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

944 Pages·2007·20.45 MB·English

by  Daniel Walker Howe

W H AT H A TH G
W R O U G HT
THE T R A N S F O R M A T I ON
OF AMERICA, 1 8 1 5 - 1 8 48
WHAT HATH GOD
W R O U G HT
THE TRANSFORMATION
OF AMERICA, 1815-1848
DANIEL WALKER HOWE
THE OXFORD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
is by far the most respected multi-volume
history of our nation. The series includes two
Pulitzer Prize winners, two New York Times
bestsellers, and winners of the Bancroft and
Parkman Prizes. Now, in What Hath God
Wrought, historian Daniel Walker Howe il­
luminates 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 rev­
olutionary improvements in transportation
and communications that accelerated the ex­
tension of the American empire. Railroads,
canals, newspapers, and the telegraph dra­
matically 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—ad­
vocates of public education and economic
integration, defenders of the rights of Indi­
ans, 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 bit­
terly controversial but brilliantly executed
war waged against Mexico to gain California
and Texas for the United States.
By 1848 America had been transformed.
Wliat Hath God Wrought provides a monu­
mental narrative of this formative period in
United States history.
DANIEL WALKER HOWE
is Rhodes Professor of American History
Emeritus, Oxford University, and Professor
of History Emeritus, University of California,
Los Angeles. He is the author of The Political
Culture of the American Whigs and Making
the American Self: -Jonathan Edwards to
Abraham Lincoln. He lives in Los Angeles.
JACKET DESIGN: RACHEL PERKINS
JACKET IMAGE: WHIG POLITICAL BANNER.CA 1840. TERRANCEJ.
KENNEDY. COURTESY 0T. FENIMORE ART MUSEUM.
C00PERST0WN. NEW YORK
PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD WALKER
AUTHOR PHOTO:JULIE FRANKEN
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
www.oup.com
Advance acclaim for
WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT
THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA, 1815-1848
Daniel Walker Howe
"Supported by engaging prose, Howe's "The product of a lifetime of learning, this
achievement will surely be seen as one of book will captivate general read­
the most outstanding syntheses of U.S. his­ ers and spark controversy among histori­
tory published this decade." ans. Challenging standard accounts, Howe
—Publishers Weekly argues that many of those maligned as 'elit­
(starred review) ists' championed the rights of women, Af­
rican Americans, and Indians and that the
"The decades covered by this book wrought
animating principle of Andrew Jackson's
a profound transformation in American life.
mythic 'Democratic' party was the extension
Expansion through annexation, purchase,
of white-male supremacy across the conti­
and conquest doubled the size of the Unit­
nent. Both a panoramic overview and a \ id,
ed States. A revolution iu communications
nuanced account of particular individuals
and transportation tied these vast expanses
and incidents, What Hath God Wrought re­
together and gave the economy a powerful
flects Howe's mastery of the sources and his
impulse. The Second Great Awakening in
deep engagement with rival interpretations
American Protestantism generated a host
of these pivotal years."
of reform movements that reshaped the po­
—James T. Kloppenberg,
litical landscape. Howe has chronicled these
Harvard University
progressive but unsettling changes in an
narrative that offers important new
"A new interpretation of the his­
insights on these crucial decades."
torical foundations of modern America."
—James M. McPherson,
—Kathryn Kish Sklar,
author of Battle Cry of Freedom
author of Tfie Emergence of Women's
Rights within the Antislavery Movement
"Probably the most culturally sensitive po­
litical history as well as the best politically
"The years between the War of 1812 and
informed social history ever written for this
the acquisition of the far West were both
transformative period in American history.
enormously significant and deeply, darkly
Its learning is vast, its judgments discerning,
portentious. Daniel Walker Howe's history
and its depiction of both triumphs and weak­
of that era is in its insights
nesses of American civilization exceedingly
and mature understanding and especially for
well balanced. It is a splei addition to a
its breadth and texture—a truly continental
splendid series."
perspective on the grandest events and on
—Mark A. Noll,
how Americans passed their days in work,
University of Notre Dame
moving about, and worship."
—Elliott West,
University of Arkansas
What Hath God Wrought
The Oxford History of the United States
David M. Kennedy, General Editor
ROBERT MIDDLEKAUFF
THE GLORIOUS CAUSE
The American Revolution, 1763-1789
DANIEL WALKER HOWE
WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT
The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
JAMES M. MCPHERSON
BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM
The Civil War Era
DAVID M. KENNEDY
FREEDOM FROM FEAR
The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945
JAMES T. PATTERSON
GRAND EXPECTATIONS
The United States, 1945-1974
JAMES T. PATTERSON
RESTLESS GIANT
The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore
WHAT HATH GOD
WROUGHT
The Transformation
of America, 1815-1848
DANIEL WALKER HOWE
OXIORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2OO7
OXPORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 2007 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Howe, Daniel Walker.
What hath God wrought : the transformation of America,
1815-1848 / Daniel Walker Howe,
p. cm. — (Oxford history of the United States)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-507894-7
1. United States—History—1815-1861.
2. United States—Foreign relations—1815 —1861.
3. United States—Politics and government—1815-1861.
4. United States—Economic conditions—To 1865.
5. Social change—United States—History—19th century. I. Title.
E338.H692007 973.5—dc22 2007012370
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 89
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To the Memory of
John Quincy Adams
Whatever the heats of party may be, however the tone of disappointment
against Mr. Adams may sometimes rise to something too like hatred,
there is undoubtedly a deep reverence and affection for the man in the
nation's heart; and any one may safely prophesy that his reputation, half a
century after his death, will be of a very honourable kind. He fought a
stout and noble battle in Congress last session in favour of discussion of
the slavery question, and in defence of the right of petition upon it; on be­
half of women as well as of men. While hunted, held at bay, almost torn
to pieces by an outrageous majority—leaving him, I believe, in absolute
unity—he preserved a boldness and coolness as amusing as they were ad­
mirable. Though he now and then vents his spleen with violence when
disappointed in a favourite object, he seems able to bear perfectly well
that which it is the great fault of Americans to shrink from, singularity and
blame. He seems, at times, reckless of opinion; and this is the point of his
character which his countrymen seem, naturally, least able to comprehend.
—Harriet Martineau,
Retrospect of Western Travel, 1838