The Shaping of America: A People's History of the Young Republic

A People's History #3

by Page Smith

The 2nd offering in Smith's People's History, this volume, like its predecessor, earns its title by being accessible to the general reader rather than by demagoguery. In telling the story of the 1st half-century of the Republic Smith does include Shays Whiskey Rebellions & looks into the conditions of women & slaves, as well as the "lower orders"; but he integrates these concerns into a complete historical panorama (unlike Howard Zinn's recent A People's History of the United States). Overall, he organizes the period from 1776 to 1826 around an American "schizophrenia" represented by two different views of people & government: on the one hand, the "Classical-Christian" view (represented by the Federalists) of the sinfulness & limitations of humanity; on the other, the "Secular-Democratic" belief (held by the Democratic-Republicans) in the perfectability & genuine equality of mortals. The 1st view is realized in the Constitution, according to Smith, & is spelled out in the Federalist Papers, while the 2nd inspired the Declaration & later became the ideology atop an essentially Classical-Christian polity. The election of 1800's defeat of the Federalists is the turning-point in the account, really marking a watershed between the two views. He uses the occasion to break his narrative with chapters on cities & the countryside, the family, religion, medicine, art, education, the west & the south, before resuming with the Presidency of Jefferson. Arguing that the period was one of growing rationalization in religion & mores, he describes "our schizophrenia: we were to become the most powerful capitalist industrial power in the world under the banner of Jeffersonian agrarian democracy." The opposition here, then, is basically the familiar one between Jefferson & Adams-Hamilton, & Smith's preference is clearly for the latter pair. But even if his division is overly schematic, he manages to incorporate all the major events of the 1st half-century, from Independence to Andrew Jackson, with a social-historian's eye for the everyday, & that makes this a very valuable contribution to our historical self-understanding.--Kirkus (edited)

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

894 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1979

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Charles Page Smith, who was known by his middle name, was a U.S. historian, professor, author, and newspaper columnist.
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Smith graduated with a B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1940. He then worked at Camp William James, a center for youth leadership training opened in 1940 by Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, a Dartmouth College professor, as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Smith was awarded a Purple Heart for his service as a company commander of the 10th Mountain Division of the United States Army during World War II. (wikipedia)

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The struggle against the political encroachment of Britain and the ensuing military struggle led to independence, but now the real problems began how to follow up. The Shaping of America: A People’s History of the Young Republic is the third volume of Page Smith’s A People’s History series going over the history of the United States with this volume covering the aftermath of the 1783 Treaty of Paris to the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1826.

Smith viewed the young nation caught between two intellectual consciousnesses—the Classical-Christian of the Revolutionary generation, whose last gasp brought about the Constitution, and the Secular-Democratic inspired by the Enlightenment in the generation that followed the Founders, though ironically led by a few of the Founders. Though Secular-Democratic thought came out on top, it was deeply influenced by the intellectual viewpoint it had replaced especially as the international scene saw the resurgence of absolute monarchism in the aftermath of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Though politically the Secular-Democratic intellectual view was victorious, socially the Protestant Christian emphasis on redeeming the world was a major thread in the American tapestry and eventually come up against the issue that the Founders and the next generation didn’t want to confront, black slavery. As Smith ended this volume, he highlighted the growing cloud that slavery was becoming for those in the North and South while the “original” West was beginning to pick sides. But once again I found Smith’s facts about Native American tribes inaccurate in some instances that I was shaking my head, and I don’t know much about that subject which speaks volumes. Overall, this was a well-written and fascinating look at the history of the young republic, while Smith’s analysis or chosen themes might not be for everyone but that is the point as it reveals the uncomfortable facts that need to be addressed.

The Shaping of America follows up the two-volume history of the American Revolution with a fascinating and engaging look at the young republic as Page Smith reveals all facets of the United States over four critical decades.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page Smith is an "old-fashioned," multi-disciplined knowledgeable historian, who writes with felicity and grace. He goes far beyond familiar narrative anyone who has taken an American history course might remember. Because the scope of his work (8 volumes in all, covering the colonization period through the New Deal of the early 20th Century), he is able to introduce the reader to many memorable men and women usually left silent in the past. He makes substantial use of primary documents, so the reader "hears" directly from our ancestors themselves, including farmers, women poets, religious believers and unbelievers, soldiers, etc. One comes away from his works not only better understanding "what" happened, but also how easily what has been written in our history books could have turned out otherwise. His kind of history is as exciting as fiction, and its characters every bit as rich. Highly recommended.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third volume of the eight-volume A People's History of the United States and follows the two-volume account of the revolution, A New Age Now Begina, published to coincide with the Bicentennial. The appended description in the edited Kirkus review is a fair representation of this text, showing clearly the conservative bent of both the author and his reviewer. (Personally, I prefer Zinn's history, but believe students should be exposed to both political tendencies described by author and reviewer).

