A sweeping history of the 1840s, Manifest Destinies captures the enormous sense of possibility that inspired America's growth and shows how the acquisition of western territories forced the nation to come to grips with the deep fault line that would bring war in the near future.
Steven E. Woodworth gives us a portrait of America at its most vibrant and expansive. It was a decade in which the nation significantly enlarged its boundaries, taking Texas, New Mexico, California, and the Pacific Northwest; William Henry Harrison ran the first modern populist campaign, focusing on entertaining voters rather than on discussing issues; prospectors headed west to search for gold; Joseph Smith founded a new religion; railroads and telegraph lines connected the country's disparate populations as never before.
When the 1840s dawned, Americans were feeling optimistic about the future- the population was growing, economic conditions were improving, and peace had reigned for nearly thirty years. A hopeful nation looked to the West, where vast areas of unsettled land seemed to promise prosperity to anyone resourceful enough to take advantage. And yet political tensions roiled below the surface; as the country took on new lands, slavery emerged as an irreconcilable source of disagreement between North and South, and secession reared its head for the first time.
Rich in detail and full of dramatic events and fascinating characters, Manifest Destinies is an absorbing and highly entertaining account of a crucial decade that forged a young nation's character and destiny.
By:
Steven E. Woodworth
Imprint: Random House Inc
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions:
Height: 203mm,
Width: 132mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9780307277701
ISBN 10: 0307277704
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 15 November 2011
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Maps Preface PART ONE: The Two Party System The Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign Tyler, Clay, and the Durability of the Two-Party System Abolitionism PART TWO: Westward Expansion The Oregon Trail The Allure and the Danger of California The Mormons and Their Migration PART THREE: The Politics of Expansion Tyler and Texas The Election of 1844 Texas Annexation PART FOUR: War with Mexico Armies Along the Rio Grande The Monterrey Campaign New Mexico, Chihuahua, and California Buena Vista Veracruz, Cerro Gordo, and the Politics of Expansion To the Gates of Mexico City A Conquered Capital and a Negotiated Peace PART FIVE: The Political System and the Controversies of Expansion The Election of 1848 The California Gold Rush California and the Expansion of Slavery The Struggle for Compromise Notes Index
Reviews for Manifest Destinies: America's Westward Expansion and the Road to the Civil War
[This] new, magnificent account . . . is full of wonder even for seasoned students of U.S. history. -The Dallas Morning News A vivid, episodic pageant of westward-ho empire building. . . . This is narrative history writ large and vigorously-with foreshadowings of tragedy. -Publishers Weekly In this balanced political and military history, Woodworth tracks political tensions exacerbated by continental expansion. . . . Woodworth dramatically presages the collapse of political parties in the 1850s by his accessible account of the 1840s. -Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
