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

Waking Giant examines America's growth and upheaval between 1815 and 1848, a period when Andrew Jackson redefined the presidency and James K. Polk expanded the nation's territory. David S. Reynolds, author of the Bancroft Prize-winning Walt Whitman's America, explores the cultural, social, intellectual, and artistic forces shaping the nation during this era. The book captures how democracy grappled with slavery, the rise of capitalism, and urbanization. Reynolds documents reformers, abolitionists, and temperance advocates working to address social problems, while also examining the era's striking phenomena: violent mobs, P. T. Barnum's exhibitions, mesmerists, polygamous prophets, and feminist activists. A New York Times Notable Book, Waking Giant presents a comprehensive chronicle of this turbulent period in American history.