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Reviews
| What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848, by Daniel Walker Howe. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. 904 pages. $35.00, cloth.
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| Far too many scholars view the past through a painfully narrow historical lens. Increasingly, that perspective precludes the desire or ability to explore an era with a wider vision. Daniel Walker Howe fortunately brings that clarified and broadened view into focus in a volume that integrates politics, foreign affairs, economic, social, and cultural history. This tour-de-force, far ranging in scope and magisterial in narrative, deservedly received the Pulitzer Prize. |
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Howe declares that he intends to tell a story, not argue a thesis. Perhaps. The work is long, but never dull. He dedicates pages to explaining the struggle of Andrew Jackson against the Second Bank of the United States, the plight of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church in Illinois, and the rise of the "Golden Age" of American literature in New England. The author, a distinguished historian of the Whig Party, has clearly not distanced himself from his intellectual roots. The heroic figures and visionaries are invariably Whigs, especially the learned John Quincy Adams, a man of "talent and virtue" (p. 244). Henry Clay emerges as a skillful and principled moderate. The villains are always Democrats. Howe has few good words for the likes of Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, or James K. Polk. Although they brought a modicum of political skill to the table, they advocated the concept of territorial imperialism and white-male-only democracy that, while triumphant during its time, represented a regressive rather than progressive ethos for America. The author sympathizes with the political and social agenda of Whiggery which questioned notions of Jacksonian majoritarian democracy and embraced merchant capitalism and modern ideas of communication, progress, and social reform. The War of 1812 and Mexican War serve as book-end conflicts to define the age. Within those parameters, the commercial and territorial expansion of the United States—aided immeasurably by revolutions in science, industry, transportation (roads, steamboats, canals, and railroads), and communication (post office, libraries, newspapers, and telegraph)—changed the nation. The Whigs had an imaginative program that linked those innovations to the business community, a strong central government, and central planning. Howe applauds the agents who advocated national or state government action for the public good and produced an exchange of products or ideas. Adams "stood for a vision of coherent economic progress" (p. 279) while New York Governor De Witt Clinton, the champion of the Erie Canal, appears as a "forgotten hero" (p. 241). |
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The era also witnessed significant social and religious change highlighted by various humanitarian and moral reforms, utopian communities, and the powerful Second Great Awakening. Howe brilliantly examines and analyzes these topics waxing sympathetically about their contributions to an evolving America. He describes a union challenged by new forces of urbanization, immigration, and industrialization. The reactions did not always reflect positively upon the American people. As violence periodically wrecked havoc on cities, the Jacksonians supported public outrage and mob disturbances while the Whigs espoused a more orderly pursuit of the rule of law. |
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Howe laments that while the Democrats seemed to dominate the era, the Whigs had their chance. Regrettably, they chose John Tyler as their vice presidential selection in 1840, "one of the worst mistakes ever made by any political party" (p. 572). Tyler, of course, blocked every effort by the Whig Congress to enact enlightened economic reform. The Whigs would never again control the national government. Instead, the 1840s featured the imperial quests of Tyler (Texas) and Polk (California, New Mexico, and Oregon) intended to fulfill the nation's Manifest Destiny and provide for additional slave territory. Polk's provocative posture towards Mexico produced a war that extended the country to the Pacific, but came at a high price in terms of exacerbating sectional tensions. Howe suggests that a Clay victory in 1844 may well have averted a conflict with Mexico and perhaps even forestalled the Civil War for some years. |
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This exceptional volume should be kept handy by anyone interested in the antebellum period. Teachers will find it particularly useful not only as a reference tool, but as a wonderful source of anecdotes and arguments that will enliven discussions and intrigue students. Howe is fearless. He rejects Charles Sellers' notion of a "market revolution" and offers this work as an antidote to the defense of Jacksonianism put forth by Sean Wilentz in his recent persuasive saga, The Rise of American Democracy. The duly warned reader should perhaps explore the political aspects of the books in tandem. Southerners, too, might find cause for annoyance. Howe presents a cursory discussion of southern (white or black) politics, society, and culture. These observations are in no way, however, intended to detract from a work that is a thoroughly researched synthesis. What Hath God Wrought has already become the standard comprehensive examination of the era. |
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| University of South Florida |
John M. Belohlavek |
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