What Has God Wrought: The Transformation of America
A panoramic narrative, What Hath God Wrought, written by historian Daniel Walker Howe portrays revolutionary improvements in transportation and communications that accelerated the extension of the American empire. In his story, Howe weaves together political and military events with social, economic, and cultural history. Howe examines the rise of Andrew Jackson and his Democratic party, but contends that John Quincy Adams and other Whigs--advocates of public education and economic integration, defenders of the rights of Indians, women, and African-Americans--were the true prophets of America's future. In addition, Howe reveals the power of religion to shape many aspects of American life
…show more content…
Each generation has a title, new technologies define new times, and occurrences seem only notable when they are “historic”. While major events catch the attention of a comprehensive range of the public realization, subtle interactions between actors and slight shifts in beliefs are continually changing the actualities of the world. This one event was indelibly branded on the realization of the world and is often seen as a moment of instant transformation.
This period is the era of the when the revolutionization with transportation and communications that accelerated the extension of the American empire. It was during the time of1815 through 1845 when the big transformation occurred for the railroads, canals, newspapers, and the Duckworth,
…show more content…
Morse sent a 19-letter message to his assistant Albert Vail in Baltimore who actually transmitted the message back to him a moment later. It was at this time Congress members was watching this exhibition with much fascination. The message was ‘What Hath God Wrought’? This question is taken from the bible (Numbers 23:23) which reads’ Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!’ and had been the offer of the daughter of the patent commissioner, named Annie Eilworth. He had spent 12 years working on and perfecting this invention. On May 24, 1884, he launched the world’s first marketable telegraph line with a message. It was said that this message was very applicable given the invention’s potential, opportunity, and impact that it would have on America’s life. In light of the verbiage spoken by Annie Ellsworth, they may take on more importance than she probably projected of what had God wrought indeed for America. When we think of the phase of What Hath God Wrought today, we would lean not to refer to great discoveries but yet an awful tragedy. Maybe this would be just an unusual reflection of God or Technology from a different era or maybe even both. Usually when we think of the mighty acts of God, we tends to think of a disaster, but Morse was thinking
Susan Harris’s book God’s Arbiters explores the religious rhetoric when discussing expansion of the United States. She focuses solely on the time period of 1898 through 1902. In this book, Harris calls on the works of numerous poets, authors, and political figures to show the perception of the United States imperialist motives from outside the borders. Harris uses Mark Twain as an epigraph at the beginning of the book with the quotation “I am an anti-imperialist.” Drawing upon authors such as Rudyard Kipling and his pro-annexation story The White Man’s Burden, Harris shows both sides of the debate through authors and poets alike. This use of writers offers an interesting perspective to the argument for and against imperialism, furthermore offering a look into the minds of intellectuals of the period. The main issue addressed by Harris is
In Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, Douglass Rushkoff discusses his interpretation of the relationship of society and rapidly evolving technology. He believes that as technology progresses, society becomes increasingly dependent on it and eventually loses touch with the traditional sense of time and reality. Through the book Rushkoff makes several insightful observations about the development of society and how technologies were often the driving force behind these “Present Shocks.”
America was born and survived, its rough road into a nation, through a series of events, or moments in history. The founding brother’s book is about a few important figures during and after the American Revolution. These important figures consisted of Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, John Adams, George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. Each of these men, contributed to the building of America in one way or another. The book breaks these contributions into a few short stories, to help understand what these important figures did.
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 185,193. Print.
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
industrialization. It is hard to factor all of those periods into once period such as the 1800’s as a whole.
The world was hectic in the 20th century. The first plane was flown, World War I took place (1914-1918), communists took over Russia and China (1917), penicillin was discovered (1928), the U.S. stock market crashed (1929), and the DNA’s structure was discovered (. However, on the eastern side of the world, the most notable occurrences were probably Hitler’s rise as chancellor and his launching of the Kristallnacht, the German invasion of Poland, Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Holocaust. Further east, specifically Japan, its 124th Emperor had just inherited his father’s place, right before entering World War II.
Tindall, George Brown and Shi, David Emory. America: A Narrative History. 8th Ed. Brief. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010).
Written sometime after A People’s History of the United States, the play on words might indicate the authors’ intent to refute the biased nature of the older book, and redeem the major players. Chapter one begins covering the year 1492-1707 with the age of European discovery. Schweikart and Allen focus of the catchy phrase “God, glory, and gold” as the central motives for exploration, emphasizing the desire to bring the Gospel to the New World. They paint native settlers as “thieves” and “bloodthirsty killers who pillage for pleasure” (Allen 1). The narrative continues, discussing the explorers from Portugal and Spain and their contact with the Arabs and Africans. The authors quote Columbus as saying “[he] hoped to convert them ‘to our Holy Faith by love rather than by force’” (4) a contrary portrayal to that in A People’s History of the United States. The authors continue on to discuss the French and English and the foundations for success in the New World; how people lived in the Colonial South. They write about the physical labor, the natural resources, and the food. Schweikart and Allen enlighten the readers about early slavery, the start of the House of Burgesses, the founding of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Pequot Indian War, the English Civil War, Bacon’s Rebellion, Pennsylvania’s settlement, and the
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 544. Print.
Tindall, George Brown., and David E. Shi. America a Narrative History. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2007. Print.
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2007.
As the sun moves westward on January 1, 2000 and the date shifts silently within millions of computerized systems, we will begin to experience our computer dependent world in a new way. At the stroke of midnight, the new millennium heralds the greatest challenge to modern society that we have yet to face as a planetary community. Whether we experience this as chaos or social transformation will be influenced by what we do immediately.
Oakley, J. Ronald. God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Dembner Books, 1990. 245.
“Throughout human history, different periods have been captured by a defining theme: the Dark Ages… the Industrial Age… the Nuclear Age… the Information Age… the Space Age, etc. One may feel it is too early to determine the theme of what is still a new century [but there are many] possibilities: The age of connections? Rebirth of faith? Age of the internet? Gender equality? Human trafficking? WW III? Artificial intelligence? Genetics? Spiritual revolution? Secularism? Values? Ethics? …” There are still eighty five years to find out new events that can completely change the themes of the 21st century. So