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What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States) | 
 enlarge | Author: Daniel Walker Howe
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
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Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 3513
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 928
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.7 x 2.3
ISBN: 0195078942
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.5
EAN: 9780195078947
ASIN: 0195078942
Publication Date: October 29, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: text excellent,dust jacket has small three corner tear on bottom front, 1/4 inch tear on dj spine area, dj has some wear on edges and corners, book is new just dj damaged
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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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 A fabulous and scholarly addition to the Oxford History of the United States October 6, 2007
Shawn S. Sullivan (USA)
140 out of 145 found this review helpful
What Hath God Wrought, the latest entry into the marvelous series, The Oxford History of the United States, by Daniel Walker Howe, is another major score for readers and historians alike. It is well a thought out, broad in scope, interesting in concept and a very readable narrative of the United States from the end of the War of 1812 (1815) to the end of the Mexican American War (1848). Howe's subtitle, "The Transformation of America" is proven in an interdisciplinary way throughout its pages. Perhaps the editor, David M. Kennedy, puts it best, "Like Tocqueville's (Democracy in America), his deepest subject in not simply politics - though the pages that follow do full justice to the tumultuous and consequential politics of the era - but the entire array of economic, technological, social, cultural, and even psychological developments that were beginning to shape a distinctively American national identity. Howe brings to bear an impressive command of modern scholarship to explicate topics as varied as the Mexican War; the crafting of the Monroe Doctrine and the clash with Britain over the Oregon country; the emergence of the Whig, Free Soil, and Republican Parties; the Lone Star revolution in Texas and the gold rush in California; the sectional differentiation of the American economy; the accelerating pace of both mechanical and cultural innovations, not least as they affected the organization of the household and the lives of women; and the emergence of a characteristic American literature in the works of writers like Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, Margaret Fuller, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman." Howe himself lives up to his words - "Along with the traditional subject matter of history - political, diplomatic, and military events - the story includes the social, economic, and cultural developments that have extensively concerned historians in recent years. This reflects my own conviction that both kinds of history are essential to a full understanding of the past." This is a fabulous historical narrative of a period in history that is generally, and wrongly, simply viewed through the "Jacksonian Democracy" lens. A fine read and clearly worthy of this terrific and scholarly series by the Oxford University Press.
On a somewhat different note, it appears as if readers are in for a treat over the next 12- 24 months with the "missing" volumes at least having manuscripts into David Kennedy (Freedom from Fear) and the series' new editor with the passing of C. Vann Woodward.
Volumes 1 and 2, covering the Colonial Period (1672-1763) have been assigned, in some order, yet to be made public (that I am aware of) to Fred Anderson (University of Colorado) and Andrew Cayton (Miami University of Ohio).
Volume 3 - The Glorious Cause 1763-89, Robert Middlekauf PUBLISHED
Volume 4 - The U.S. from 1789-1815, Gordon Wood (Brown University)
Volume 5- What Hath God Wrought 1815-48, Daniel Walker Howe (UCLA) PUBLISHED and reviewed above
Volume 6- Battle Cry of Freedom, 1848-65, James McPherson PUBLISHED
Volume 7- Leviathan: America Comes of Age, 1865-1900, H.W. Brands (Texas) - scratched from series but due out in October/November of this year (2007)
Volume 8- Reawakened Nation, 1896-1929, Bruce Schulman (Boston University)
Volume 9- Freedom from Fear, 1929-1945, David M. Kennedy PUBLISHED
Volume 10- Grand Expectations, 1945-74, James T. Patterson PUBLISHED
Volume 11- Restless Giant, 1974-2000, James T. Patterson PUBLISHED
Volume 12 - a volume on US Foreign Policy, not period specific, George C. Herring (University of Kentucky) due out 2008
A comprehensive overview of a dynamic young nation October 19, 2007
Mark Klobas (Tempe, AZ)
53 out of 58 found this review helpful
The decades following the War of 1812 witnessed some of the most dramatic changes in our nation'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 reflected well 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.
