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Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era 1829-1877
Throes of The American Civil War Era by McDougall, Walter A.
816 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2008
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419 people want to read
About the author
Walter A. McDougall
17 books27 followersWalter A. McDougall is Professor of History and the Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania.
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May 21, 2025
A Tale Of Human Nature Set Free
Professor Walter McDougall of the University of Pennsylvania develops his understanding of American history as a "tale of human nature set free" throughout his lengthy study "Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era 1829 -- 1876" (2008). This book is the second of three volumes devoted to a history of the United States. The first volume "Freedom just around the Corner" covers the period 1585 -- 1828 while the third volume has not yet appeared. McDougall is a scholar in love with the United States but deeply conscious of its paradoxes. Further setting the tone for his history, he writes in his Preface "I believe the United States (so far) is the greatest success story in history. I believe Americans (on balance) are experts at self-deception. And I believe the 'creative corruption born of their pretense goes far to explain their success. The upshot is that American history is chock-full of cruelty and love, hypocrisy and faith, cowardice and courage, plus no small measure of tongue in cheek humor." McDougall says he has written his history with two broad rules in mind: avoid cant (he uses a more earthy term) and "write as if you are already dead." On the whole, he follows through. McDougall writes from a philosophical/religious perspective which I will discuss below.
The book begins and nearly ends with fire. It opens with a description of an 1835 fire in New York City which destroyed lower Manhattan. And one of the last sections of the book tells of the great Chicago fire of 1871 which gutted much of the city. In both cases, McDougall finds that the cities rose from their ashes through the energy and untrammeled efforts of individuals and community. The fires became blessings as old structures were burned away and entrepreneurs rebuilt the cities to be more powerful, energetic, and corrupt than they were before the catastrophies. The drive for power and wealth combined with civic improvement as McDougall repeats his theme that many Americans of differing perspectives tried to "do good by doing well."
The history proper begins with the presidency of Andrew Jackson, continues through the Civil War and Reconstruction, and concludes with the compromise of 1876 which resulted in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency and ended Reconstruction. This is a great deal of widely different materials to handle in a single volume. McDougall's narrative is frequently disjointed. Especially in the first part of the history, the period before the Civil War, McDougall tends to slight the political history of the period. The reader doesn't get a convincing view of the long history of events leading to secession and conflict. What McDougall offers instead is a picture of what he describes as hustling -- a theme which he finds characterizes American life. It is a story of individuals rich and poor devoted to their own individual welfare who use their freedom in the widest possible ways in the attempt to realize their individual dreams. It is a story of con-men, entrepreneurs, writers, capitalists, farmers, circus performers, soldiers, builders. McDougall tells the story of a nation on the make. He also finds it a story lacking an overriding sense of national purpose and meaning, which he finds the great shortcoming to date of American life.
Many historians see the Civil War as the pivotal event in American history but McDougall does not. He sees a continuity in events before and after the Civil War in that the basic nature of American life, individualism and hustling remained essentially in place as what McDougall terms America's civic religion of individualism. So, he argues (mistakenly)that at the outset of his administration, Abraham Lincoln tried to follow the temporizing, compromising posture of Buchanan until events proved the hollowness of this approach. The country lacked a stable frame of reference and authority, McDougall argues, and was instead a land of competing forces in which individual goals were projected on the nation as a whole. Among American writers, McDougall severely criticizes Emerson and Thoreau, not, indeed, for being money driven, but for fostering an ethic of radical individualism that McDougall finds essentially mirrored the individualism already in place. The corruption and failure of Reconstruction was also due for McDougall to lack of national resolve. The age following Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, was corrupt and venial, but it also made America the most materially successful nation the world had ever seen.
Some of the stronger elements of this book lie in the details: in the portraits of individuals well-known and little known, and in its scenes of the pace and notoriety of urban life in New York City, Chicago and elsewhere. McDougall admires Herman Melville. I appreciated his use of quotations from Melville's still under-valued collection of Civil War poems, "Battle-Pieces" to frame his treatments of Civil War combats. McDougall punctuates his narrative with short insert histories of each state admitted to the Union during the time frame of his study beginning with Arkansas in 1836 and ending with Colorado in 1876. These inserts are written in a reflective, almost poetical style and capture something of the individuals who formed and populated each of the states. The book is generally written in a colloquial, down-to-earth, informal style. The endnotes are important to read.
The hero of McDougall's study does not appear until the concluding section of the book in the person of Orestes Brownson (1803-1876). Brownson was a seeker in the best tradition of American individualism beginning as a transcendentalist and ultimately converting to Roman Catholicism. With this conversion, Brownson, for McDougall, became a profound critic of American individualism. For McDougall, Brownson showed that the spirit of individualism was chaos and selfishness writ large. From Emerson to the most aggressive financier or huckster, Americans confused their own desires for power and wealth with the nature of America. McDougall advocates for what today is called communitarianism, but his approach is even broader. He argues that individualism fails and needs a source of authority outside the scope of human reason or the human person. This authority is generally thought to be religious and is described by the term Revelation. Neither Brownson nor McDougall expected or desired Americans to adopt Catholicism or any other single religion. But as the book progresses, McDougall's claim that American individualism needs to be reshaped to acknowledge a source of authority outside the self and that this authority is ordinarily and best found in religion becomes increasingly prominent. This position is put forward at length in the discussion of Brownson and in McDougall's concluding quotation from a religious skeptic, Frederick Douglass.
