What Hath God Wrought

The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. In this 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 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 revolutionary improvements in transportation and communications that accelerated the extension of the American empire. Railroads canals newspapers and the telegraph dramatically 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--advocates of public education and economic integration defenders of the rights of Indians 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
bitterly controversial 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 Prize Finalist 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction