A Nation Forged by Crisis: A New American History

by Jay Sexton

A concise new history of the United States revealing that crises -- not unlike those of the present day -- have determined our nation's course from the start
In A Nation Forged by Crisis , historian Jay Sexton contends that our national narrative is not one of halting yet inevitable progress, but of repeated disruptions brought about by shifts in the international system. Sexton shows that the American Revolution was a consequence of the increasing integration of the British and American economies; that a necessary precondition for the Civil War was the absence, for the first time in decades, of foreign threats; and that we cannot understand the New Deal without examining the role of European immigrants and their offspring in transforming the Democratic Party.

A necessary corrective to conventional narratives of American history, A Nation Forged by Crisis argues that we can only prepare for our unpredictable future by first acknowledging the contingencies of our collective past.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Politics, 21st Century, World History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 16, 2018

Reviews

[Sumit RK · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise history of the United States revealing that a crisis has always determined the nation's course from the start.

In A Nation Forged by Crisis , historian Jay Sexton contends that US history is not a story of constant & steady progress, but of repeated disruptions brought about by shifts in the international system. It takes a look at the causes & the circumstances surrounding the 3 major events in US history: The American War of independence, The Civil War & The Great Recession & the New Deal.

Sexton shows that the American Revolution was caused due to the increasing integration of the British and American economies; Civil War was caused mainly due to the slavery issue yes, but also due to the absence of any credible foreign threats to the might of US; It explores the tensions over slavery in the mid-19th century, particularly the abolition of slavery by the British and it’s repercussions in the US. It also examines the New Deal and the role of European immigrants in transforming the Democratic Party. He concludes by urging the Americans to “revisit [these] previous moments of crisis,” to deal with the crisis US is facing in the present. Sexton’s book offers an insightful roadmap of how US reached it’s present position by examining it’s past and the way forward.

The book is well researched and well paced. The focus of the book is mainly on the circumstances and background around the crisis, while it rarely discusses the crisis itself. A little account of the American Revolution or the Civil War itself would had been informative. It presumes that you already have enough knowledge about the finer details of these events, so if you are unaware of these events in detail, you may feel a bit lost. On the other hand, if you are aware of these events in detail, you may find lot of the information repetitive, albeit from a different perspective. Overall if you are a major history buff & interested in US History, this book is for you.

Thank you NetGalley, Perseus Books and Basic Books for the ARC.

[raffaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at WORLD's recommendation, and I'm glad I did. This is a short, fast-paced, and very accessible book - if you've taken an 8th grade U.S. History class, you can easily follow along - and yet it remains interesting and engaging the whole way through. Sexton shows U.S. History from a unique perspective, detailing how moments of crisis such as the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the World Wars/Cold War have been instrumental in shaping and transforming the U.S. in unexpected ways, and how other nations have played their part in the drama. In his conclusion Sexton takes the lessons to be learned and tries to apply them to our current crisis, but you can take or leave these as you please. The real meat of the book is to be found in the analysis of historical crises and the patterns they reveal when compared to each other. To me, the book is a reminder that "the earth is the LORD's, and everything in it; the world and all who live in it."

[Susan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting fact based book that reviews some of the past crisis' of the United States in terms of both their global cause and their global impact. Covered in detail are the American Rvolution, the Civil War, and the period between the two World Wars and the depression. While it is helpful to know a bit of the history of this period before beginning the book, the reader can still get the gist of those conflicts within the thesis that the author is stating. This is a "different" way of looking at how the US faces and hadles conflict. Does it turn outward or inward"? Does it restrict immigration or encourage it? Does the nation as a whole prosper or do the elites seem to reap the benefits? An example is the ability of the wealthy during and after the cilvil war to buy bonds supporting the war, which would appear to be a good and patriotic action. After the conclusion of that war these same individuals were able to convert this additional bond wealth to become Rail Barons and Captains of Industry increasing their wealth and reducing much of the working population to poverty. The book points out that there are two, or more, impacts to the decisions that are made during a crisis. Lastly, the book does briefly cover our current economic disparity and political polarization. As with all the crisis' the book explores the author does not take a position. Instead we are presented with facts and analysis. This is a quick read at 198 pages and the authors style is easily understood and neutral.