"I hold that the pulpit is capable of being a powerful agent in the dissemination of truth, and I hold that truth is the power of God for the salvation of the world, and I do not limit truth to mere spiritual matters, but to man in all his relations in the family, in the church, in the government, and in the world." (p. 610)
More a philosophical than a political or social history, McDougall's book has its limitations. But it offers a provocative, thoughtful view of the American experience.
Robin Friedman
Professor Walter McDougall of the University of Pennsylvania develops his understanding of American history as a "tale of human nature set free" throughout his lengthy study "Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era 1829 -- 1876" (2008). This book is the second of three volumes devoted to a history of the United States. The first volume "Freedom just around the Corner" covers the period 1585 -- 1828 while the third volume has not yet appeared. McDougall is a scholar in love with the United States but deeply conscious of its paradoxes. Further setting the tone for his history, he writes in his Preface "I believe the United States (so far) is the greatest success story in history. I believe Americans (on balance) are experts at self-deception. And I believe the 'creative corruption born of their pretense goes far to explain their success. The upshot is that American history is chock-full of cruelty and love, hypocrisy and faith, cowardice and courage, plus no small measure of tongue in cheek humor." McDougall says he has written his history with two broad rules in mind: avoid cant (he uses a more earthy term) and "write as if you are already dead." On the whole, he follows through. McDougall writes from a philosophical/religious perspective which I will discuss below.
The book begins and nearly ends with fire. It opens with a description of an 1835 fire in New York City which destroyed lower Manhattan. And one of the last sections of the book tells of the great Chicago fire of 1871 which gutted much of the city. In both cases, McDougall finds that the cities rose from their ashes through the energy and untrammeled efforts of individuals and community. The fires became blessings as old structures were burned away and entrepreneurs rebuilt the cities to be more powerful, energetic, and corrupt than they were before the catastrophies. The drive for power and wealth combined with civic improvement as McDougall repeats his theme that many Americans of differing perspectives tried to "do good by doing well."
The history proper begins with the presidency of Andrew Jackson, continues through the Civil War and Reconstruction, and concludes with the compromise of 1876 which resulted in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency and ended Reconstruction. This is a great deal of widely different materials to handle in a single volume. McDougall's narrative is frequently disjointed. Especially in the first part of the history, the period before the Civil War, McDougall tends to slight the political history of the period. The reader doesn't get a convincing view of the long history of events leading to secession and conflict. What McDougall offers instead is a picture of what he describes as hustling -- a theme which he finds characterizes American life. It is a story of individuals rich and poor devoted to their own individual welfare who use their freedom in the widest possible ways in the attempt to realize their individual dreams. It is a story of con-men, entrepreneurs, writers, capitalists, farmers, circus performers, soldiers, builders. McDougall tells the story of a nation on the make. He also finds it a story lacking an overriding sense of national purpose and meaning, which he finds the great shortcoming to date of American life.
Many historians see the Civil War as the pivotal event in American history but McDougall does not. He sees a continuity in events before and after the Civil War in that the basic nature of American life, individualism and hustling remained essentially in place as what McDougall terms America's civic religion of individualism. So, he argues (mistakenly)that at the outset of his administration, Abraham Lincoln tried to follow the temporizing, compromising posture of Buchanan until events proved the hollowness of this approach. The country lacked a stable frame of reference and authority, McDougall argues, and was instead a land of competing forces in which individual goals were projected on the nation as a whole. Among American writers, McDougall severely criticizes Emerson and Thoreau, not, indeed, for being money driven, but for fostering an ethic of radical individualism that McDougall finds essentially mirrored the individualism already in place. The corruption and failure of Reconstruction was also due for McDougall to lack of national resolve. The age following Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, was corrupt and venial, but it also made America the most materially successful nation the world had ever seen.
Some of the stronger elements of this book lie in the details: in the portraits of individuals well-known and little known, and in its scenes of the pace and notoriety of urban life in New York City, Chicago and elsewhere. McDougall admires Herman Melville. I appreciated his use of quotations from Melville's still under-valued collection of Civil War poems, "Battle-Pieces" to frame his treatments of Civil War combats. McDougall punctuates his narrative with short insert histories of each state admitted to the Union during the time frame of his study beginning with Arkansas in 1836 and ending with Colorado in 1876. These inserts are written in a reflective, almost poetical style and capture something of the individuals who formed and populated each of the states. The book is generally written in a colloquial, down-to-earth, informal style. The endnotes are important to read.
The hero of McDougall's study does not appear until the concluding section of the book in the person of Orestes Brownson (1803-1876). Brownson was a seeker in the best tradition of American individualism beginning as a transcendentalist and ultimately converting to Roman Catholicism. With this conversion, Brownson, for McDougall, became a profound critic of American individualism. For McDougall, Brownson showed that the spirit of individualism was chaos and selfishness writ large. From Emerson to the most aggressive financier or huckster, Americans confused their own desires for power and wealth with the nature of America. McDougall advocates for what today is called communitarianism, but his approach is even broader. He argues that individualism fails and needs a source of authority outside the scope of human reason or the human person. This authority is generally thought to be religious and is described by the term Revelation. Neither Brownson nor McDougall expected or desired Americans to adopt Catholicism or any other single religion. But as the book progresses, McDougall's claim that American individualism needs to be reshaped to acknowledge a source of authority outside the self and that this authority is ordinarily and best found in religion becomes increasingly prominent. This position is put forward at length in the discussion of Brownson and in McDougall's concluding quotation from a religious skeptic, Frederick Douglass.
"I hold that the pulpit is capable of being a powerful agent in the dissemination of truth, and I hold that truth is the power of God for the salvation of the world, and I do not limit truth to mere spiritual matters, but to man in all his relations in the family, in the church, in the government, and in the world." (p. 610)
More a philosophical than a political or social history, McDougall's book has its limitations. But it offers a provocative, thoughtful view of the American experience.
Robin Friedman
August 27, 2011
"I believe the United States (so far) is the greatest success story in history. I believe Americans (on balance) are experts at self-deception. And I believe the 'creative corruption' born of their pretense goes far to explain their success." (xii)
Walter McDougall notes this right up front. Despite such a fine humorous and true beginning, the second volume in his history of America (not certain he will get through in just three volumes) did not make me laugh anywhere as much as the original volume did. If the first book was light hearted at points, this book felt grimmer and more stark, its humor evident but more cynical and ironic, pointing out American lies and self-delusions. That change of tone is entirely appropriate for this period of time (1829-1877).
McDougall's history covers the major details of the time between Jackson and Reconstruction well (though Howe, McPherson, and Foner's works have in no way been surpassed as the best volumes of synthesis for the period). What McDougall brings is a different angle and emphasis (his aside seeing similarities between the "victories" over the South in 1865 and over Iraq under Bush was excellent) - still highlighting the hustler aspect of American development, he also finds the American civil religions at work sanctifying American activity both north and south. He finds other outside observers more reliable than Toqueville and perfectly savages Emerson. Like the first book I found places where I disagreed with him, especially in some of his discussions of religion and reformers, of the role of business (too resigned in a positive way to the hucksterism here), and his lack of much discussion of the life of common people and the slaves. Still, this eight hundred page book (including two hundred pages of footnotes that are delightful to read) reads easily and its stories are just as excellent and ridiculous as in the first.
"The First Amendment made the United States a virtually free market in religion, ideas, and association. The Second Amendment, upholding the citizens' right to bear arms, made the United States a virtually free market in violence."
"Whigs looked for the source of society's ills and found it inside individuals whose duty it was to purge their vices and serve the public good. Democrats looked for the source of individual's ills and found it in society violating the public's rights. Whigs wanted a people as good as their government, Democrats wanted a government as good as the people."
"Candidates and parties competing in national politics must constantly trim their sails. That in turn invites voters to choose sides not just on the basis of whose positions they share, but on the basis of whose hypocrisy offends their temperments more."
"Americans, free to function as their own theologians, are expert at persuading themselves that the thing they want to do just happens to be the right thing to do."
Walter McDougall notes this right up front. Despite such a fine humorous and true beginning, the second volume in his history of America (not certain he will get through in just three volumes) did not make me laugh anywhere as much as the original volume did. If the first book was light hearted at points, this book felt grimmer and more stark, its humor evident but more cynical and ironic, pointing out American lies and self-delusions. That change of tone is entirely appropriate for this period of time (1829-1877).
McDougall's history covers the major details of the time between Jackson and Reconstruction well (though Howe, McPherson, and Foner's works have in no way been surpassed as the best volumes of synthesis for the period). What McDougall brings is a different angle and emphasis (his aside seeing similarities between the "victories" over the South in 1865 and over Iraq under Bush was excellent) - still highlighting the hustler aspect of American development, he also finds the American civil religions at work sanctifying American activity both north and south. He finds other outside observers more reliable than Toqueville and perfectly savages Emerson. Like the first book I found places where I disagreed with him, especially in some of his discussions of religion and reformers, of the role of business (too resigned in a positive way to the hucksterism here), and his lack of much discussion of the life of common people and the slaves. Still, this eight hundred page book (including two hundred pages of footnotes that are delightful to read) reads easily and its stories are just as excellent and ridiculous as in the first.
"The First Amendment made the United States a virtually free market in religion, ideas, and association. The Second Amendment, upholding the citizens' right to bear arms, made the United States a virtually free market in violence."
"Whigs looked for the source of society's ills and found it inside individuals whose duty it was to purge their vices and serve the public good. Democrats looked for the source of individual's ills and found it in society violating the public's rights. Whigs wanted a people as good as their government, Democrats wanted a government as good as the people."
"Candidates and parties competing in national politics must constantly trim their sails. That in turn invites voters to choose sides not just on the basis of whose positions they share, but on the basis of whose hypocrisy offends their temperments more."
"Americans, free to function as their own theologians, are expert at persuading themselves that the thing they want to do just happens to be the right thing to do."
October 24, 2011
Reread July-October 2011 - Took me 3 months again, but I read this again and even all of the notes in the back this time. I love this author! His interpretation of the failure of reconstruction because of willful self-deception of the American people is powerful. I see his hypothesis of the "civil religion" everyday in politics here in Utah County. Americans are dynamic, creative builders, but also masters of pretense. We are talented, but ignore reality when it contradicts our self-story of virtuous, model America. We're kind of like Vizzini in The Princess Bride when he keeps calling the pursuit "inconceivable," and his companion says, "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
The rise of Andrew Jackson and his philosophy, the material gains of the US people, all of the politics and hypocrisy leading to the Civil War, its aftermath, and perspectives of various observers and philosophers both domestic and foreign all combine to make this incredibly insightful. Political types misinterpret this stuff constantly in their persuasive arguments.
Read this author Goodreads friends.
Three perfect illustrative quotes blatantly copied from one of the few other reviews:
"I believe the United States (so far) is the greatest success story in history. I believe Americans (on balance) are experts at self-deception. And I believe the 'creative corruption' born of their pretense goes far to explain their success." (xii)
"Candidates and parties competing in national politics must constantly trim their sails. That in turn invites voters to choose sides not just on the basis of whose positions they share, but on the basis of whose hypocrisy offends their temperments more."
"Americans, free to function as their own theologians, are expert at persuading themselves that the thing they want to do just happens to be the right thing to do."
2008 - Wow! Finally finished this book after like 3 months of constant library renewals. I loved it! Walter A. McDougall is the new addition to my favorite author list. I learned lots of things about lots of things...and people, and events, and ideas, and political/cultural/religious movements. It's a historical smorgasboard with a truthful perspective. I like that this book deals honestly with shortcomings of American history without arrogance and cynicism. It has a good balance and no political ax to grind. America has been idealistic and amazing while simultaneously being pompous and blind to her own shortcomings. He uses the positive and negative connotations of a "hustler" to describe the oxy-moron of American culture and society. I don't know if it's comforting or depressing to see that politics and big business were just as corrupt back then as it is now. There's apparently no fixing it, but it hasn't completely destroyed the country yet.
I love that it's kind of a history of everything during a certain time period. You get an overview and see how things fit together. And if you get interested in something, you can go find a book with more detail about the specific person or time. The origin of many phrases, the facts about some events that I had only vaguely heard of, and the pulling together of broad historic ideas such as Romanticism, progressivism and reformism 19th century style, the inherent tension between too much government (fascism or socialism) and too much pure democracy (anarchy), and the cultural, economic, and religious clashes leading to the Civil War--it's all here.
It's probably impossible for someone to write something this big and agree with everything he asserts. I was happy to get confirmation of my own bias (aren't we all) when McDougall evaluates Thoreau and Emerson. Someone smarter than me agreed with my opinion on them--a lot of fluff and pretense, little substance. I feel his take on Joseph Smith and the founding of "Mormonism" is fairly fair, though he misses on a couple of easy facts and I feel he takes a few cheap potshots at Joseph Smith later on. He also glossed over a few things in other places that I thought were more important, but again that's pretty much inevitable with a book this big. There are 144 pages of notes in the back about his sources and containing additional information. They are fascinating as well, but I just didn't have the time to read them all.
I don't know if any of you would love this whole thing, but I think a lot of you would like at least parts. You'll definitely feel smarter.
The rise of Andrew Jackson and his philosophy, the material gains of the US people, all of the politics and hypocrisy leading to the Civil War, its aftermath, and perspectives of various observers and philosophers both domestic and foreign all combine to make this incredibly insightful. Political types misinterpret this stuff constantly in their persuasive arguments.
Read this author Goodreads friends.
Three perfect illustrative quotes blatantly copied from one of the few other reviews:
"I believe the United States (so far) is the greatest success story in history. I believe Americans (on balance) are experts at self-deception. And I believe the 'creative corruption' born of their pretense goes far to explain their success." (xii)
"Candidates and parties competing in national politics must constantly trim their sails. That in turn invites voters to choose sides not just on the basis of whose positions they share, but on the basis of whose hypocrisy offends their temperments more."
"Americans, free to function as their own theologians, are expert at persuading themselves that the thing they want to do just happens to be the right thing to do."
2008 - Wow! Finally finished this book after like 3 months of constant library renewals. I loved it! Walter A. McDougall is the new addition to my favorite author list. I learned lots of things about lots of things...and people, and events, and ideas, and political/cultural/religious movements. It's a historical smorgasboard with a truthful perspective. I like that this book deals honestly with shortcomings of American history without arrogance and cynicism. It has a good balance and no political ax to grind. America has been idealistic and amazing while simultaneously being pompous and blind to her own shortcomings. He uses the positive and negative connotations of a "hustler" to describe the oxy-moron of American culture and society. I don't know if it's comforting or depressing to see that politics and big business were just as corrupt back then as it is now. There's apparently no fixing it, but it hasn't completely destroyed the country yet.
