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Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson (American History)

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David Reynolds, whose "Beneath the American Renaissance" gave us a cultural tour of antebellum America, now gives us a wider look at the Jacksonian era. While his book provides a decent overview for the casual reader, it lacks much of a new argument for the dedicated student of the period.

The introduction offers the potentially interesting, although hardly groundbreaking thesis, that the Jacksonian era was one of the most culturally rich in American history, and that much of this richness can be found along the margins, among the promoters of fads, the crank preachers, the utopians, and the radical reformers. In the book, however, Reynolds shies away from exploring this line of thinking too fully. Instead we get a largely traditional history of the period, even in its assessment of Jacksonian Democracy as a largely unproblematic democratic movement. His chapters on politics contain little or no new information or interpretation.

Reynolds is not, by training, a historian, but rather a literary scholar. So it should come as no surprise that the strongest chapter in the book, not to mention the longest, is the one which deals with the literary and artistic accomplishments of the period. Glossing over some of his more complex arguments from "Beneath the American Renaissance" Reynolds gives us a good, concise, and informative, view of the works of the major literary figures of this period, and how they fit into the politics of the day. Overall, this is a good book for someone who knows little about the period, but a well informed reader would do better with works such as Sean Wilentz "Rise of American Democracy" or David Walker Howe's "What Hath God Wrought!"

David S. Reynolds provides a broad survey of the United States of America between 1815 and 1848, commonly referred to as the "Age of Jackson". After reaffirming its independence from England in the War of 1812, the United States emerged as a world power brimming with a cast of first-generation American politicians, soldiers, scientists, writers and artists. No hagiography, this book explores both triumphs and failures, both accomplishments and limitations of scores of both American legends and lesser-known significant figures.
In the beginning and end of the book, Reynolds covers the Presidential administrations of James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and James Polk; he closes with the 1849 inauguration of Zachary Taylor. With the demise of the Federalists, the Democrat Monroe enjoyed the "Era Of Good Feelings", but national politics soon disintegrated into bitter partisanship between the Democrats and Whigs. Such enmity existed that Congress refused to provide appropriations for the 1840's White House, making President John Tyler pay his own heating bill. Modern parallels abound: Reynolds describes Senators "in the odd position of opposing the war (with Mexico) for political reasons while voting to fund it so as not to appear unpatriotic."
A key cultural flashpoint is the amplifying clash between abolitionists and slave-owners that would soon thereafter erupt into the Civil War. Another theme involves the young nation's embrace or rejection of mother country England through disparate arenas like political science, literature or theater. In the middle chapters, Reynolds also explores religion, medicine, scientific inventions, fine art, entertainment and fads of the era.
The text is occasionally repetitive, often retelling events from earlier in the book instead of simply alluding to them and moving to new information. Further editing might have yielded a more cohesive volume. Reynolds previously wrote a biography of Walt Whitman and, though usually apt, his inclusion of Whitman's observations in almost every chapter grows tiresome.
Reynolds includes a 30-page index and 17 pages of sources and additional recommended reading. The book also includes over 40 black and white illustrations. Detailed but not exhaustive, this volume is informative yet still highly readable. This would probably make an excellent gift for a social studies teacher or casual American history buff.

There have been many fine books on the era between the War of 1812 and the Civil War that was dominated by Andrew Jackson. From the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Age of Jackson" by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (1945) to Robert Remini's three volume biography of Jackson (1977, 1981, 1984), the field have been dominant with political histories. Mr. Reynolds takes a different approach with politics taking a backseat to the cultural times of America. The literary, spiritual, theaterical, etc. are all covered in this history of how Americans lived. The political aspect is covered in a basic approach of an introduction while the celebrities, quacks, writers, and preachers take center stage. The writing is lively and interesting.

