What Hath God Wrought The Transformation of America, 1815-1848

by Howe, Daniel Walker

• ISBN13: 9780195392432
• ISBN10: 0195392434
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. In this Pulitzer prize-winning, critically acclaimed addition to the series, historian Daniel Walker Howe illuminates the period from the battle of New Orleans to the end of the Mexican-American War, an era when the United States expanded to the Pacific and won control over the richest part of the North American continent. Howe's panoramic narrative portrays revolutionary improvements in transportation and communications that accelerated the extension of the American empire. Railroads, canals, newspapers, and the telegraph dramatically lowered travel times and spurred the spread of information. These innovations prompted the emergence of mass political parties and stimulated America's economic development from an overwhelmingly rural country to a diversified economy in which commerce and industry took their place alongside agriculture. In his story, the author weaves together political and military events with social, economic, and cultural history. He examines the rise of Andrew Jackson and his Democratic party, but contends that John Quincy Adams and other Whigs--advocates of public education and economic integration, defenders of the rights of Indians, women, and African-Americans--were the true prophets of America's future. He reveals the power of religion to shape many aspects of American life during this period, including slavery and antislavery, women's rights and other reform movements, politics, education, and literature. Howe's story of American expansion culminates in the bitterly controversial but brilliantly executed war waged against Mexico to gain California and Texas for the United States. Winner of the New-York Historical Society American History Book Prize Finalist, 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction

Author Biography

Daniel Walker Howe is Rhodes Professor of American History Emeritus, Oxford University and Professor of History Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of The Political Culture of the American Whigs and Making the American Self: Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. He lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Maps

Editor's Introduction

Abbreviations Used in Citations

Introduction

Prologue: The Defeat of the Past

The Continental Setting

From the Jaws of Defeat

An Era of Good and Bad Feelings

The World That Cotton Made

Awakenings of Religion

Overthrowing the Tyranny of Distance

The Improvers

Pursuing the Millennium

Andrew Jackson and His Age

Battles over Sovereignty

Jacksonian Democracy and the Rule of Law

Reason and Revelation

Jackson's Third Term

The New Economy

The Whigs and Their Age

American Renaissance

Texas, Tyler, and the Telegraph

Westward the Star of Empire

The War Against Mexico

The Revolutions of 1848

Finale: A Vision of the Future

Bibliographical Essay

Index

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