of American sociology. He drew inspiration in the 18th century Scottish [[moral philosophy]], especially of [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Reid]], and [[Dugald Stewart]]. His 1906 book ''Folkways'' explored the foundations of social history, trying to draw general laws of social change. In it Sumner charted the evolution of human customs and mores, developing concepts as [[Diffusion (anthropology)|diffusion]], [[folkways (sociology)|folkways]], and [[ethnocentrism]]. Based on his conclusion, he believed that all social behavior conforms to natural laws. Thus any government-induced change is useless, as social laws follow their own life-cycles. The social laws develop naturally, through the course of evolution. Sumner criticized any form of governmental reforms, and claimed that society that is based of laissez-faire principles is the best form of society. Humanity could survive only in the environment free of government’s interference. He heavily criticized [[socialism]] and [[communism]]. 
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Often regarded as the proponent of [[Social Darwinism]], Sumner used this theory to support his economic and sociological ideas. He was particularly strong supporter of [[Herbert Spencer]]. He accepted Spencer’s belief that people struggle against nature and each other to secure scarce resources. However, he made a distinction between the "struggle for existence", where man struggled against nature, and the "competition of life", where men struggled against men in society. He claimed that due to increasing number of people on earth, resources became obsolete, forcing people to adapt to new circumstances. Those with higher intellect, virtue, or efficiency have advantage, while those who lack such qualities would have to relocate in search for resources. [[Immigrants]] to America are good example of this claim, spoke Sumner.
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In addition, unlike Spencer, Sumner did not believe that evolutionary development is straightforward, progressing steadily throughout history. With this, he was one of the rare late-19th century American scientists who rejected the notion that human society evolves. Instead, based on his interpretation of Darwinian and Malthusian theory, and the principle of entropy, he proposed the theory that laws of the universe, as well as those of society, follow cyclic motion of development and decline. By the end of his career Sumner clearly rejected Social Darwinism.
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In his views on gender roles and women’s rights, he advocated for the family and supported equality between sexes. He however, challenged stable Victorian consensus on sexuality, fighting for women’s rights, more humane treatment of prostitutes, and more liberal policy regarding divorce.
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==Legacy==
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William Sumner left inerasable mark on American sociology. He was one of the first modern sociologists, who pushed sociology from dwelling on philosophical assumptions, toward scientific inquiry and empirical facts. He such helped encore sociology as scientific discipline. He developed some key sociological concepts, such as [[folkways]] and [[ethnocentrism]], that are still heavily used today.
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Sumner’s economic ideas contributed toward development of modern economic theories. Among Sumner's students were the anthropologist [[Albert Galloway Keller]] and the economist [[Thorstein Veblen]].  
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==Publications==
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* Sumner, William G. 1874. ''A History of American Currency''. Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289688
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* Sumner, William G. 1875. ''American Finance''. Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289696
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* Sumner, William G. 1883. ''What Social Classes Owe To Each Other''? Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289726
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* Sumner, William G. 1885. ''Protectionism: the -ism which teaches that waste makes wealth''. New York: H. Holt and Company
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* Sumner, William G. 1893. ''Problems in Political Economy''. New York: H. Holt & Co.
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* Sumner, William G. 1899. [http://praxeology.net/WGS-CUS.htm ''The conquest of the United States by Spain'']. (A lecture before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Yale University, January 16, 1899). D. Estes & Company
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* Sumner, William G. 1911. ''War, and other essays''. Yale University Press
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* Sumner, William G. 1919. ''The Forgotten Man and Other Essays''. Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289750
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* Sumner, William G. 1963. ''Selected Essays of William Graham Sumner: Social Darwinism''. Englewood Cliff, N.J: Prentice-Hall
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* Sumner, William G. 1980 (original published in 1913). ''Earth-hunger and other essays''. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0878553231
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* Sumner, William G. 1991. ''On Plutocracy: Political writings''. Plutarch Press. ISBN 0943045053
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* Sumner, William G. 1992. ''On Liberty, Society, and Politics: The Essential Essays of William Graham Sumner''. Liberty Fund. ISBN 0865971005
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* Sumner, William G. 2002 (original published in 1906). ''Folkways: A Study of Mores, Manners, Customs and Morals''. Dover Publications. ISBN 0486424960
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* Sumner, William G. 2005 (original published in 1882). ''Andrew Jackson as a Public Man''. University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 1410224333
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* Sumner, William G. 2005. (original published in 1891). ''Robert Morris; The Financier and the Finances of the American Revolution,'' (Vol. 2). Cosimo Classics. ISBN 1596050837
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
* Bannister, Robert C., Jr. "William Graham Sumner's Social Darwinism: a Reconsideration." ''History of Political Economy'' 1973 5(1): 89-109. Issn: 0018-2702  Looks at Sumner's ideas, especially as revealed in ''Folkways'' (1906) and his other writings. Contrary to the position of the kind of social Darwinism sometimes attributed to him, he insisted equally on a distinction between the "struggle for existence" of man against nature and the "competition of life" among men in society." Sumner did not really equate might and right, and did not reduce everything finally to social power.
 
*David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito, [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=22&articleID=261 "Gold Democrats and the Decline of Classical Liberalism, 1896-1900,"] ''Independent Review'' 4 (Spring 2000), 555-75.
 
* Curtis, Bruce.  ''William Graham Sumner.'' (Twayne's United States Authors Series, no. 391.)  Twayne, 1981. 186 pp. 
 
* Curtis, Bruce. "William Graham Sumner 'On the Concentration of Wealth.'" ''Journal of American History'' 1969 55(4): 823-832. Issn: 0021-8723 Fulltext in Jstor. Sumner has usually been considered a dogmatic defender of laissez-faire and of conservative social Darwinism. But an examination of his unpublished essay of 1909, "On the Concentration of Wealth" (here published in full), reveals that his earlier views were subject to modification. In this 1909 essay he shows his concern for pervasive corporate monopoly as a threat to social equality and democratic government. His analysis was akin to that of a Wilsonian Progressive, although his remedies were vague and incomplete. This stand against plutocracy was consistent with his life and consisted of a long defense of a middle-class society against the pressures of greedy self-interest groups and demos, the mob. Earlier he was most concerned with threats from corrupt politicians. Later plutocracy threatened the middle classes through abuses which might have led to class warfare.
 
* Curtis, Bruce. "William Graham Sumner and the Problem of Progress." ''New England Quarterly'' 1978 51(3): 348-369. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext in Jstor. Sumner was one of the few late-19th-century Americans to reject a belief in inevitable human progress. Influenced by his understanding of Darwinism, Malthusian theory, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, he came to believe the ancient doctrine of cycles in human affairs and in the universe. Based on Sumner's classroom notes and other writings.
 
* Curtis, Bruce. "Victorians Abed: William Graham Sumner on the Family, Women and Sex."  ''American Studies'' 1977 18(1): 101-122. ISSN: 0026-3079. Asks, did a Victorian consensus concerning sexuality exist? Sumner's life reveals many tensions and inconsistencies, although he generally supported the sexual status quo. His ideal of the middle class family, nonetheless, led him to oppose the double sexual standard and to question the idea of a stable Victorian consensus on sexuality. He supported humane divorce policies and kinder treatment for prostitutes, and recognized women as sexual beings.
 
* Garson, Robert and Maidment, Richard. "Social Darwinism and the Liberal Tradition: the Case of William Graham Sumner." ''South Atlantic Quarterly'' 1981 80(1): 61-76. Issn: 0038-2876. Argues Sumner, drew upon themes and ideas that were firmly established in the political consciousness of Americans. The introduction of such devices as the struggle for survival and the competition of life served in fact to dramatize and highlight some of the central concerns of liberalism. When Sumner did repudiate certain fundamental premises of the liberal tradition, he did so on the grounds that the tradition was misconstrued and not because it was unsustainable. He did not discard liberal theory nor did he lose sight of its principal threads. 
 
* Hofstadter, Richard. "William Graham Sumner, Social Darwinist," ''The New England Quarterly''> Vol. 14, No. 3 (Sep., 1941), pp. 457-477 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0028-4866%28194109%2914%3A3%3C457%3AWGSSD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9 online at JSTOR], reprinted in Hofstadter, ''Social Darwinism in American Thought, 1860-1915'' (1944).
 
* Lee, Alfred Mcclung. "The Forgotten Sumner." ''Journal of the History of Sociology'' 1980-1981 3(1): 87-106. Issn: 0190-2067. Sumner as sociologist.
 
* Marshall, Jonathan. "William Graham Sumner: Critic of Progressive Liberalism." ''Journal of Libertarian Studies'' 1979 3(3): 261-277. Issn: 0363-2873
 
* Pickens, Donald. "William Graham Sumner as a Critic of the Spanish American War." ''Continuity'' 1987 (11): 75-92. Issn: 0277-1446
 
* Pickens, Donald K. "William Graham Sumner: Moralist as Social Scientist." ''Social Science'' 1968 43(4): 202-209. Issn: 0037-7848. Sumner shared many intellectual assumptions with 18th century Scottish moral philosophers, such as Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, and Dugald Stewart. They were part of ethical naturalism. The major reason for this ideological kinship was the historical fact that Scottish moral philosophy was one of the major sources for modern social science. Sumner's ''Folkways'' [1907] illustrates the Scottish influence.
 
* Shone, Steve J. "Cultural Relativism and the Savage: the Alleged Inconsistency of William Graham Sumner." ''American Journal of Economics and Sociology'' 2004 63(3): 697-715. Issn: 0002-9246 Fulltext online in Swetswise, Ingenta, and Ebsco
 
* Sklansky, Jeff. "Pauperism and Poverty: Henry George, William Graham Sumner, and the Ideological Origins of Modern American Social Science." ''Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences'' 1999 35(2): 111-138. Issn: 0022-5061 Fulltext online at Swetswise and Ebsco
 
* Smith, Norman E. and Hinkle, Roscoe C. "Sumner Versus Keller and the Social Evolutionism of Early American Sociology." ''Sociological Inquiry'' 1979 49(1): 41-48. ISSN: 0038-0245 Based on the contents of two recently discovered unpublished manuscripts of Sumner, concludes that he came to reject the basic premises of social evolutionism, 1900-10, and that his apparent support for the theory as stated in The ''Science of Society'' (1927, printed 17 years after Sumner's death) was actually the thought of Albert Galloway Keller, with whom he collaborated.
 
* Smith, Norman Erik. "William Graham Sumner as an Anti-social Darwinist."  ''Pacific Sociological Review'' 1979 22(3): 332-347. Issn: 0030-8919 Fulltext in JSTOR. Sumner clearly rejected social Darwinism in the final decade of his career, 1900-10.
 
  
==Works by Sumner==
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* Bannister, Robert C. 1973. William Graham Sumner's Social Darwinism: a Reconsideration. ''History of Political Economy'', 5(1), 89-109.
*[http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/Book.php?recordID=0683  Sumner, William Graham. ''On Liberty, Society, and Politics: The Essential Essays of William Graham Sumner,'' ed. Robert C. Bannister (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1992). online]
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* ''A History of American Currency: with chapters on the English bank restriction and Austrian paper money : to which is appended "The bullion report"'' (New York: H. Holt and Co., 1874)
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* Beito, David T. & Beito, Linda R. 2000. [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=22&articleID=261 Gold Democrats and the Decline of Classical Liberalism, 1896-1900]. ''Independent Review'', 4, 555-75.
* ''Lectures on the History of Protection in the United States: delivered before the International Free-Trade Alliance (New York:G. P. Putnam's sons, 1877)
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* ''Andrew Jackson as a Public Man (Boston and New York : Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1882)
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* Curtis, Bruce. 1977. Victorians Abed: William Graham Sumner on the Family, Women and Sex. ''American Studies'', 18(1), 101-122.  
* ''What Social Classes Owe to each other (New York: Harper and Bros. 1883)
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* ''Protectionism: the -ism which teaches that waste makes wealth (New York : H. Holt and Company, 1885)
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* Curtis, Bruce. 1978. William Graham Sumner and the Problem of Progress. ''New England Quarterly'', 51(3), 348-369
* ''Alexander Hamilton (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1890)
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* ''The Financier & the finances of the American Revolution (2 vols. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1891)
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* Garson, Robert & Maidment, Richard. 1981. Social Darwinism and the Liberal Tradition: the Case of William Graham Sumner. ''South Atlantic Quarterly'', 80(1), 61-76.  
* ''Robert Morris (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co. 1892)
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* ''A history of banking in all the leading nations: comprising the United States Great Britain Germany Austro-Hungary France Italy Belgium Spain Switzerland Portugal Roumania Russia Holland: the Scandinavian nations Canada China Japan'' Ed. the editor of the Journal of commerce and commercial bulletin (4 vols. New York : The Journal of commerce and commercial bulletin, 1896)
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* Hofstadter, Richard. 1941. William Graham Sumner, Social Darwinist. ''The New England Quarterly'', 14(3), 457-477
* ''Folkways: a study of the sociological importance of usages,manners, customs, mores, and morals'' (Boston: Ginn and Co., 1906)
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* ''The science of society'' , with Albert G. Keller, (New Haven :Yale University Press, 1927 London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1927).
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* Lee, Alfred M. 1981. The Forgotten Sumner. ''Journal of the History of Sociology'', 3(1), 87-106.  
* ''Collected Essays in Political and Social Science'' (New York: Henry Holt and company, 1885)
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* ''War, and other essays'', ed. with introduction, Albert Galloway Keller (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911)
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* Marshall, Jonathan. 1979. William Graham Sumner: Critic of Progressive Liberalism. ''Journal of Libertarian Studies'', 3(3), 261-277.  
* ''Earth-hunger and other essays'' , ed. Albert Galloway Keller (New Haven: Yale University press, 1913)
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* ''The Challenge of Facts: and Other Essays'' ed. Albert Galloway Keller (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1914)
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* Pickens, Donald K. 1968. William Graham Sumner: Moralist as Social Scientist. ''Social Science'', 43(4), 202-209.  
* ''The Forgotten Man, and Other Essays'' ed. Albert Galloway Keller (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1918)
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* ''Selected Essays of William Graham Sumner,'' edited Albert Galloway Keller ... and Maurice R. Davie (New Haven: Yale University press, 1934)
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* Pickens, Donald K. 1987. William Graham Sumner as a Critic of the Spanish American War. ''Continuity'', 11, 75-92.
* ''Sumner today: selected essays of William Graham Sumner, with comments American leaders,'' ed. Maurice R. Davie (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1940
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* ''The forgotten man's almanac rations of common sense from William Graham Sumner,'' ed. A. G. Keller (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1943)
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* Shone, Steve J. 2004. Cultural Relativism and the Savage: the Alleged Inconsistency of William Graham Sumner. ''American Journal of Economics and Sociology'', 63(3), 697-715.  
* ''Social Darwinism: Selected Essays of William Graham Sumner,'' ed. Stow Persons (Englewood Cliff, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963).
 
