America 1844 : religious fervor, westward expansion, and the presidential election that transformed the nation / John Bicknell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bicknell, John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852.

Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890.

Goodyear, Charles, 1800-1860.

Miller, William, 1782-1849.

Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849.

Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844.

Tyler, John, 1790-1862.

Presidents--United States--Election--1844.

Presidents.

United States--Politics and government--1841-1845.

United States.

Politics and government.

Anti-Catholicism.

Dissenters, Religious.

Manifest Destiny.

Millerite movement.

Presidents--Election.

Second Great Awakening.

Physical Description:

xii, 305 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press Incorporated, 2015.

Summary:

The presidential election of 1844 was one of the two or three most momentous elections in American history. Had Henry Clay won instead of James K. Polk, we'd be living in a very different country today. Polk's victory cemented the westward expansion that brought Texas, California, and Oregon into the union. It also took place amid religious turmoil that included anti-Mormon and anti-Catholic violence, and the "Great Disappointment," in which thousands of followers of an obscure preacher named William Miller believed Christ would return to earth in October 1844. Author and journalist John Bicknell details even more compelling, interwoven events that occurred during this momentous year: the murder of Joseph Smith, the religious fermentation of the Second Great Awakening, John C. Fremont's exploration of the West, Charles Goodyear's patenting of vulcanized rubber, the near-death of President John Tyler in a freak naval explosion, and much more. All of these elements illustrate the competing visions of the American future -- Democrats versus Whigs, Mormons versus Millerites, nativists versus Catholics, those who risked the venture westward versus those who stayed safely behind -- and how Polk's election cemented the vision of a continental nation.

Contents:

Prologue: New Year's Day at the White House

"This glorious hope"

A prophet for president

"Annexation and war...are identical"

"Who the devil is Polk?"

The missionary and the publicist

To Oregon and California

Summer of discontent

The great disappointment

"The severest struggle ever witnessed"

Epilogue: the shaping of America.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-293) and index.

ISBN:

9781613730102

1613730101

9781613730133

1613730136

OCLC:

891185603

Publisher Number:

99969470884