 Not History December 29, 2007
Philip Laurence (Yonkers, NY USA)
39 out of 135 found this review helpful
About halfway through the book I began to wonder if this was a history book or a political statement. The latter won out. The book's main thrust was the evil done by white men to the American Indians, the African Americans and the Mexicans and by inference the evil of Bush's war on Iraq.
I cannot understand how the editors of The Oxford History of the United States permitted the book to be published under their umbrella, a little more than "political correctness" gone wild.
I am aware that this is a statement rather than a review and I did read the book through.
 What hath Howe wrought? February 14, 2008
Whippis (San Francisco, CA United States)
36 out of 54 found this review helpful
The latest volume of the Oxford History of the United States is What Hath God Wrought which covers 1815-1848. The series is overall outstanding, McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom is one of the volumes and likely the most well known. Each are great general histories which not only use primary sources but comment on the changes in the given era's interpretation by historians. The bibliographies are worth the price of book. If I were to teach U.S. history I'd use these in lieu of a traditional text book (which are generally poor).
However, this latest volume is striking in the amount of editorializing going on. Granted I'm an Andrew Jackson fan so am sensitive to criticism but here's an example:
In attempting to show that AJ's 1828 presidential victory was sectional and southern he recounts that Jackson won 178 to 83 in the Electoral college but the election would have gone to Adams had electoral votes been apportioned without use of the 3/5 rule for slaves. Fine, that is likely true. But what he fails to explain is how Jackson won the popular vote 647,286 (56%) to 508,064 (44%). 3/5 effects representation and electoral votes, not popular votes. Think about that- in essentially condemning the 3/5 rule the author has made the case for it- had it not existed Adams would have been elected despite an overwhelming popular vote against him. Does the author then take the old Federalist perspective that the people cannot be trusted and thus the EC's job to correct them? The author further fails to point out in this section (but does so later in a single sentence) that Jackson tired to abolish the EC in favor of a straight popular election for president. It would seem to me this is quite fitting for an era where differing view of nationalism had completely buried all Federalist opposition.
Also note that in 1824 AJ won the popular vote (41%) and had the most EC votes (99) but since there was no majority winner the election went to the house and to Adams. In 1832 AJ again won the popular vote w/ 56%.
Also, Howe seems to use the (to me) charged statement "white supremacy" with great frequency in regards to Indian removal. The implication of this phrase to my mind is that the motivation was based on race. In my readings I feel that this is a simple, modern and unrealistic interpretation. I believe that Jackson would have been adamant (and was) about removal of ANY threat to U.S. expansion, be it Indian, Spanish, English, free blacks or martians. The drive to expand more than racism was the primary motivation for removal. Jackson hated any who stood in the way of U.S. expansion- his earlier actions in Florida against the Spanish and English are proof of this.
Howe claims Jackosn was an Anglophoe and thus a hypocrite when he later treats with them. Again, Jackson was much more a Nationalist and would do anything to further U.S. interest as he saw it, even compromising other of his beliefs which were not as high a priority.
It seems like the author is not a fan of Jackson personally and thus is overly critical of him to the point of bias as noted by the above examples. I am surprised this made it past the series editor. In fact I found the volumes which cover the most recent U.S. eras- Grand Expectations (1945-1974) Restless Giant (1974-2000) to be very even handed in their analysis. Which actually surprised me in that more recent history tends to be more divisive to me as a reader since I lived through some of it and therefore have an ingrained point of view, have not had enough time to see its effects and thus am more skeptical and likely to disagree with any analysis.
This volume's other sections are on par with the rest of the series but Howe seems to have a personal affinity for Adams (as did George Dangerfield and historians before him), a person I suspect Howe sees as a kindred spirit and fellow intellectual. Howe seems to nurse a deep dislike for Jackson, the "man's man" as Howe puts it. Almost as if the historian sees Jackson as one of his own childhood tormentors- a tough guy with no philosophical basis for his actions. I had high hopes for this volume after reading that Howe rejected the conclusions of both Charles Sellers's The Market Revolution (which argued that market capitalism was forced on the people from the top down) and The Jacksonian Era by Schlesinger (which was a very far left leaning interpretation).