I love that it's kind of a history of everything during a certain time period. You get an overview and see how things fit together. And if you get interested in something, you can go find a book with more detail about the specific person or time. The origin of many phrases, the facts about some events that I had only vaguely heard of, and the pulling together of broad historic ideas such as Romanticism, progressivism and reformism 19th century style, the inherent tension between too much government (fascism or socialism) and too much pure democracy (anarchy), and the cultural, economic, and religious clashes leading to the Civil War--it's all here.
It's probably impossible for someone to write something this big and agree with everything he asserts. I was happy to get confirmation of my own bias (aren't we all) when McDougall evaluates Thoreau and Emerson. Someone smarter than me agreed with my opinion on them--a lot of fluff and pretense, little substance. I feel his take on Joseph Smith and the founding of "Mormonism" is fairly fair, though he misses on a couple of easy facts and I feel he takes a few cheap potshots at Joseph Smith later on. He also glossed over a few things in other places that I thought were more important, but again that's pretty much inevitable with a book this big. There are 144 pages of notes in the back about his sources and containing additional information. They are fascinating as well, but I just didn't have the time to read them all.
I don't know if any of you would love this whole thing, but I think a lot of you would like at least parts. You'll definitely feel smarter.
November 10, 2013
Throes of Democracy makes an excellent accompaniment to James McPhearson's gold standard Battle Cry of Freedom. McDougall's history goes beyond McPhearson's work. ToD overlaps in some important areas with BCoF. It differs in that it gives relatively scant coverage to the battles of the Civil War. ToD is a more thematic history.
In this, his second volume in a planned trilogy, he continues to analyze America's history as an extension of four drivers that are rooted in Tudor-Stuart England, including: 1) economic, social transformation to open the door to capital-driven markets; 2) religious/political, especially the protestant dominated influence in America; 3) geo/political, economic competition in a rapidly expanding global economy; and 4) racial/legal, especially as it played out in claims to land and to subjugate people regarded as inferior.
Without denigrating the country, McDougall points out that Americans are experts in the art of self-deception and no where is this more true than in the myth of equality between its people. He points out "liberty" is something Americans discovered in the pursuit of something else. Liberty in the Puritan-dominated North was rooted in the rule of law. In the Sourth, it was rooted in horsemanship, hospitality, and hierarchy.
I think McDougall is on the money in noting that faced with multiple religions competing for dominance the country's energy was channeled into a civic religion built on four pillars: 1) optimism, 2) opportunity, 3) pragmatism, and 4) pretense. To those supporting perceptions he might have added prosperity.
McDougall does a masterful job of capturing the turmoil of the time, noting that Lincoln and other political leaders were faced simultaneously with momentous challenges. Hence the title taken from Walt Whitman's By Blue Ontario's Shore in the 1881-'82 edition of Leaves of Grass.
For those not enamored of Emerson and Thoreaux, McDougall rips their romantic optimism mercilessly. But he exalts in Melville. How bad is that?
The scope of ToD is especially appealing to me. However, I would have appreciated the same detailed analysis covering the post war period as the lead up to the war. However, McDougal gives the post war history short shrift and chooses instead to tack on a minor thesis about Orestes Augustus Brownson, including a 22-page passage, the longest single riff in the book. I'm not quite sure why?
Walter A. McDougall(no picture)
In this, his second volume in a planned trilogy, he continues to analyze America's history as an extension of four drivers that are rooted in Tudor-Stuart England, including: 1) economic, social transformation to open the door to capital-driven markets; 2) religious/political, especially the protestant dominated influence in America; 3) geo/political, economic competition in a rapidly expanding global economy; and 4) racial/legal, especially as it played out in claims to land and to subjugate people regarded as inferior.
Without denigrating the country, McDougall points out that Americans are experts in the art of self-deception and no where is this more true than in the myth of equality between its people. He points out "liberty" is something Americans discovered in the pursuit of something else. Liberty in the Puritan-dominated North was rooted in the rule of law. In the Sourth, it was rooted in horsemanship, hospitality, and hierarchy.
I think McDougall is on the money in noting that faced with multiple religions competing for dominance the country's energy was channeled into a civic religion built on four pillars: 1) optimism, 2) opportunity, 3) pragmatism, and 4) pretense. To those supporting perceptions he might have added prosperity.
McDougall does a masterful job of capturing the turmoil of the time, noting that Lincoln and other political leaders were faced simultaneously with momentous challenges. Hence the title taken from Walt Whitman's By Blue Ontario's Shore in the 1881-'82 edition of Leaves of Grass.
For those not enamored of Emerson and Thoreaux, McDougall rips their romantic optimism mercilessly. But he exalts in Melville. How bad is that?
The scope of ToD is especially appealing to me. However, I would have appreciated the same detailed analysis covering the post war period as the lead up to the war. However, McDougal gives the post war history short shrift and chooses instead to tack on a minor thesis about Orestes Augustus Brownson, including a 22-page passage, the longest single riff in the book. I'm not quite sure why?
