Daniel Walker Howe: 'What Hath God Wrought'
Historian Daniel Walker Howe discussed the newest installment in the acclaimed Oxford History of the United States series. "What Hath God Wrought?" was the message transmitted in 1844 by Samuel F.B. Morse to demonstrate his new electric telegraph. But it was also a commentary on the state of an era that meant so much to American history. Between 1815 and 1848, the United States expanded to the Pacific and achieved dominance over the richest part of the North American continent. Howe illuminates the transformation, starting with the battle of New Orleans and ending with the war against Mexico.