The author claims that "the years from 1815 through 1848 were arguably the richest in American life," in terms of "society, politics, and culture." Perhaps, but that notion is not especially defended, as the book is a sweeping overview of the era covering both politics and culture. It makes sense to choose those endpoints for an era. The War of 1812 finally extricated the US from the always looming presence of England and 1848 marks the culmination of the incessant drive to obtain all land to the west coast from CA to Oregon (now Washington).

Andrew Jackson was certainly the most significant and polarizing individual of the era, certainly among politicians. Though a man of means, it was his democratizing instincts, most notably his battles against the US Bank and his inclination towards states' rights, and his willingness to assert presidential powers, including no reluctance to issue vetoes, his Indian removal policies, and his terse put-down of South Carolina's Nullification Act, that generated vigorous opposition. The Whigs formed the other part of what is called the Second Party System starting in 1832. Somewhat aristocratic, they appealed to high-minded types who had a nationalistic agenda of tariffs, internal improvements, and a centralized banking system. They eschewed labels as a political party and abhorred what they considered to be the dictatorial nature of Jackson. Politics became far more a mass participation event in these times. It's doubtful whether the sloganeering of the 1840 presidential campaign involving Harrison versus Van Buren with the "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" theme has ever been surpassed.

Completely intertwined with the politics and culture of the era was the huge increase in the numbers of religious sects. They all emphasized the personally empowering nature of a one-to-one relationship with God in comparison with the older Calvinistic concept of predestination. It was a righteous empowerment that played out in politics, but even more so in reform movements concerned with slavery, women's rights, alcohol usage and abuse, licentiousness, etc. It was also an era of invention, most notably the telegraph, as well as pseudo-scientific fads, often in the deficient fields of medicine. The art and literature of the era celebrated the common man and the US landscape, as well as seeing the darker sides of American life: urbanization, slavery, Indian removal, and the like. The rise of the "penny" press made accessible to vastly more readers than ever before both lowbrow and highbrow culture.

Because the book attempts to describe so much over several decades, it can only hint at the significance of events, positions espoused, and the turbulence engendered by reformers. The tone of the book is in no way critical of US culture and politics of the time, yet there is certainly room for that. It is in fact the singular failure of the people of the US, through political processes and social affairs, that they could not resolve the issue of slavery and prevent the bloodiest and most devastating event in our history. Perhaps not dealing with our nation-wide problems is a characteristic that we have. Our current era has numerous, serious problems that cannot seem to be addressed. The book is a nice overview of the era, especially culture. However, it is hard to see how this era surpasses the next thirty to forty years as being rich, consequential, transformative, etc.

In aptly titled, Waking Giant, David Reynolds takes on the very difficult task of writing a biography of an era. It is reminiscent of the now classic, Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920's that brings that era to life.

This chronicle of the "era of the common man", helps to fill a gap for general readers. A check of Pulitzer Prize winners for history suggests that there is a trend for revisiting the Jackson Age. There is a winner in 2008 What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States) and a runner up in 2006 The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. These are the first to appear (other than books on niche topics) since Schlesinger's The Age of Jackson (Back Bay Books (Series)) in 1946.

Jackson is our first president to come from humble means and from the frontier. While his accomplishments are few and dubious (for instance the war on the bank and his Native American policies) he solidified the power of the President by force of personality and held the nation together in his fight against nullification.

As those who have been born free of monarchy and legally entrenched aristocracy came of age, the country was awash in new ideas in art, religion, entertainment and commerce that were not influenced by the established ways of Europe. As the common man gained confidence the country did too and envisioned a sea to sea destiny. Reynolds shows how the seeds of the territorial and military infrastructure and a national identity were sown and fostered in this period.

Reynolds' forte is literature (he has written on Melville and Whitman) but he does an outstanding job with religion, politics, business and synthesizing what they all have to do with Jackson. Reynolds provided the links for me to understand what I had been looking for regarding Jackson. It is not the accomplishments of Jackson for which he is honored, but for his spirit and for the common man whom he represents.

