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 c 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)
The Shaping of America: A People's History of the Young Republic (Vol 3)
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 c 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)
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Keith Landry –
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 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.
Greg –
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 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 –
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 a 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).
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Staci –
This is NOT like reading Twilight. It might take me longer than 2 days to read this 800 page book.
Jim –
Donald Eugene Mason –