daniel walker howe what hath god wrought

I have a lot of sympathy with this view, especially since a burgeoning market economy is traceable in America much earlier than the period covered in this book. Howe argues that the revolutions in transportation (canals, railroads) and communication (telegraph especially) did more to transform antebellum America than the market revolutions typically put forward by other historians. Adams and some other important but easily forgotten figures like Winfield Scott from their relative obscurity. Howe's obvious distaste for Andrew Jackson is a welcome corrective to our culture's celebration of the first truly, deeply authoritarian president an overrated blowhard if there ever was one.

Howe's story of American expansion culminates in the bitterlycontroversial but brilliantly executed war waged against Mexico to gain California and Texas for the United States.Winner of the New-York Historical Society American History Book PrizeFinalist, 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction … ( more) 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. 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 trueprophets of America's future.

In his story, the author weaves together political and military eventswith social, economic, and cultural history. These innovationsprompted 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. Railroads, canals, newspapers, and the telegraph dramatically lowered travel times and spurred the spread of information. In this Pulitzer prize-winning, critically acclaimed addition to the series, historian Daniel Walker Howe illuminates the period from the battle of New Orleans to the end of theMexican-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. The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation.

Daniel walker howe what hath god wrought