Waking Giant is extraordinary. It is remarkably well informed and readable. Reynolds is to be commended on his efforts and ability to produce such an outstanding book on a most interesting subject. Particularly insightful are the sections on Emerson, Melville, Hawthorne and Poe. The book gave me new insight on these writers, and on a period of American Literature that I have been studying and thinking about for years.

I had thought David Walker Howe's "What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848" (2007) was the final word on this period of U.S. history. But having read Reynolds' excellent study of Whitman, I decided to give "Waking Giant" a chance. I was not disappointed. Walker's work is more comprehensive than Reynolds' - going deeper into the political and especially economic changes of the period. Reynolds' strong suit is social and cultural history. After reading chapter 4, "God's Many Kingdoms" - a fascinating journey through the religious upheavals of the time - I thought, this is the author's most solid contribution; this chapter alone makes the book. Then I read the following two chapters on reform movements, literature, the arts, fads, inventions - overall, a notably rich cultural survey. This is not to suggest that "Waking Giant" is merely a cultural history of the Jackson era. Over half the book is devoted to politics, and here the treatment is more than just competent. I gained several new insights into the phenomenon that was Jackson. Calhoun and Webster become a little more comprehensible. If Walker leans toward the Whigs, Reynolds is more of a Jackson man, presenting a sympathetic appraisal of a historically controversial figure. I offer one criticism of the book: Reynolds' writing style - though fluid, lively, rich, engaging - could here and there benefit by some minor editing.

If you are not familiar with the period 1815 to 1848, this is a good general history of the era. Some topics are covered in just a couple of paragraphs, in which cases a bit more detail would have been helpful. I think the author tried very hard to give a balanced view of controversial topics such as Indian removal and slavery, which I think adds to the quality of the book. As a general history this is very informative and a good introduction. I am just starting with the 1815-48 era and am glad I read this book as it has provided topics that I can seek out for greater detail in other books.

I was very impressed with this book by Reynolds. He covers much more ground than I thought possible in fewer than 400 pages, yet I didn't feel like he glossed over important topics. It's written for a broad audience, but it's not dumbed down or condescending like some pop history books. It's informative and very well written.

My only criticism of the book is not so much a criticism but a preference: I thought he spent too much time on cultural trends, specifically his descriptions of so many artists of the period. When he was talking about visual arts, I drifted away at times. He also came back to certain topics after already addressing them, like, for example, Barnum. But some readers would find the cultural history more interesting than the political or religious history that he covers. In fact, there were some sections of the book that dealt with topics I usually consider somewhat boring, but Reynolds helped to make them more appealing. He did a really nice job with this book.

I have not read "What Hath God Wrought" yet, but now I feel more prepared for it, and my interest in the period has increased because of Reynolds's book. It's doubtful that most people will be glued to every chapter of this book, but it's equally probably that any reader with some interest in history will find plenty to like about it. Highly recommended.

Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson (American History)
David Reynolds ("John Brown--Abolitionist" and "Walt Whitman's America") has undertaken a big job in tracing American political and cultural history during the Age of Jackson. For the most part, he succeeds.
There's a lot of territory here, both literally and figuratively. His Table of Contents provides a clue: "Forging a National Identity,' "Political Fights, Popular Fetes, Jackson's Presidency; God's Many Kingdoms; Reforms, Panaceas,Inventions, Fads; Rebellion and Renaissance; Party Politics and Manifest Destiny; and Epilogue."
Reynolds is particularly good at interpreting social and cultural history;
his analysis of the boom in Evangelism, the "fads" of Utopianism and Socialism; and the literary contributions of Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman are valuable.
He also gives due, perhaps overdue, credit to President James Polk, an oft overlooked President, who not only accomplished what he set out to do (annexing Oregon; pressuring Mexico into releasing California; and dealing with Tariffs) but had the good sense not to seek re-election.
Maybe one-term Presidencies aren't a bad idea.
See Also:
The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800 (P.S.)What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States)