| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 95.1

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 95.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Providence and the Invention of the United States, 1607–1876. By Nicholas Guyatt. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. x, 341 pp. Cloth, $75.00, ISBN 978-0-521-86788-7. Paper, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-521-68730-0.)

Nicholas Guyatt asserts that diverse groups of Americans, from 1607 to 1876, used changing conceptions of providence to shape the national identity. The idea that God had a special plan for America certainly appealed to those anxious to perceive his blessings, but it gained no more currency than did other providential scenarios that imagined the nation suffering from punishments inflicted by a God angry with Americans' impiety, tolerance of slavery, cruelty toward the Indians, and aggressive empire building. Guyatt recognizes the danger of reducing 270 years of history to a single explanatory theme and responds by being modest in his assertions. The book's effectiveness is secured by Guyatt's dependence on periodization and his understanding that conceptions of providence changed over time.

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