Walter A. McDougall(no picture)April 28, 2021
Wonderful.
November 30, 2021
This book was more than I had bargained for. The detail in why/how we thought at each time was incredible. The information behind the scenes maneuvering and dealmaking was very enlightening. Talking about how the states came to be during the other events going on in the country was very illuminating. This is so much more than memorization of facts and dates, but instead discusses the religious, philosophical and general temperament of the people at that time. Reading through this book now, provides a lot of correlation to things that are happening now.
June 21, 2023
A broad history of America that had little new information on the time period.
I would recommend other history books of the. period that give more detailed information.
I also felt that the author was pushing an agenda which caused me to give this book
a lower rating.
I would recommend other history books of the. period that give more detailed information.
I also felt that the author was pushing an agenda which caused me to give this book
a lower rating.
June 25, 2012
Masters of Make-Believe
The American was a new Adam, placed in Eden to subdue and rule by divine right. Believing Providence had favored them with material well-being, 19th century Americans began the work of spreading their Millenarian vision from sea to shining sea. True, an exceptional founding generation motivated by faith and commerce established a political regime unprecedented in history. Just as true, Americans are “experts at self-deception” (MacDougall xii) who began to idealize their own mythology. By the end of the regime’s first century, America was too far in what Walter MacDougall calls the “Throes of Democracy” to provide an honest assessment of its own performance.
America took a decided shift toward democracy under Andrew Jackson. He tore down artifices of aristocracy and led the charge into democratic fervor, but did not realize that the majority cannot be trusted to discern morality. Interests overpower ideals, as in the case of the 1830 Indian removal, which was voted on by a democratic majority of white land-owners. John O’Sullivan’s Democratic Review exulted in the Manifest Destiny of American expansion, including the annexation of conquered Mexican lands. Stephen Douglas reframed Jackson’s majoritarianism in 1860 as “popular sovereignty” and used it to justify the expansion of slavery in the states.
The American democrat fervently believed vox populi, vox dei because “Americans, free to function as their own theologians, are expert at persuading themselves that the thing they want to do just happens to be the right thing to do”(MacDougall 436). The American civic religion offered everyone a way to endorse their own political arrangement through the blessing of God. Expansion and growth in a country half-slave, half-free shook this belief, so Americans magnified pretense to retain their union (310).
Van Buren’s inaugural address warned Americans that addressing the slave issue would be “injurious to every interest, that of humanity included.” Alexander Stephens rewrote history to argue that America’s cornerstone was “the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man” and that abolitionists strove against the Creator himself who made men unequal. Northern agitators invoked the “rhetoric of blood sacrifice, a holy cause, a demonic enemy, and a millenarian promise” as the Union Army emblazoned the motto “In God We Trust” on war provisions (MacDougall 460). Perhaps only Lincoln recognized that although both sides petitioned the same God, neither embodied His will. When pretense finally collapsed into apocalypse, “civic gods in masquerade bade American souls on both sides to join cults of human sacrifice” (460).
As the ink dried at Appomattox and the abbreviated process of Reconstruction began, the high priests of the American regime declared the war a necessary, glorious, and heroic conflict that was, most importantly, over (546). Providence had preserved the Union and delivered the slave into the Promised Land, so Americans were not overly concerned by Jim Crow or Black Codes. If the African could vote democratically, what else mattered? Most Americans refused to acknowledge the magnitude of their national tragedy and returned to pretense as quickly as possible. The Populist Party rekindled the Jacksonian project by attacking the elites of the Gilded Age and calling for the fulfillment of America’s Messianic mission to spread democracy abroad to Cuba and beyond.
Although 19th century America got important principles of human nature and governance right, many Americans blinded themselves to violations of their own moral code as they turned toward a majority to distinguish right from wrong. MacDougall properly acknowledges America’s exceptional accomplishments, but drops pretense when it inhibits soul-searching.
Works Cited
McDougall, Walter A. Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829-1877. New York: Harper, 2008. Print.
Stephens, Alexander H. "Cornerstone Speech." Speech. Savannah, GA. 21 Mar. 1861. Alexander H. Stephens, in Public and Private: With Letters and Speeches, Before, During, and Since the War. Philadelphia: Henry Cleveland, 1886. 717-29. Print.
Van Buren, Martin. "Inaugural Address." Address. 1837 Presidential Inauguration. Washington DC. 4 Mar. 1837. The American Presidency Project. Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. .
The American was a new Adam, placed in Eden to subdue and rule by divine right. Believing Providence had favored them with material well-being, 19th century Americans began the work of spreading their Millenarian vision from sea to shining sea. True, an exceptional founding generation motivated by faith and commerce established a political regime unprecedented in history. Just as true, Americans are “experts at self-deception” (MacDougall xii) who began to idealize their own mythology. By the end of the regime’s first century, America was too far in what Walter MacDougall calls the “Throes of Democracy” to provide an honest assessment of its own performance.