* ''The conquest of the United States Spain, and other essays'' ed. Murray Polner (Chicago:Henry Regnery, 1965)
 
* [http://praxeology.net/WGS-CUS.htm "The Conquest of the United States by Spain,"] Molinari Institute.
 
  
==External Links to Sumner's Works==
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* Sklansky, Jeff. 1999. Pauperism and Poverty: Henry George, William Graham Sumner, and the Ideological Origins of Modern American Social Science. ''Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences'', 35(2), 111-138.  
[http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/rbannis1/Sociology/Sumner/WGS.%20prim.html Works by William Graham Sumner]
 
  
[http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/sumner.htm Major Works of William Graham Sumner]
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* Smith, Norman E. 1979. William Graham Sumner as an Anti-social Darwinist. ''Pacific Sociological Review'', 22(3), 332-347.
  
==Quotes==
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* Smith, Norman E. & Hinkle, Roscoe C. 1979. Sumner versus Keller and the Social Evolutionism of Early American Sociology. ''Sociological Inquiry'', 49(1), 41-48.
:"The great foe of democracy now and in the near future is plutocracy. Every year that passes brings out this antagonism more distinctly. It is to be the social war of the twentieth century. In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy. In the first place, war and expansion will favor jobbery, both in the dependencies and at home. In the second place, they will take away the attention of the people from what the plutocrats are doing. In the third place, they will cause large expenditures of the people’s money, the return for which will not go into the treasury, but into the hands of a few schemers. In the fourth place, they will call for a large public debt and taxes, and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong, and so make the weak weaker and the strong stronger. Therefore expansion and imperialism are a grand onslaught on democracy." [http://praxeology.net/WGS-CUS.htm]
 
  
:"My patriotism is of the kind which is outraged by the notion that the United States never was a great nation until in a petty three months’ campaign it knocked to pieces a poor, decrepit, bankrupt old state like Spain. To hold such an opinion as that is to abandon all American standards, to put shame and scorn on all that our ancestors tried to build up here, and to go over to the standards of which Spain is a representative." [http://praxeology.net/WGS-CUS.htm]
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==External Links==
  
