Book Review: The Shaping of America by Page Smith

The Shaping of America: A People's History of the Young Republic by Page Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The struggle against the political encroachment of Britain and the ensuing military struggle led to independence, but now the real problems began how to follow up. The Shaping of America: A People’s History of the Young Republic is the third volume of Page Smith’s A People’s History series going over the history of the United States with this volume covering the aftermath of the 1783 Treaty of Paris to the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1826.

Smith viewed the young nation caught between two intellectual consciousnesses—the Classical-Christian of the Revolutionary generation, whose last gasp brought about the Constitution, and the Secular-Democratic inspired by the Enlightenment in the generation that followed the Founders, though ironically led by a few of the Founders. Though Secular-Democratic thought came out on top, it was deeply influenced by the intellectual viewpoint it had replaced especially as the international scene saw the resurgence of absolute monarchism in the aftermath of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Though politically the Secular-Democratic intellectual view was victorious, socially the Protestant Christian emphasis on redeeming the world was a major thread in the American tapestry and eventually come up against the issue that the Founders and the next generation didn’t want to confront, black slavery. As Smith ended this volume, he highlighted the growing cloud that slavery was becoming for those in the North and South while the “original” West was beginning to pick sides. But once again I found Smith’s facts about Native American tribes inaccurate in some instances that I was shaking my head, and I don’t know much about that subject which speaks volumes. Overall, this was a well-written and fascinating look at the history of the young republic, while Smith’s analysis or chosen themes might not be for everyone but that is the point as it reveals the uncomfortable facts that need to be addressed.

The Shaping of America follows up the two-volume history of the American Revolution with a fascinating and engaging look at the young republic as Page Smith reveals all facets of the United States over four critical decades.

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