John Fiske Biography

Dromo's Den

FISKE, John (1842-1901). An American philosopher and historian. His original name was Edmund Fiske Green, but on the second marriage of his mother (1855) he assumed the name of his maternal great-grandfather, John Fiske. He was born at Hartford, Conn., March 30, 1842. As a child, he exhibited remarkable precocity. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1863 and at the Harvard Law School in 1865; but he never practiced law, having already, in 1861, inaugurated his literary career by an article on Mr. Buckle's fallacies, in the National Quarterly Review. In 1869 he began a career of distinguished success as a lecturer at Harvard, his general subject being "Philosophy in its Evolutionary Aspect." In 1870 he was made instructor in history there, and in 1872 assistant librarian, a post which he resigned in 1879. In 1884 he was made professor of American history in Washington University, St. Louis, having held a lectureship there since 1881, and lectured annually for some years, though continuing to reside in Cambridge. His reputation was already international, for he had lectured on American history at University College, London, in 1879, and at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1880. During the earlier part of his career his interest was very largely absorbed by the study of evolution, and it was as a popularizer of its philosophy that he first won a national reputation, through Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy (1874). Essays and studies on allied subjects appeared under the titles: Myths and Myth Makers (1872); The Unseen World (1876); Darwinism and Other Essays (1879; revised and enlarged, 1885); Excursions of an Evolutionist (1883); The Destiny of Man Viewed in the Light of his Origin (1884); The Idea of God as Affected by Modern Knowledge (1885). This last work, supplemented by his Origin of Evil (1899), may be regarded as a final epitome of his religious and philosophic views. In addition to the volumes named may be mentioned: A Century of Science and Other Essays (1899); Through Nature to God (1899); Life Everlasting (1901). American Political Ideas Viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History was published in 1885, and with this began the 15 years devoted to investigations in American history, which must be regarded as at once the most popular and the most valuable of his contributions to American literature and to the molding of the national life. His contributions in book form to the history of his country were: The Critical Period of American History, 1783-89 (1888): The Beginnings of New England (1889); The War of Independence, a book for young people (1889); Civil Government of the United States (1890); The American Revolution (2 vols., 1891); The Discovery of America (2 vols., 1892); A United States History for Schools (1895); Old Virginia and her Neighbors (2 vols., 1897); Dutch and Quaker Colonics in America (2 vols., 1899); Essays, Literary and Historical (1902); New France and New England (1902). In 1912 the Historical Works (Popular Edition) appeared, a collection of Fiske's historical writings in 11 vols. These various works may be said to constitute practically a connected history of the United States from the first discoveries to the establishment of federal government. In 1900 appeared The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War. In addition, he edited, with Gen. James Grant Wilson, Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography (1887). He is to be esteemed not less as an educative force than as an investigator. More than any other writer of his generation he brought home to the national consciousness a philosophic view of American history, by his remarkable power for lucid statement of balanced judgments. To his zeal of acquisition was joined an equal zeal to impart and his admirable style made the work of following him anything but labor. He died, worn out by overwork, at Gloucester, Mass., July 4, 1901.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. VIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 639-640.