:"When the negro postmaster’s house was set on fire in the night in South Carolina, and not only he, but his wife and children, were murdered as they came out, and when, moreover, this incident passed without legal investigation or punishment, it was a bad omen for the extension of liberty, etc., to Malays and Tagals by simply setting over them the American flag." [http://praxeology.net/WGS-CUS.htm]
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*[http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/rbannis1/Sociology/Sumner/WGS.%20prim.html ''Works by William Graham Sumner''] – List of books, essays, and other publications written by Sumner
  
:"Everywhere you go on the continent of Europe at this hour you see the conflict between militarism and industrialism. You see the expansion of industrial power pushed forward by the energy, hope, and thrift of men, and you see the development arrested, diverted, crippled, and defeated by measures which are dictated by military considerations."[http://praxeology.net/WGS-CUS.htm]
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*[http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/sumner.htm ''William Graham Sumner, 1840-1910''] - Major Works of William Graham Sumner
  
:"The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man." [http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/Best/SumnerForgotten.htm]
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*[http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4998/ ''The Rich Are Good-Natured''] – Essay where William Graham Sumner defends the wealthy
  
:"There are two chief things with which government has to deal. They are the property of men and the honor of women."
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*[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/polner4.html ''William Graham Sumner on War and Peace''] – An article by Murray Polner on Sumner’s views on American imperialism
  
:"I think the hardest fact in human life is that two and two cannot make five; but in sociology while people will agree that two and two cannot make five, yet they think that it might somehow be possible by adjusting two and two to one another in some way or other to make two and two equal four and one-tenth." (Sumner Today, 1940 p. 82)
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*[http://www.bolender.com/Sociological%20Theory/Sumner,%20William%20Graham/sumner,_william_graham.htm ''William Graham Sumner (1840-1910): Social Darwinism''] – An essay on Sumner’s views on social phenomena
  
:"Nature's remedies against vice are terrible. She removes the victims without pity. A drunkard in the gutter is just where he ought to be, according to the fitness and tendency of things.  Nature has set upon him the process of decline and dissolution by which she removes things which have survived their usefulness." — from the essay "The Forgotten Man" [http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/Best/SumnerForgotten.htm].
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*[http://www2.asanet.org/governance/sumner.html ''William Graham Sumner''] – Biography
  
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*[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1914sumner.html ''William Graham Sumner (1840-1910): The Challenge of Facts''] – Sumner’s views on social development and family system
  
 
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Revision as of 10:04, 31 October 2006


William Graham Sumner (born October 30, 1840 – died April 12, 1910) was an American historian, economist, and sociologist, famous for his strong support of laissez-faire economy, free markets, and anti-imperialism, and is often regarded as one of the fathers of modern American sociology.

Life

William Sumner was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Thomas Sumner and Sarah Graham, working-class English immigrants. His family moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where Sumner grew up and received education. When he was eight his mother died, and Sumner and his two siblings were raised by stepmother. Sumner graduated from Yale University in 1863 with honors, being a member of Skull & Bones society.

After graduation Sumner left for Europe to study ministry. He studied languages at Geneva and Gottingen, and theology at Oxford. In 1869 he was ordained a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church. At the same time he worked as a tutor in Yale. His early ministry career was rather successful, and in 1870 Sumner became a rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Morristown, New Jersey. In 1871 he married Jeannie Elliott with whom he had three sons.

However, Sumner’s interest steadily shifted from ministry to economy, as he struggled with the conflict between religion and scientific positivism. In 1872 he accepted a chair at Yale in political and social science.

Sumner’s career at Yale was distinctive. He was a well known lecturer, whose classes were always full with students. He became part of the “Young Yale” movement, a group of reformists who criticized traditional classroom teaching style. The movement ultimately led to the reformation of the American university system. Sumner eventually grew into one of Yale’s most popular and controversial professors. From 1875 he offered one of the first sociology classes in United States, using Herbert Spencer’s The Study of Sociology for textbook.

In 1873 Sumner engaged with politics. He first served as New Haven alderman until 1876, and then participated in a commission to investigate New Orleans presidential election fraud. After those experiences he decided to turn to economy and education. He served on the Connecticut State Board of Education from 1882 to 1910. He published numerous works in this period, among others What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other (1883), Protectionism: The –ism that Teaches that Waste Makes Wealth (1885), and The Financier and the Finances of the American Revolution (1891). He became an ardent defender of laissez-faire economy. In 1878 he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives concerning the investigating of the causes of the General Depression.