I borrowed this book from the Berkley, MI public library.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A common myth of American history is that the story of the United States is a coherent tale about our values --- e.g., it's all about liberty and how liberty is expanded throughout the centuries. Rarely (in my experience) does the traditional teaching of American history have an external focus. Instead, it's mostly about the internal locus of control and how the United States dictates its own fate.

In this volume, Sexton looks at American history through a decidedly different lens. Rather than telling one unified story, he focuses on the crisis points of the United States, the zigs and zags of policy, and the numerous impacts of external forces --- most notably, the international community and immigration to the United States. So, for example, when he covers the Revolutionary War, he discusses the large amount of newcomers to the continent in the 1760's and 1770's (including Thomas Paine) and the steps the British took after the Seven Years War with France that pushed the patriot movement to the fore (with sentiment towards the British changing in a matter of years). When he discusses the Declaration of Independence, he acknowledges the ideological parts of the document, but highlights the need for the document in order that the new country can join the international community (and have France as an ally).

Similarly, when Sexton discusses the New Deal, he compares and contrasts it with other movements that reacted to the financial shocks of the 1920's and 1930's --- most notably, the rise of fascism in Europe. When he discusses the Civil War, he details the struggle within Great Britain to both maintain the cotton industry and fight for abolition at the same time and the resulting abstinence from the conflict. (He points out that the Civil War is the rare revolution of the 1850's and 1860's with no international intervention.) He shows how the large of amount of immigration before the conflict served the Union by providing soldiers and settling the West at the same time.

In short, I found it a strongly compelling work and an effective counterpoint to the more traditional education I received in my youth. I had discussions with my wife (a history major) repeatedly throughout my reading, and the tenor of the work has affected how I see the current political crisis.

Mind you, I did have a few problems with the prose. I can do without vague passages such as this: "Late nineteenth-century globalization further witnessed a surge in cross-border trade, investment, and migration. New technologies of communication and transportation brought hitherto distant people into contact with one another as never before." Undetailed sentences such as these popped up far too regularly. At the same time, I thought Sexton assumed a bit too much historical knowledge on the part of his readers. As important as tariffs were to his thesis, I regularly felt confused every time I read about them (possibly a legacy of our current free trade era). In my mind, this is really a 4.5 stars book. But, the ways in which it has shaped my thinking vastly outweighs any faults.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really beautifully written book that pushes back against narratives of inevitability and exceptionalism.

[Paul Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't impressed by A Nation Forged by Crisis. It's short on facts and long on sweeping generalizations. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know by reading it. I got the impression there were three crises treated by the book: the American revolution, the civil war, and, well, I'm not sure about the third since the latter portion of the book quickly runs the gamut from World War 1 to the present day. That would be a 100 year crisis. I think we need a bit more focus here. In different portions of the book, the capital of the Philippines is spelled both with one L and two. I've never seen it spelled "Manilla" and Google backs me up on this so we'll mark this down as a typo. An indication of the care that went into writing and editing this book. I found it amusing that Sexton can't bring himself to mention Donald Trump by name, instead resorting to euphemisms such as "the current president". All in all, not recommended.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you, like me and many others, are looking around lately and feeling like the world is coming apart at the seams, worrying that our democratic institutions are in serious danger, then I highly recommend that you pick up this book. Sexton takes an in-depth look back at some pivotal crisis moments during America's history that shaped the nation we know today: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World War II and its aftermath. It's reassuring to see that our country has been one of turmoil throughout its 242-year existence, and that each time it faced a moment of true crisis with an unknown outcome, luck was on our side. But that's the scary part as well: while the intellect and courage and convictions of our statesmen and citizens had a hand in striving for a good outcome, in the end it came down to sheer chance and the convergence of many disparate things. Still, although Sexton warns Americans to take off our rose-colored glasses and look at history not with nostalgia or a sense of inevitability, he does offer a kernel of hope and a glimmer of light for those fighting now to save what we hold dear - and to push America once again to become a better place:

Crises have a way of empowering those who have hitherto been marginalized. The patriot cause unleashed social forces that ultimately gave birth to modern democracy; the African Americans and immigrants who served in the Union armies that reduced the Old South to rubble could not be treated after the war as they had been before it; and the white ethnics, working classes, and African Americans who swelled the ranks of organized labor formed the backbone of the New Deal coalition that would dominate American politics for a generation.