America took a decided shift toward democracy under Andrew Jackson. He tore down artifices of aristocracy and led the charge into democratic fervor, but did not realize that the majority cannot be trusted to discern morality. Interests overpower ideals, as in the case of the 1830 Indian removal, which was voted on by a democratic majority of white land-owners. John O’Sullivan’s Democratic Review exulted in the Manifest Destiny of American expansion, including the annexation of conquered Mexican lands. Stephen Douglas reframed Jackson’s majoritarianism in 1860 as “popular sovereignty” and used it to justify the expansion of slavery in the states.
The American democrat fervently believed vox populi, vox dei because “Americans, free to function as their own theologians, are expert at persuading themselves that the thing they want to do just happens to be the right thing to do”(MacDougall 436). The American civic religion offered everyone a way to endorse their own political arrangement through the blessing of God. Expansion and growth in a country half-slave, half-free shook this belief, so Americans magnified pretense to retain their union (310).
Van Buren’s inaugural address warned Americans that addressing the slave issue would be “injurious to every interest, that of humanity included.” Alexander Stephens rewrote history to argue that America’s cornerstone was “the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man” and that abolitionists strove against the Creator himself who made men unequal. Northern agitators invoked the “rhetoric of blood sacrifice, a holy cause, a demonic enemy, and a millenarian promise” as the Union Army emblazoned the motto “In God We Trust” on war provisions (MacDougall 460). Perhaps only Lincoln recognized that although both sides petitioned the same God, neither embodied His will. When pretense finally collapsed into apocalypse, “civic gods in masquerade bade American souls on both sides to join cults of human sacrifice” (460).
As the ink dried at Appomattox and the abbreviated process of Reconstruction began, the high priests of the American regime declared the war a necessary, glorious, and heroic conflict that was, most importantly, over (546). Providence had preserved the Union and delivered the slave into the Promised Land, so Americans were not overly concerned by Jim Crow or Black Codes. If the African could vote democratically, what else mattered? Most Americans refused to acknowledge the magnitude of their national tragedy and returned to pretense as quickly as possible. The Populist Party rekindled the Jacksonian project by attacking the elites of the Gilded Age and calling for the fulfillment of America’s Messianic mission to spread democracy abroad to Cuba and beyond.
Although 19th century America got important principles of human nature and governance right, many Americans blinded themselves to violations of their own moral code as they turned toward a majority to distinguish right from wrong. MacDougall properly acknowledges America’s exceptional accomplishments, but drops pretense when it inhibits soul-searching.
Works Cited
McDougall, Walter A. Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829-1877. New York: Harper, 2008. Print.
Stephens, Alexander H. "Cornerstone Speech." Speech. Savannah, GA. 21 Mar. 1861. Alexander H. Stephens, in Public and Private: With Letters and Speeches, Before, During, and Since the War. Philadelphia: Henry Cleveland, 1886. 717-29. Print.
Van Buren, Martin. "Inaugural Address." Address. 1837 Presidential Inauguration. Washington DC. 4 Mar. 1837. The American Presidency Project. Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. .
October 5, 2019
McDougall spins a better yarn than McCullough when it comes to narrative historiography. I didn’t know what to expect when I bought it for $2 at the book festival, but he’s now added to the pantheon of my favorite historians.
April 10, 2012
Interesting look at the Civil War era. The writer spends a lot of time examining the literary and religious figures of the day, putting men like Melville, Poe, and Henry Ward Beecher into their proper historical context (and who knew that Beecher may have been the nation's first national religious figure to be exposed for, shall we say, moral "hypocrisy." McDougall seems to be part of the "consensus" school of history, as he stresses the continuity of the various political leaders and forces of the day. Lincoln, for instance, is shown to have pursued policies very much in keeping with what both Buchanan and Johnson pursued. The author seems to defend the political corruption of the postwar period as the only way that things got done in the nation's institutions, especially urban government. I was struck by his defense of the business practices of people like Rockefeller and Carnegie who, in the words of NYC mayor George Washington Plunkitt, "seen their opportunities and took 'em." It appeared that McDougall took the businessmen at their word, that their vast fortunes, exploitative treatment of workers, and manipulation of the political institutions were a small price to pay for good products, jobs, and prosperity. And yet the book ends with a chapter on a somewhat obscure historical figure, theologian Orestes Brownson, who spent much of his life fighting against many of the political and cultural forces that the author spent 600 pages describing as being the core of American life during this era. It seemed a strange way to end the book. In any event, it is a provocative, worthwhile read.
August 20, 2012
Decent overview of the period with some interesting insights and was generally an easy read. He did have a tendency (IMO) to throw out statements as fact, however, without backing them up with support. One example that sticks out in my mind occurs on page 143. Here he states, "As late as 1830, but contrast, American manufacturers found their market confined mostly to the steamboat industry begun by Robert Fulton in 1812." On what basis does he conclude that Fulton began the steamboat industry in 1812? The first steamboat trip between New York City and Albany occurred in 1807. In 1811 the steamboat "New Orleans" was built by Fulton and Robert Livingston in Pittsburgh for service on the Mississippi - with regular service on the Mississippi by 1812. If the author was referring to the instigation of regular service on the Mississippi, then he should have included that statement. As written, it appears insupportable as steamboat service was already active on the Hudson. This is but one example where the author pulls a date out of the air without context or explanation.
