But as my book shows, the Jacksonians did not have a corner on white supremacy. He demonizes the Democrats and caricatures Andrew Jackson as an illiberal, autocratic white supremacist. Instead, he claims that the Whigs were the true heroes. and Sean Wilentz, who describe the Jacksonians as major proponents of democratic reform. He aims to dismantle the work of diverse historians, including Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Howe wants to rehabilitate the Whig Party as the outstanding force for liberal politics and technological progress of the time. But let’s focus instead on larger, more substantive issues. I know Millard Fillmore was a Whig-my book simply ends two years before Fillmore took office. Disagreement with England did contribute to the Monroe Doctrine. My book doesn’t equate the Liberty and Free Soil parties. I would relish the space to discuss every false allegation Howe raises. In his smugly dismissive review of Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson, Daniel Walker Howe uses a smokescreen of cavils to avoid confronting my book’s conclusions, which clash with his recent book, What Hath God Wrought.
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