Despite that, however, Howe's main thesis of a communication & transportation revolution which facilitated ideas of nationalism was intriguing. Would be nice to see this idea explored in a smaller more focused work.
 What Hath God Wrought: Another Excellent Volume in the Oxford History of the United States is a scholarly and well-written tome November 20, 2007
C. M Mills (Knoxville Tennessee)
24 out of 26 found this review helpful
What Hath God Wrought were the first words spoken over the telegraph. They were uttered by the inventor of that device Samuel F.B. Morse on May 24, 1844 as the line from Washington D.C. to Baltimore became operable. The words were taken from Numbers 23;23 in the Bible.
So begins this magisterial history of America from the War of 1812's ending at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 to the conclusion of the Mexican War. With brilliance, insight and expertise on a broad array of topics the author Daniel Walker Howe has crafted a wonderful panoramic view of our land in this era of social, political, transportational and communicational change.
Three major changes occurred in this time which would transform rural America into the beginnings of the industrial giant she is today:
1. The growth of the market economy aided by internal improvements such as canals, railroads and mass communication innovations such as a cheap press to meet growing the needs of a growing literacy in the populace;
the demise of the National Bank and the growth of paper money circulation and more international trade being developed.
2. The growth of churches as voluntary and no longer state controlled. Howe devotes a good deal of space to the rise of the Transcendental movement in New England; the rise of the homegrown American Mormons; the
rise of abolitionism, femininistic movements and the influence religion had in political and cultural life.
3. The rise of the national political parties and the beginning of modern
campaigns for office. We see the clash between the Democrats under the leadership of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren dueling with Henry Clay and the Whigs during much of this period. When the era ended in 1848 the stage was set for the bitter national debate over the role of slavery in American life culminating in the bloodbath of the Civil War and the freeing of the slaves.
Howe defines the differences between the Jacksonian Democrats and the Whigs by saying of the former:
The Democrats favored the removal of Native Americans to west of the Mississippi River; they favored low tarrifs and chattel slavery, were inimcal to internal improvements and were imperialistic in their manifest destiny quest to master the continent. Democrat James K. Polk the eleventh president launched the war against Mexico in 1846 and dueled with the British over the Oregon territory. He won California, New Mexico, Oregan and Texas for the United States.
The Whigs (named for the British party which opposed monarchy: slam at Andrew Jackson's hegemony over national politics as seen in the nullification crisis with South Carolina in 1832 . Southern Rights Senator and Vice-President John C. Calhoun was a bitter enemy of Jackson.)
The Whigs favored internal improvements; tariffs; the Bank of the United States under the directorship of Nicholas Biddle and a strong Federal government. Their leaders were men like Henry Clay and one of the heroes of the book-John Quincy Adams. Adams supported good causes and was a friend of African-Americans and Indians. Like Congressman Abraham Lincoln he opposed the expansionistic Mexican War. Arguments over the validity of the invasion of Mexico remind this reviewer of the battles over our involvement in Iraq by an aggressive administration eager to display military clout around the world.
This massive text of 900 pages is not for the timid! It is a detailed account of the era which is little remembered by most Americans. It was
a pivotal time when the old America of the Revolution was transformed into the modern age. Such giants strode the earth in those days! In the Senate there was Clay, Calhoun, Webster and Benton. In the White House were such men as Old Hickory Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren; in the military realm strode Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor and the young Robert E; Lee. American authors came into their own as our national literature saw the publication of classics by Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller.
Howe is pro-Whig and has harsh things to say about Andrew Jackson who was a white supremist. The Whig Party dissolved over slavery with many of them becoming members of the new Republican Party led to victory in the presidential contest of 1860 by Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
America in the 1815-1848 timespan was rowdy, rough and xenephobic. It was a white man's land though women and black voices were being raised. The American Indians were persecuted and immigrants such as the newly arrived Irish fresh from the 1845 potato famine had to fight hard for their place in a new society. It was also a time of unbounded optimism when men and women rose to the top through hard work, growing educational opportunities and an expansion of the vocational market. The American experiment of democracy was then and is now a bright beacon of hope to a suffering humanity. Dr. Howe has done a brilliant job in this wonderful book!
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