Product Description

The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a New York Times bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. Now, in What Hath God Wrought, 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.
By 1848 America had been transformed. What Hath God Wrought provides a monumental narrative of this formative period in United States history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1822 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 928 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In the latest installment in the Oxford History of the United States series, historian Howe, professor emeritus at Oxford University and UCLA (The Political Culture of the American Whigs), stylishly narrates a crucial period in U.S. history—a time of territorial growth, religious revival, booming industrialization, a recalibrating of American democracy and the rise of nationalist sentiment. Smaller but no less important stories run through the account: New York's gradual emancipation of slaves; the growth of higher education; the rise of the temperance movement (all classes, even ministers, imbibed heavily, Howe says). Howe also charts developments in literature, focusing not just on Thoreau and Poe but on such forgotten writers as William Gilmore Simms of South Carolina, who helped create the romantic image of the Old South, but whose proslavery views eventually brought his work into disrepute. Howe dodges some of the shibboleths of historical literature, for example, refusing to describe these decades as representing a market revolution because a market economy already existed in 18th-century America. Supported by engaging prose, Howe's achievement will surely be seen as one of the most outstanding syntheses of U.S. history published this decade. 30 photos, 6 maps. (Sept.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine
Both academics and lay readers praised What Hath God Wrought, but they appreciated it for different reasons. It is certainly an exhaustively researched and well-written historical survey—exactly what a volume in the Oxford History Series ought to be. American historians admired its elegant synthesis but also understood that Howe is attempting to lead his readers and colleagues away from the strictly economic explanations that have often dominated writing on this period. Historian Jill Lepore, for example, thought that the change in perspective helps Howe subtly explain many aspects of the period, such as the women’s rights movement. Only historian Glenn C. Altschuler believed that Howe has some "axioms to grind" in his reworking of so-called Jacksonian Democracy. Howe’s approach also brings nonacademic readers back into the conversation, though at over 900 pages, the book is probably best suited for history buffs.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Review

"I like to have a heavy tome to calm me down at the end of the day. This is almost as big as a pathology book, but really well written."--Robin Cook
"A comprehensive, richly detailed, and elegantly written account of the republic between the War of 1812 and the American victory in Mexico a generation later...a masterpiece."--The Atlantic
"The period between the end of the War of 1812 and the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 is one of the most important in American history and, these days, one of the most neglected...Yet as Daniel Walker Howe makes plain in this exemplary addition to the Oxford History of the United States, this was the time when the United States was transformed by a series of revolutions...Howe brings an impressive array of strengths to the daunting task of encapsulating these busy, complicated three-plus decades within a single (admittedly, very long) volume...he grasps the meaning as well as the details of developments and events. He has a fine eye for telling detail...he is a genuine rarity...extraordinary."--Washington Post Book World
"Howe has written a stunning synthesis of work in economic, political, demographic, social and cultural history, and he gives a fascinating, richly detailed portrait of the U.S. as its very boundaries so dramatically and often violently shifted...it is a rare thing to encounter a book so magisterial and judicious and also so compelling; it is a great achievement and deserves many readers beyond the academy."--Chicago Tribune
"A sweeping, sparkling, sophisticated synthesis."--The Baltimore Sun
"In the latest installment in the Oxford History of the United States series, historian Howe...stylishly narrates a crucial period in U.S. history--a time of territorial growth, religious revival, booming industrialization, a recalibrating of American democracy and the rise of nationalist sentiment.... Supported by engaging prose, Howe's achievement will surely be seen as one of the most outstanding syntheses of U.S. history published this decade."--Publishers Weekly starred review
"What Hath God Wrought is both a capacious narrative of a tumultuous era in American history and a heroic attempt at synthesizing a century and a half of historical writing about Jacksonian democracy, antebellum reform, and American expansion."--The New Yorker
"In his magisterial new history of the antebellum United States, What Hath God Wrought, Daniel Walker Howe shows that religious divisions and the rise of evangelical Protestantism were defining characteristics of the party system built by the Whigs and the Jacksonian Democrats."--E.J. Dionne, Jr., The Washington Post
"This authoritative addition to Oxford's "History of the United States" series is a product of synthesis and astute analysis...A worthy addition to public and academic institutions; beginning scholars will appreciate the maps and the extensive bibliographic essay, fleshed out by the journal citations in the footnotes. Highly recommended."--Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress, Library Journal
"This extraordinary contribution to the Oxford History of the United States series is a great accomplishment by one of the United States' most distinguished historians. In a book that every student of American history and politics should read, Howe synthesizes a broad range of historical scholarship to produce an overview of this crucial era that is lucid, sensible, entertaining, and revealing. It is, in short, everything a work of historical scholarship should be."--Foreign Affairs
"The book is a sweeping and monumental achievement that no student of American history should let go unread. Attentive to historiography yet writing accessible and engaging prose, Howe has produced the perfect introduction or reintroduction to an enormously important period in American national development."--American Heritage
"Howe takes us through one of the most eventful stretches of American history with such mastery that his book reads like a breathless traveler's tale."--First Things
"The range of American history between 1815 and 1848 does not conjure up any clear narrative to the casual reader, which is precisely why Daniel Walker Howe's What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America 1815-1848 promises to make a splash. An expert in the field, Mr. Howe has skillfully framed a story, between the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War, that becomes eloquent once you think about it. Lauded by other historians as an important yet accessible landmark, Mr. Howe's study promises odd new angles on America in an election year."--The New York Sun
"Howe takes us through one of the most eventful stretches of American history with such mastery that his book reads like a breathless traveler's tale. From the close of the War of 1812 to the close of the Mexican War in 1848, he marks the determined march of a people across a continent to found a sea-to-sea empire and, in clear, vivid prose, conveys to us how awed he is by it-and how troubled."--Books and Culture
"The best book on Jackson today."--Gordon Wood, Salt Lake Deseret Morning News
"Howe's arguments-America really is an "exceptional" nation, for example-are submerged in his masterly narrative. Even at more than 800 pages, this book is somehow still a marvel of compression, with vast amounts of scholarship integrated into a vivid history that shows Americans their nation in all its greatness, and its occasional squalor."--Wilson Quarterly
"What Hath God Wrought is probably the most culturally sensitive political history as well as the best politically informed social history ever written for this transformative period in American history. Its learning is vast, its judgments discerning, and its depiction of both triumphs and weaknesses of American civilization exceedingly well balanced. It is a splendid addition to a splendid series."--Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame
"The decades covered by this book wrought a profound transformation in American life. Expansion through annexation, purchase, and conquest doubled the size of the United States. A revolution in communications and transportation tied these vast expanses together and gave the economy a powerful impulse. The Second Great Awakening in American Protestantism generated a host of reform movements that reshaped the political landscape. Daniel Walker Howe has chronicled these progressive but unsettling changes in an exciting narrative that offers important new insights on these crucial decades."--James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"The product of a lifetime of learning, this spirited book will captivate general readers and spark controversy among historians. Challenging standard accounts, Howe argues that many of those maligned as elitists championed the rights of women, African Americans, and Indians and that the animating principle of Andrew Jackson's mythic Democratic party was the extension of white-male supremacy across the continent. Both a panoramic overview and a vivid, nuanced account of particular individuals and incidents in domains stretching from religious practices and political shenanigans to social reform and technological innovation, What Hath God Wrought reflects Howe's mastery of the sources and his deep engagement with rival interpretations of these pivotal years."--James T. Kloppenberg, Harvard University
"Where public memory-and high-school history teachers-have failed, UCLA history professor Daniel Walker Howe succeeds with What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848."--Willamette Week
"A compelling new interpretation of the historical foundations of modern America in the decades before 1850."--Kathryn Kish Sklar, author of The Emergence of Women's Rights within the Antislavery Movement

