Vignettes of individuals well-known (Sojourner Truth, Eli Whitney) and obscure (John Ball, Anthony Trollope?s mother) work well as windows on wider subjects. Howe is at his best when depicting battles ? soldiers shivering in the chilly mist covering New Orleans (prologue), and Winfield Scott brilliantly advancing upon Veracruz, Chapultepec, and Cerro Gordo as Santa Anna hastily departs without his prosthetic leg (chapter 19). Maryland, the Missouri Compromise, utopian societies, Cherokee removal, the Charles River Bridge case, the Bank War, the Amistad, Transcendentalism, the California gold rush, the Irish potato blight. Aside from politics and religion, the book is a kaleidoscope of well-worn subjects ? the Erie Canal, the Monroe Doctrine, the case of McCulloch v. Chapters 5, 8, 12, and 16 largely concern religion, for example. Much of the story is linear, although some chapters tackle specific topics. 283, 689-90.) In a somewhat heavy-handed metaphor, Howe likens the Democrats to the mythical ?frontier marksman? while noting that the Whig-like artillery actually won wars (pp. He frequently laments what might have been had the Whigs prevailed politically. His admiration for John Quincy Adams is apparent, his disdain for Andrew Jackson palpable. 706), calling the Whigs the ?party of America?s future? (p. Howe clearly favors the Whig emphasis on ?qualitative economic improvement? rather than the Democrats? pursuit of ?quantitative expansion of territory? (p.
Howe casts the first half of the nineteenth century as a struggle between Democrats and Whigs over the future of America he devotes more than half of the twenty chapters primarily to politics. Part lively anecdote, part tedious generalization, this newest tome in the Oxford History of the United States provides a good overview for the general reader and a rich resource for scholars seeking citations to original research. Howe offers little original scholarship, but he has done his homework ? his footnotes display familiarity with virtually all of the major and many of the minor works of economic, political, cultural, and just plain history regarding the early republic. Morse, Howe deliberately eschews punctuation, leaving the reader to decide whether the phrase should end with a question mark or an exclamation point. The title?s initial clause replicates the earliest telegraphed message like Samuel F.B.
Innovations in transportation, improvements in communication, the fire of religion, and the rise of political parties: these are the themes of Daniel Walker Howe?s huge history of the period sandwiched by the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Reviewed for EH.NET by Jenny Wahl, Department of Economics, Carleton College. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 Author(s):ĭaniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848.
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