Moments of crisis also brought to center stage foreign powers, the most overlooked actors in American history. Foreign powers were the fulcrum upon which the fate of the American nation has hinged in those rare moments in which its future - indeed, its very existence, hung in the balance...

However events unfold in the short term, one thing is a near certainty: there will be a time when the American nation again encounters a crisis that unleashes transformative change. All of its citizens will have to make sacrifices in order for the nation to mobilize its full power. Furthermore, if the past is any indication, the outcome of the next crisis will be determined not only by the willingness of Americans to face it but also by the actions of those beyond the nation's borders as well as the foreign-born within them. At some point in the future, the United States will confront another Saratoga moment in which its fate hangs in the balance and it is not fully in control of the outcome. As we navigate our way through that crisis, whenever it may be, we would be well served to remember something that American history teaches us: the more we look outward, the more prepared we'll be.


*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Bob Mobley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jay Sexton's examination of the forces in American history that have influenced the development of our national "culture" is one of the best, most brilliant, and well-written books I've ever read. A Nation Forged By Crisis looks at the turbulent times in American history that have yielded extraordinary opportunities for change and outcomes not expected. His book is a powerful study of the reality of complexity with its byproduct of unintended consequences.

The author provides many keen insights into American history. In doing so, he also points out in a sober manner, that Americans must remember our involvement and connections to a world outside our borders play an important role in how we navigate and confront the crisis's that have arisen in our nation's history. This is a book that is rich in ideas. Jay Sexton's skills and abilities as a writer make A Nation Forged By Crisis a compelling, highly stimulating, and enjoyable re-examination of much of the history we were taught from a parochial perspective in school and university.

A Nation Forged by Crisis will rivet your attention. It is a book that once you have finished reading, you will want to read it again, to afford yourself the chance and opportunity to immerse in Sexton's unique and pragmatic evaluation of historical events.

I urge everyone to read this book. It is a game changer.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historian author makes the case that the US has been shaped by critical situations, focusing on the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the mid 20th Century conflicts. Economics, foreign situations/relationships have played major roles in developing the US into what it is. Lots of background here that helps make sense of how the famous events played out.

[Julian Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. The odd part to me about this short book is how much of it is focused on the early republic and civil war but how little of it is about the progressive era/reconstruction and the 20th century, which is really when America faced global crises head on. Not bad though.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not being a historian, I learned so much and I found I couldn’t stop reading! Really interesting.....

[Fritz Fashing · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most interesting history documenting the changes in the United States from a unique perspective. I will not view our history the same from here on.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last chapter was the highlight of the book in that the author gave us all hope that the present crisis in the White House is something that history shows America can overcome.

[Christi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding perspective.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly engaging history that looks at U.S. crises in the context of global history. The Revolutionary War (which Sexton considers as a civil war over the right to control and modernize the apparatus of empire and expansion), the Civil War, and then the New Deal, WWII and the years of the Truman Doctrine following it are all understood as having been determined by forces that go far beyond the U.S.--even the Civil War, which as he points out was remarkable for being a civil war on a large scale with no foreign intervention--but he goes on to explain why Great Britain didn't intervene on the Confederate side, as Palmerston certainly considered doing--and the consequences of that non-intervention, and withdrawing of capital, for subsequent U.S. history (the Union's most important effort was financing the war, and this was the period that have rose to J.P. Morgan and his ilk, and the egregious inequality of the gilded age, paradoxically in a war that became about emancipation of slaves, though it started out being much more about preservation of the union).

So the idea is that far from having a glorious, continuous march toward global domination, the U.S. has had dramatic shifts when old orders have been torn apart in moments of crisis, and new forms of governance and economic policy have emerged. The lesson is that the U.S. is not in fact necessarily destined to progress, and that it it not in control of its own destiny--and in order to prepare for the next shock, it is necessary not to look inward but outward.