Customer Reviews

Excellent entry in the Oxford series
There seems to be a general consensus that "The Oxford History of the United States" has done much better by the early years of the American Republic than the post-World War II era. Howe maintains the tradition with this outstanding survey of American life between 1815 and 1848. Some have complained of "political correctness" in Howe's treatment of Indian Removal, slavery, and the women's rights movement, but, in my opinion, Howe really goes far afield only when discussing the last of these, when he terms the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 "[the most] encouraging" of America's "hopeful aspects" during this chaotic period. "More encouraging" than the rise of the movement to abolish slavery, which was a far more morally pressing matter at the time? Somehow, I doubt it. On the other side of the coin, Howe's championing of the leading lights and ideas of the Whig Party takes direct aim at the "PC" conventional wisdom that "Jacksonian Democracy" was the "heroic" political movement of this period. Howe does an excellent job of alternating discussions of "meat-and-potatoes" historical information (elections, political disputes, warfare, etc.) with surveys of various facets of American culture. He places particular emphases on the dramatic developments in transportation and communications that both facilitated economic development and made it possible for various popular movements to flourish. Howe's work is fully worthy to stand next to McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" and Middlekauff's "The Glorious Cause" as the best books in the Oxford series. (For others interested in antebellum America, I'd also recommend MacDougall's "Throes of Democracy" for a slightly different, somewhat more cynical take on the subject.)

What Hath God Wrought
I debated giving this book a five star rating but decided to go with four stars because author Howe is a bit over the top on occassion with his political digs. Was the Whig party truly as wonderful as he portrays it as it challenged the Democrats? If it was so great why did it die out or morph into the Republican party within 15 years? But politics aside, this book is great. Clearly this book sets a new standard for completeness in its scope. The period 1815-1848 was an incredibly active period with events going on not only in the geo-political spectrum, but also in social history, economics, church history, arts and literature, and philosophy. The author seems to have a good handle on each of these, maiking this book an excellent starting point for anyone intersted in how America emerged from the early constitutional period to that which more or less resembles our own society.

Political bickering between parties begins in this period, so does uniquely "American" industry and imperialism. Some have criticized Howe's approach to history by saying he is too politically correct. Well, tell that to hundreds of thousands of African slaves or tens of thousands of displaced Indians. The white dominated government was brutal. At one point in the book Howe says the historian's job is to understand, not condemn. Slavery in the land of the free is more than just a paradox, it's a disgrace. Imperial attitudes towards the conquored Indians and Mexicans shows how determined our imperialist policies were. President Polk went to war based on lies. His claim that the war started on American soil took advantage of the general ignorance of the American people. Other presidents have unfortunately followed this bad example.

But this book covers so much ground I can see it becoming a required text in college history courses. The author clearly has a solid grasp on his subject matter and his writing style, while polemical at times, it does get the message across.

Well-deserved praise
This book is truly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize and inclusion in the Oxford History Of the United States series.I was a bit apprehensive when picking up this massive book and deciding whether to purchase. As I randomly thumbed through the pages, every page I read had an interesting passage.Upon purchase,the entire book was interesting, comprehensive and complete. As mentioned in other reader reviews, Howe's writing did slant toward modern politically-correct analysis(especially anti-Andrew Jackson and Polk).I did not feel this was a negative in that he fairly presented the facts and a comprehensive overview(economic,political,social and religous atmosphere) of the times to allow the reader his/her own thought provoking conclusions.One of the finest history books I've read ,and the best for the era it was written about.