Sumner’s health suffered in 1890s and he generally withdrew from public life. In 1899 he returned, becoming the Vice President of the Anti-Imperialist League, and serving on the Philippine Independence Committee. Sumner turned his focus entirely to sociology and started to research social phenomena. His famous book Folkways (1906) is from this period.

Sumner suffered stroke in 1907, but recovered and continued to work at Yale. He was elected President of the American Sociological Society in 1908, serving as its second President for two years.

Sumner died in Englewood, New Jersey, on April 12, 1910.

Work

Although Sumner was a polymath, writing in the areas of sociology, history, economical theory, anthropology, politics, and some other social fields, he remains famous mostly for his economical and sociological views.

Economical views

Sumner’s views on economics are characterized by his strong support of extreme laissez-faire, opposing any government measures that interfere with the natural economics of trade. He believed that middle-class society is the pillar of both democracy and capitalism, and thus the whole sociaty dwells on it. Empathizing with the middle-class, he wrote:

“The forgotten man…He works, he votes, generally he prays, but his chief business in life is to pay.” (The Forgotten Man, 1919).

Sumner believed that middle-class is in constant danger from both the selfishness of wealthy elite and self-interests of poor masses. He claimed:

"The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man." (The Forgotten Man, 1919).

Sumner believed that corporate monopoly is a threat to social equality and democracy, as it shifts power toward rich minority and blocks free trade. Sumner’s own experience when he was on the committee to investigate flaws in presidential elections in New Orleans, influenced his criticism of corruption in politics, and his several essays on the danger of plutocracy. He wrote:

"The great foe of democracy now and in the near future is plutocracy. Every year that passes brings out this antagonism more distinctly. It is to be the social war of the twentieth century. In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy. In the first place, war and expansion will favor jobbery, both in the dependencies and at home. In the second place, they will take away the attention of the people from what the plutocrats are doing. In the third place, they will cause large expenditures of the people’s money, the return for which will not go into the treasury, but into the hands of a few schemers. In the fourth place, they will call for a large public debt and taxes, and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong, and so make the weak weaker and the strong stronger. Therefore expansion and imperialism are a grand onslaught on democracy." (The Conquest of the United States by Spain, 1899)

Like many classical liberals at the time, including Edward Atkinson, Moorfield Storey, and Grover Cleveland, Sumner opposed the Spanish American War and the subsequent U.S. effort to quell the insurgency in the Philippines. He was a vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League which had been formed after the war to oppose the annexation of territories. According to Sumner, imperialism would enthrone a new group of "plutocrats," or businesspeople, who depended on government subsidies and contracts. Democracy then is in danger.

Sociological views

William Sumner is often regarded as one of the founding fathers of American sociology. He drew inspiration in the 18th century Scottish moral philosophy, especially of Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, and Dugald Stewart. His 1906 book Folkways explored the foundations of social history, trying to draw general laws of social change. In it Sumner charted the evolution of human customs and mores, developing concepts as diffusion, folkways, and ethnocentrism. Based on his conclusion, he believed that all social behavior conforms to natural laws. Thus any government-induced change is useless, as social laws follow their own life-cycles. The social laws develop naturally, through the course of evolution. Sumner criticized any form of governmental reforms, and claimed that society that is based of laissez-faire principles is the best form of society. Humanity could survive only in the environment free of government’s interference. He heavily criticized socialism and communism.

Often regarded as the proponent of Social Darwinism, Sumner used this theory to support his economic and sociological ideas. He was particularly strong supporter of Herbert Spencer. He accepted Spencer’s belief that people struggle against nature and each other to secure scarce resources. However, he made a distinction between the "struggle for existence", where man struggled against nature, and the "competition of life", where men struggled against men in society. He claimed that due to increasing number of people on earth, resources became obsolete, forcing people to adapt to new circumstances. Those with higher intellect, virtue, or efficiency have advantage, while those who lack such qualities would have to relocate in search for resources. Immigrants to America are good example of this claim, spoke Sumner.

In addition, unlike Spencer, Sumner did not believe that evolutionary development is straightforward, progressing steadily throughout history. With this, he was one of the rare late-19th century American scientists who rejected the notion that human society evolves. Instead, based on his interpretation of Darwinian and Malthusian theory, and the principle of entropy, he proposed the theory that laws of the universe, as well as those of society, follow cyclic motion of development and decline. By the end of his career Sumner clearly rejected Social Darwinism.

In his views on gender roles and women’s rights, he advocated for the family and supported equality between sexes. He however, challenged stable Victorian consensus on sexuality, fighting for women’s rights, more humane treatment of prostitutes, and more liberal policy regarding divorce.

Legacy

William Sumner left inerasable mark on American sociology. He was one of the first modern sociologists, who pushed sociology from dwelling on philosophical assumptions, toward scientific inquiry and empirical facts. He such helped encore sociology as scientific discipline. He developed some key sociological concepts, such as folkways and ethnocentrism, that are still heavily used today.

Sumner’s economic ideas contributed toward development of modern economic theories. Among Sumner's students were the anthropologist Albert Galloway Keller and the economist Thorstein Veblen.

Publications

  • Sumner, William G. 1874. A History of American Currency. Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289688
  • Sumner, William G. 1875. American Finance. Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289696
  • Sumner, William G. 1883. What Social Classes Owe To Each Other? Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289726
  • Sumner, William G. 1885. Protectionism: the -ism which teaches that waste makes wealth. New York: H. Holt and Company
  • Sumner, William G. 1893. Problems in Political Economy. New York: H. Holt & Co.
  • Sumner, William G. 1911. War, and other essays. Yale University Press
  • Sumner, William G. 1919. The Forgotten Man and Other Essays. Reprint Services Corporation. ISBN 0781289750
  • Sumner, William G. 1963. Selected Essays of William Graham Sumner: Social Darwinism. Englewood Cliff, N.J: Prentice-Hall
  • Sumner, William G. 1980 (original published in 1913). Earth-hunger and other essays. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0878553231
  • Sumner, William G. 1991. On Plutocracy: Political writings. Plutarch Press. ISBN 0943045053
  • Sumner, William G. 1992. On Liberty, Society, and Politics: The Essential Essays of William Graham Sumner. Liberty Fund. ISBN 0865971005
  • Sumner, William G. 2002 (original published in 1906). Folkways: A Study of Mores, Manners, Customs and Morals. Dover Publications. ISBN 0486424960
  • Sumner, William G. 2005 (original published in 1882). Andrew Jackson as a Public Man. University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 1410224333
  • Sumner, William G. 2005. (original published in 1891). Robert Morris; The Financier and the Finances of the American Revolution, (Vol. 2). Cosimo Classics. ISBN 1596050837

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bannister, Robert C. 1973. William Graham Sumner's Social Darwinism: a Reconsideration. History of Political Economy, 5(1), 89-109.
  • Curtis, Bruce. 1977. Victorians Abed: William Graham Sumner on the Family, Women and Sex. American Studies, 18(1), 101-122.
  • Curtis, Bruce. 1978. William Graham Sumner and the Problem of Progress. New England Quarterly, 51(3), 348-369
  • Garson, Robert & Maidment, Richard. 1981. Social Darwinism and the Liberal Tradition: the Case of William Graham Sumner. South Atlantic Quarterly, 80(1), 61-76.
  • Hofstadter, Richard. 1941. William Graham Sumner, Social Darwinist. The New England Quarterly, 14(3), 457-477
  • Lee, Alfred M. 1981. The Forgotten Sumner. Journal of the History of Sociology, 3(1), 87-106.
  • Marshall, Jonathan. 1979. William Graham Sumner: Critic of Progressive Liberalism. Journal of Libertarian Studies, 3(3), 261-277.
  • Pickens, Donald K. 1968. William Graham Sumner: Moralist as Social Scientist. Social Science, 43(4), 202-209.
  • Pickens, Donald K. 1987. William Graham Sumner as a Critic of the Spanish American War. Continuity, 11, 75-92.
  • Shone, Steve J. 2004. Cultural Relativism and the Savage: the Alleged Inconsistency of William Graham Sumner. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 63(3), 697-715.
  • Sklansky, Jeff. 1999. Pauperism and Poverty: Henry George, William Graham Sumner, and the Ideological Origins of Modern American Social Science. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 35(2), 111-138.
  • Smith, Norman E. 1979. William Graham Sumner as an Anti-social Darwinist. Pacific Sociological Review, 22(3), 332-347.
  • Smith, Norman E. & Hinkle, Roscoe C. 1979. Sumner versus Keller and the Social Evolutionism of Early American Sociology. Sociological Inquiry, 49(1), 41-48.

External Links

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