Providence and the Invention of the United States, 1607-1876

Nicholas Guyatt0521867886, 9780521867887, 9780521687300, 0521687306

Nicholas Guyatt offers a completely new understanding of a central question in American history: how did Americans come to think that God favored the United States above other nations? Making sense of previously diffuse debates on manifest destiny, millenarianism, and American mission, Providence and the Invention of the United States explains the origins and development of the idea that God has a special plan for America. The benefits and costs of this idea deserve careful consideration.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Half-title……Page 3
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Contents……Page 7
Acknowledgments……Page 9
Introduction……Page 13
Part One Britain, America, and the emergence of providential separatism……Page 21
1 Providence and the Problem of England in Early America……Page 23
Prophecy, History, and National Providentialism……Page 26
Virginia: “Weake and Feeble Crutches”……Page 30
New England: “The Houre for the Worke”……Page 36
The Uses of England in America……Page 42
The Uses of America in England……Page 45
“Confused Times”: English Providentialism after the Restoration……Page 54
“A Little Nation”: New England and Historical Providentialism……Page 58
Conclusion: “Magnalia Dei”……Page 61
2 “Empires Are Mortal”……Page 65
1. “This Providential Key”: Providence and Public Affairs in Hanoverian Britain……Page 67
2. “The Indulgence of Heaven”: National Identity in the Seven Years’ War……Page 74
3. “A Dream in the Night”: The Discontinuities of British History……Page 81
4. “That Awful Goal”: Imperial Decline and the Future of America……Page 88
5. “Open Paths”: The Development of American Providentialism……Page 94
Conclusion: “People of Different Genius”……Page 102
3 “Becoming a Nation at Once”……Page 107
1. “The Asylum of Liberty and True Religion”: Patriot Providentialism……Page 108
Constituencies……Page 116
Opponents……Page 120
3. “Pencillers of Providence”: Britain and the Meaning of the Revolution……Page 126
Conclusion: Thanksgiving 1783/1784……Page 140
Part Two Providence, Race, and the Limits of Revolution……Page 147
4 “Our Glorious Example”……Page 149
1. Providence, Reform, and Revolution: 1786-1796……Page 153
The Constitution: “The Object of Divine Patronage”……Page 154
France: “A Season of Universal Freedom”……Page 158
2. Confounded Expectations: 1796-1808……Page 162
3. “The Illustrious Hereafter”: 1808-1815……Page 173
Conclusion: “Citizens of the World”……Page 180
5 “Deifying Prejudice”……Page 185
1. “The Hand of Heaven Is in It”: The Blueprint for Indian Removal……Page 186
2. “A Divine Impulse”: Removing Blacks……Page 195
3. “The Obvious Designs of Heaven”: Providence and the Politics of Removal……Page 206
Conclusion: “Judgments Are Yet to Be Visited upon Us”……Page 219
6 “Divided Destinies”……Page 226
1. “The Fulfillment of Our Mission”: Expansion and Its Critics……Page 228
“A Traditionary Freedom Will Not Save Us”: Antislavery Arguments……Page 242
“The Badges of a Fallen World”: Proslavery Arguments……Page 248
3. “The Key to American History”: Slavery and the Rationale for Secession……Page 258
Conclusion: “That Great Idea of National Continuity”……Page 268
7 “The Regenerated Nation”……Page 271
1. “What Is to Be the Mission of This Nation?”: God and the Confederacy……Page 273
“A Glorious Career of Self-Regeneration”……Page 287
Colonization, Lincoln, and “the Will of Providence”……Page 294
Conclusion: “The Great Deliverance”……Page 309
8 William Lloyd Garrison’s Complaint……Page 311
1. Providence and the New South……Page 314
2. “The Sacred Significance of This War”……Page 321
Conclusion: “Centennial Reflections”……Page 331
Index……Page 339