Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having read The Glorious Cause and Empire of Liberty, I prepared myself for what I expected to be a more sedate and dry effort in What Hath God Wrought given the period. But I was surprised to find that these years were characterized by political intrigue, critical conflicts, mercurial leaders, technological and social change, along with the oppressive heritage and reality of slavery. Indeed the Introduction states, "Few periods in American history have witnessed changes as diverse, deep, and durable as the three decades following the War of 1812."

We are treated to the origins of feminism and abolitionism, the Missouri Compromise and the Mexican War, the Monroe Doctrine, and business innovation. The telegraph and railroad were hugely influential on all aspects of American life speeding up commerce, politics, news, territorial settlement, and mixing the melting pot of immigrants. In fact, the title of the book comes from Samuel F.B. Morse's first telegraph message. Howe reminds us throughout that this period was driven by communication and transportation improvements. In so doing, he challenges previous histories that call it a time of the "market revolution" - he contends the market economy was already established.

I was surprised by the opposition to America's imperial destiny of territorial expansion. Many Americans contested Manifest Destiny arguing it violated the country's democratic and religious ideals. Communication improvements also propelled the slavery debate. People asked themselves how can an empire dedicated to liberty continue with this practice? The inconsistency was becoming glaringly apparent increasing tension and friction.

The continuing conflict with the Natives is given new perspective. Howe contends that Native Americans collaborated with whites in altering their environment and depleting its resources which goes against the view that they were over-run and lost a sense of nobility. The Natives suffered a decisive loss following the War of 1812 due to a lack of pan-tribal cooperation and the pursuit of short-term gain. They effectively acted as mercenaries for decades and never were considered a nation as a result.

Howe provides vivid descriptions of living conditions in this time: "dirty, smelly, laborious, and uncomfortable." So it was a good thing that brothers-in-law Procter and Gamble took mountains of lard and started their soap business in this period. Society was also incredibly young with the median age being 16 and only 1 in 8 being over 43 years old.

Howe provides a wealth of new material and analysis on the War of 1812. He credits the conflict with providing Canada a defining moment in its national history and argues that it is more justified than the United States in making the claim. He quotes Perkins who says, "Seldom has a nation so successful practiced self-induced amnesia" - in reference to America's view on the war's results. The origin of the "White House" and Inauguration ceremony protocol stemmed from this conflict and makes for interesting reading.

A more diversified economy was meant to cement the Union and did for a time even through conflicts with Britain, Russia, Spain and France. In fact, this was a more turbulent time than I had known. And it was also turbulent economically with the Panic of 1819 becoming a template for future recessions and depressions (uncomfortably mirroring the Great Recession of 2008). It was the first time the American people collectively experienced a sharp downward swing. A commentator of the time observed, "The Bank was saved but the people were ruined" (this could be a quote from 2009 or 2010). Yet the economy charged on fueled by growth through lower transportation costs and mass production improvements. This, in turn, had social and cultural impacts growing the middle-class and beginning the pursuit of happiness with unparalleled fervor.

Business and investment decisions benefited from increased access to and speed of information. So much so that improvements in communications and transportation would overthrow the tyranny of distance and accelerate settlement and development from coast to coast. Newspapers and the Post Office were instrumental in the country's maturation. And the rural and urban divide was becoming increasingly apparent.

I enjoyed Howe's portrayals of key players like Monroe, Taylor, and Winfield Scott. I want to read more on Scott who had an amazing career and innovated so much in military affairs including audacious and complex amphibious landings in a campaign from the war with Mexico. Scott even designed a flat-bottomed landing craft to bring troops ashore one hundred years before D-Day in Normandy.

Though not as strong as The Glorious Cause or Empire of Liberty, Daniel Walker Howe has written a compelling history backed by impressive research. The result is a journey that takes the reader through 30 years and 900 pages smoothly along with thought-provoking challenges to the perceptions of the US in this period. I am now moving onto the next volume: Battle Cry of Freedom and thank The Oxford History of the United States for putting this amazing series together.