America 250 · 1815–1860
Antebellum & Westward Expansion
The country doubled in size and tore itself apart over what to do with it.
From the Era of Good Feelings through the road to Fort Sumter — Jackson, Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War, the Compromise of 1850, Bleeding Kansas. The forty-five years in which the question of slavery in the new territories made civil war inevitable.
Presidents who served
Histories
What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
Daniel Walker Howe · 2007
Pulitzer winner. Oxford History of the US — the consensus single-volume on the Jacksonian decades.
Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson
David S. Reynolds · 2008
A social history rather than a political one — the religion, the literature, the rough new democracy.
Undaunted Courage
Stephen E. Ambrose · 1996
Lewis & Clark from the Missouri to the Pacific and back — the most-read book ever written about the expedition.
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
James M. McPherson · 1988
Pulitzer winner. The first 350 pages are the road TO the war — the antebellum collapse.
Lives
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Jon Meacham · 2008
Pulitzer winner. Jackson as the era's central figure — focused on the presidency itself.
In their own words
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Frederick Douglass · 1845
The most-read antebellum slave narrative — Douglass's account of his escape, written when he was twenty-seven.
Fiction
Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy · 1985
The Mexican-American border in the 1840s, with the Glanton scalp-hunting gang. The bleakest answer to what Manifest Destiny meant.
On screen
The West
Stephen Ives · 1996
PBS eight-part documentary produced by Ken Burns — the long arc of westward settlement from 1500 to 1900.
Common questions
What is the best book to start learning about the Antebellum & Westward Expansion era?
Daniel Walker Howe's What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 is a foundational text. It covers the rapid expansion of the country and the political shifts that defined the early years of the Antebellum & Westward Expansion era before the road to Fort Sumter.
Why does the Antebellum & Westward Expansion era matter for American history?
This period is critical because the country doubled in size while tearing itself apart over the status of slavery in new territories. The tensions surrounding Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War, and Bleeding Kansas made the eventual outbreak of the Civil War inevitable during these forty-five years.
What is a good screen treatment to watch for the Antebellum & Westward Expansion era?
The 1996 documentary series The West is the recommended screen treatment for this period. It provides a comprehensive visual overview of the era, exploring the expansion of the United States and the complex political conflicts that defined the nation between 1815 and 1860.
How many U.S. presidents served during the Antebellum & Westward Expansion era?
There were 11 U.S. presidents who served during the Antebellum & Westward Expansion era. This period, spanning from 1815 to 1860, includes the Era of Good Feelings, the Age of Jackson, and the mounting political crises that led to the Compromise of 1850 and the road to Fort Sumter.
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