Empire Of Liberty: A History Of The Early Republic, 1789-1815 By Gordon S. Wood

This is a brilliant but difficult book, which took me a few months to read. Wood writes well and is in absolute command of his material, but he does not write with the narrative flair of Kennedy or McPherson, the two most readable volumes of this series.

But your investment in this book will be rewarded if you stick with it. Wood demonstrates the nation’s profound shift from an English republic dominated by an aristocratic elite in 1789 to a full fledged democracy by 1815. Wood may overstate the democratic status of the U.S. by 1815, and in the process does not give enough credit to the profound effect that Andrew Jackson had on the country in completing this transformation. But certainly the die is cast by 1815.

What is extraordinary about the book is Wood’s ability to factor culture, the arts, everyday life, work, and society into his political analysis of the transformation of the nation in this period. The United States is profoundly different from Europe, and the nation’s recognition of and belief in its own exceptionalism perhaps explains the strangeness of the War of 1812, an event I simply could not fathom until I read Wood’s excellent book. Even this early in its history, the nation wanted to remake the world in its own image. The economic embargo and trade warfare was seen as a lever for forcing the warring European nations to abide by American principles of the free passage of goods and ideas over borders. Wood does not see the war as one of conquest (he sees the Canadian ventures as necessary to secure the frontier from British sponsorship of Indian wars), but as an assertion of American independence and desire to force Europe to accommodate its legitimate interests.

Viewed in this way, the presidencies of Madison and Jefferson come off as far more successful than has been the view of a number of critical historians. Wood points out that Madison in this respect understood the pulse of nation better than anyone else and was rewarded by having more towns named after him than any other President.

What is to explain this transformation of America in this period? Wood does not set out grand historical factors, and is more interested in documenting the transformation than in explaining it. But I think that Wood would probably agree that a lot has to do with the abundance of land and resources and the explosion of population. It’s a variant of the “frontier” thesis: the entire country is the frontier given that even the heavily populated areas are not fully settled as they are in Europe. There is a fluidity of commerce, economic fortunes, and social class that makes this country different from the European nations. In Wood’s words, America is a nation of the “middling” classes — it makes up for the lack of a hypereducated, refined, and moneyed aristocracy with an enormous body of hard working middle classes dedicated to bettering themselves and the new nation.

Wood also portrays slavery as the cancer that threatens the system. Its feudal, class based, and increasingly racist nature is completely contrary to the Jefferson ideals of equality and individual dignity. In 1789, the consensus was that slavery was on its way to extinction; by 1815, the South knew better and understood its continued dependence on the institution. Failure to excise this tumor early in the nation’s history led to its metastasis and to the ultimate Civil War.

While not an easy read, this is an extraordinary book — one of the best works of American History.

Another outstanding installment of the Oxford History of the United States. Empire of Liberty is erudite, thoughtful, comprehensive, and the quality of writing is unusually good. Wood does an unusually good job of balancing the basic narrative with thematic discussions of the relevant social history, intellectual history, economic history, and religious history. There is also a very nice balance between descriptions/analyses of the experiences and actions of major figures like Jefferson and Hamilton and the lives of the mass of citizens of the infant American republic.

Wood organizes his narrative and analyses around 3 important themes. One is the American sense of a great experiment in Republicanism and self-government. As Wood points out, not only was the American republican experiment distinctive, but for much of the period discussed, Europe was in a period of reaction against the French Revolution. The second theme is the emergence of a more democratic society dominated by what Wood refers to “middling” people. Wood’s narrative is very much the story of the development of a relatively democratic political and economic system dominated by what was broadly a middle class with a very commercial social orientation and evangelical religious preferences. Wood also discusses very well some of the drawbacks of these developments, notably the relative anti-intellectualism, herrenvolk democracy aspects, and unrealistic foreign policy preferences of early American society. Finally, a recurrent theme, and one that follows the writings of the great 19th century historian Henry Adams, is that many of these developments were unintended consequences. As Wood shows nicely, many of the Founders were classical Republicans and viewed the Constitution as a means to restrain popular excess. The political system that emerged, however, was the most democratic in the world. The development of the American party system based on popular mobilization was led by Madison and Jefferson, classical republicans who claimed to despise “faction.”