[Jdb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1980 volume 3 of 8 covers the period after Constitution ratification to 1826 and is the best of the first 3 imo. The author’s insightful comments make this history anything but dull. Smith says his theme here is “The U.S. is a ‘gathering of nations’ more than a conventional nation”…”Each generation of immigrants, worse than the previous, in the eyes of the originals, was a check drawn on the Declaration of Independence & demanded it be paid by descendants of those who first articulated its sentiments.”

There is a 2 chapter narrative of the Lewis & Clark expedition that is simply sublime. The final chapter is entitled, ‘What happened to the founders?’, is poignant in its description of founders’ fear the survival of the government they created might not last.

Although the author is particularly hard on Jefferson about his cognitive dissonance over slavery ( and his Sally Hemings relationship even though the DNA evidence was not discovered until 1998 ), he gives him high praise for the Louisiana Purchase and his support for Lewis & Clark: “So ended one of the most remarkable odysseys in history , all of which was a projection of Jefferson’s imagination. Luck, handmaiden of intelligent energy was constantly with them. There was about the adventure a primal innocence-white men and red brothers unspoiled in Eden, a moment of purity and grace.”

LIke in the first 2 volumes, the author just doesn’t talk about politics, but summarizes many cultural, economic, and social characteristics of the period: Luxury: Americans’ obsession with making money; Settlers & Indians: “ If Easterners hadn’t speculated in Western lands & their desire to find settlers, it is doubtful the West would have been granted equality with the East.”: Immigration: “American was a land of contradictions-need & abundance, freedom & slavery, highest culture & lowest barbarism… it seems as though a genie chopped up all good & bad in a concoction & poured it over America”; Education: public schools; Medicine: crude-“ The long journeys prescribed for many ailments were perhaps the most efficacious since they removed the patients from the reach of the doctors”; Entrepreneurialism: Right & Left shoes were invented in Philadelphia around 1800 !

Because this is an overview, the ‘Who’ is only superficially explored, but the usual ‘What & When’ is here: Federalist/ Anti Federalist conflict, the problems of neutrality in midst of the Napoleonic wars, The Monroe Doctrine, Marbury v Madison, etc.

The volume concludes with nostalgic comments by aging founders & Revolutionary heroes:

John Jay in retirement-“The post brings me newspapers & by this we are taught the vanity of expecting that from the perfectibility of human nature will the multitudes become virtuous or wise or their demagogues candid or honest” (can anyone think of why this is still true in 2026?)

Lafayette quote on his 1824 tour of the U.S,-“ A toast to the perpetual union of the United States. It has always saved us in times of storm. One day it will save the world.”

[Keith Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been sitting in one of my bookcases for 50 years or so. I am not sure if I ever read it before but I suspect I tried and gave up. It is a formidable retelling of the early years (1776 - 1826) of our country. It differs from most histories in that it looks not only at events but also at changes in culture. Most of the book focuses on ideology differences between Federalists and Democrat-Republicans. Some of it can be quite tedious particularly if you are not interested in changes in religion, health practices, and rural society. That is not to say it is dull but some scanning is sometimes necessary. I was particularly drawn to the discussion of the Lewis and Clark expedition. It whetted my appetite for a more thorough discussion of their trek across the country.

[David]

I spent a long time reading this book because I read it for background on each president as I read them. Page Smith has written a very useful, non technical history of the US. Filled with facts, and loaded with comments to help the reader understand the "Why?" of what happened. I have all 8 volumes and plan to complete the set as I work my way through the presidents. I encourage anyone who likes US history to get this set. It can be purchased from used books for a few dollars ($3-$8) per book. It is written as a popular history designed for readers and not to impress other college profs, so it is very readable, and useful to understand the why of what happened. I cannot understand why this set is not in every library. Please do yourself a favor if you enjoy history and get Page Smith. Reading this set is like a drink of cold spring water in the dusty dessert of dry history written by academics that require iron will to continue reading. Go to ABE books, or Thrift Books and buy one of Page Smiths books and you will thank me. Vol 1-2 Cover Revolutionary war (Excellent) Vol 3 from the war to death of Jefferson and Adams. Vol 4 From 1826 to civil war. Etc. Never heard of Page Smith? All the more reason to get one of his books, unless you are some highly intellectual college prof who thinks a readable popular history is beneath your exalted status.

[Staci]

This is NOT like reading Twilight. It might take me longer than 2 days to read this 800 page book.