What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States)
by Daniel Walker Howe
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Book Summary Information
Author: Daniel Walker HoweEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2007-10-29
ISBN: 0195078942
Number of pages: 928
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States)
Book Review: A comprehensive overview of a dynamic young nation
Summary: 5 Stars
The decades following the War of 1812 witnessed some of the most dramatic changes in America's history. In that time, the United States underwent political, economic, and social transformations that dramatically reshaped the country, taking it from its post-colonial emergence and setting it on the road towards its dynamic emergence in the world. Daniel Walker Howe's book is a narrative of these years and the changes that took place, as well as what those changes meant to the future of the country.
Though Howe examines nearly every aspect of the period, politics dominate his coverage, which is understandable given his background as a political historian. The figure of Andrew Jackson looms large in these pages, yet Howe rejects any characterization of the era as 'Jacksonian', arguing that the phrase glosses over his controversial and divisive nature. This controversy is well reflected within his account, as Howe is highly critical of Jackson (something that is somewhat predictable from the start given that his book is dedicated to the memory of John Quincy Adams), asserting that the seventh president demonstrated an authoritarian bent throughout his career. His arguments on this, as with so many other parts of the books, are convincing, and supported by an impressive command of the scholarship on the period. Nor is the author shy on asserting his own viewpoint in these debates, arguing that a 'communications revolution' was more demonstrable than the 'market revolution' seen by Charles Sellers and others, that the emergence of the market economy was not the negative development Sellers made it out to be, and that Jackson's campaigns were hardly the democracy-expanding force asserted by historians such as Sean Wilentz. These historiographical assertions do not slow down his work, however; if anything, he could have engaged them a bit more within the text to explain why such interpretations are contestable.
This is a minor quibble with a major achievement. Broad in scope and encompassing an impressive amount of material, Howe provides a readable and perceptive survey of a dynamic young nation, one that experienced a breathtaking number of changes during these years. His book is among the best entries of the 'Oxford History of the United States' series, and surely will be a standard text on the era for many decades to come.
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