Wood lays out the major political, foreign policy, and social/economic trends beautifully. His treatments of the major political and social figures are concise and insightful. The balance between telling detail and the big picture is excellent throughout. Without being anachronistic, Wood also does an excellent job of identifying features that would have major consequences for the future. The significant and widening differences between the economic, social, and political systems of the North and South are laid out nicely. The problem of the basic contradiction between an increasingly democratic republican nation and the presence of slavery is discussed insightfully. As with all volumes of OHUS, there is a very useful annotated bibliography providing guidance for further reading.

Empire of Liberty is particularly impressive when viewed in the context of the published volumes of OHUS. The sequence covering approximately the first century of US history consists of Middlekauf’s The Glorious Cause, Empire of Liberty, Howe’s What Hath God Wrought, and McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom. These books are all individually superb and collectively the best cumulative historical survey in existence. All these books reflect a basic, perhaps the basic, question of the American historical experience – what does it mean to be a democratic society? The editors of OHUS, initially the late C. Vann Woodward and now David Kennedy (the author of the equally superb OHUS volume on the Great Depression and WWII) deserve great credit for recruiting a series of outstanding scholars to produce these outstanding volumes.

The evolution of American democracy in the post-revolution realm is a very fascinating study. Gordon Wood draws the reader into the story of how the United States went from being nothing more than a rebellious former colony of Great Britain to that of a nation in its own right, ready to compete with the Old World monarchies in the big wide world. The Early Republic of 1789 to 1815 defined, dictated and cajoled the United States into the nation it is today; for better or worse.

Independence from Great Britain brought freedom to the colonies… but it was also to bring many new obstacles and conflicts for the emerging states and national government. Indeed, the nation was to change in less than three decades to one with little resemblance to what it was in 1789

Initially a loose confederation of thirteen like minded states, the development and agreement of a Constitution in 1789 allowed for the setting up of a national government. Subsequent actions by men such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and others led the creation of the ‘Federalists’; leaders determined to organise the states in a more structured and powerful nation. However, they were to meet opposition from those who feared a strong centralised authority, something they’d fought the British to eradicate. Men such as James Madison, James Monroe and the most famous of them all; Thomas Jefferson, favoured a limited central government with more rights for the state authorities. The setting up of a tax system, an army, navy, militia forces and even a diplomatic service were considered by Federalists to be essential for the survival of the revolution, but examples of intrusive and freedom restricting government by the Republicans. The Federalists and the Republicans were to mistrust each other for years, an early precursor to the causes of the Civil War…

Wood covers all aspects of US society, politics, economics and religion as the country evolved into a young, vibrant nation full of entrepreneurial, commercially minded and egalitarian citizens determined to be no ones inferior. One key aspect of Wood’s work documents how suspicion and dislike of all ‘aristocrats’ among the citizens led to a greater belief in the equality of men regardless of birthright. This was to brake down barriers and lead to the greater acceptance of women in society and even that of non-white Christians. However, this was slow to begin with and still had a long way to develop by 1815.

The opportunities presented by mass expansion to the west of the North American continent eventually convinced many Americans that they themselves were a people and a nation whose heritage may be predominantly British, but whose future was their own to discover. An identity different from that of their European cousins with different beliefs and a stronger sense of their own personal freedoms. The war with Britain in 1812 was to become more a war of symbolic defiance than that of material gain. The United States was to make a statement; we are an independent people and country who refuse to be pushed around by a former master. This was the so-called ‘Second War of independence.

This is a brilliant study in the evolution of the United States. Wood clearly and entertainingly documents how the United States began as a muddled set of newly free territories which was to become a united nation determined to symbolise and practice the concept of the freedom of men over that of monarchical dictatorships as those which ran Europe. The nation in 1815 bared little resemblance to what it did in 1789 thanks to the growth of ideals and beliefs which the nation still holds dear and tirelessly tries to emulate in today’s world. ‘Empire of Liberty’ is crucial to anyone who wishes to understand the development of the United States as a nation and also to those who wish to see why the nation thinks as it does today. Fabulous.

A wide variety of subjects over this period of American history. Some writings can be found on other books of the author and sometimes when you read you have the feeling that the text may not seem connected. In any case, a thoroughly displayed work.