One feature I particularly liked was the background story on the admittance of each state to the Union during the dates covered by the book. He generally gives a one to three page background story to each of the states, including in many cases the background politics involved (both local and national).
One feature I particularly liked was the background story on the admittance of each state to the Union during the dates covered by the book. He generally gives a one to three page background story to each of the states, including in many cases the background politics involved (both local and national).
December 20, 2013
Reading one book about the Civil War period...before, during, and after is simply dipping your foot into the ocean. Each book has a point of view and tries to describe the period to the author's satisfaction. This book is somewhat different in that it deals with the years leading to the war from their different geographic locations and continues after the war to show how the country continued. It gives a good picture of the tumult of those years--slavery, war with Mexico, gold in California, the Mormons.
History is a continuum--the war changed the country--but events transpired that had nothing to do with that war. The Indian wars for example.
The author breaks up the text with background on the various territories that became states during this period. This is a little off-putting and I wish it had been handled better from a design point of view. However, it is interesting to see how the USA grew while the Confederacy was fighting. Who knew Nevada became a state partially because Lincoln thought he might need the 3 electoral votes (he didn't).
Politics.
History is a continuum--the war changed the country--but events transpired that had nothing to do with that war. The Indian wars for example.
The author breaks up the text with background on the various territories that became states during this period. This is a little off-putting and I wish it had been handled better from a design point of view. However, it is interesting to see how the USA grew while the Confederacy was fighting. Who knew Nevada became a state partially because Lincoln thought he might need the 3 electoral votes (he didn't).
Politics.
October 8, 2008
As with the first volume, Freedom Just Around the Corner, in this planned three-volume history of the United States, in Throes of Democracy McDougall views 19th century American with an ironic and conservative (think Burke and not Reagan) eye. The passions that gripped the era - from Jacksonian democracy, to abolition, to Manifest destiny and religious cults - are viewed by McDougall as either dangerously extreme or cynical manipulations of the populous. With very few exceptions, there are no heroes in this book and no righteous causes; even abolition and the Civil War come in for their fair share of skepticism.
As with the previous volume, McDougall's writing is top notch, and his thoughtful and ironic assessment of the era stands in marked contrast to its belief own moral clarity and belief in progressivism.
As with the previous volume, McDougall's writing is top notch, and his thoughtful and ironic assessment of the era stands in marked contrast to its belief own moral clarity and belief in progressivism.
November 10, 2012
Walter A. McDougall's "Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era 1829-1877" continues his journey through American history as he examines the administrations of Andrew Jackson through Ulysses S. Grant. In this installment, the history is a little better organized than the previous & also the background information relating to the culture & peoples of American in the mid-19th century are kept out of the mainstream thread of the story of this era. McDougall does an excellent job in the chapters themselves of providing just enough background info to enhance the story & even the info on the new states added to the US during this time is presented in a way that it doesn't impede with the flow of the story itself. This is a far better book than the previous installment in this series as we wait the finale to it.
February 28, 2009
Though a hefty volume in itself, it is very readable. Informative, creative in presenting the whole truth, letting us know that history is not just worth knowing; but a must in knowing. This book is a must as a text for seniors in high schools, and colleges at least! It is so great that I've ordered it's prequil. It the best fun read that I've had in years!
November 18, 2014
What a story! The history of America is fascinating. Never before had such a thing happened. It will be a long time before such a thing happens again. The real story of America is way better than the fairy tales we're taught in schools, or on the TV, or that we make up ourselves.
(This history follows the author's previous history, "Freedom Just Around the Corner".)
(This history follows the author's previous history, "Freedom Just Around the Corner".)
July 21, 2013
True rating: 3.5 stars. Good information presented well. I wish history authors would put the non-bibliography type notes in the book text. The author said the notes were in the back of the book to save space in a 610 page book. He then goes onto 146 pages of microscopic notes.
July 24, 2015
The book moved between a three and a four. I found the ending, with McDougall's focus on Orestes Brownson rather tedious and puzzling (why so much of the end of the book?). But I thought he did a good job in describing the lead-up to the war.
February 12, 2013
Written by one of my professors at Cal, in fact a gift, so far, it is great. But, since I am mostly campaigning for Obama, I am taking my time...
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October 26, 2012An in-depth American history, the second in the series. Lots of personal correspondance, and other things that make it interesting.
November 16, 2009
Not quite as good as Freedom Just Around the Corner, but still a good read. Probably about 3.5 stars.
Also, McDougall has a highly inconsistent use of Negro versus Black that perplexes me.
Also, McDougall has a highly inconsistent use of Negro versus Black that perplexes me.
July 30, 2012
A very good read, addressing all aspects of American life. The obvious elephant in the room is the extension of slavery as the country expanded westward.
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December 1, 2013Fantastic book, focuses on the hustlers of american history, bashes holes in the idealistic standard viewpoint we are taught in schools, yet is far less shrill than Zinn.
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March 9, 2018973.7 M137t 2008
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