cover image 1816: America Rising

1816: America Rising

C. Edward Skeen, Carl Edward Skeen, . . Univ. Press of Kentucky, $35 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-8131-2271-7

At peace after its second war with Britain and bursting with nationalistic energy, the United States in 1816 was entering a new era, and historian Skeen narrates the major events of its distinctive opening 12 months with great skill. While historical developments spill over the boundaries of a solar year, Skeen (Citizen Soldiers in the War of 1812) thinks that the events of 1816 can be said to be among the most important before the Civil War. Arguably, he's right. Congress buckled down to legislate about many critical issues postponed during wartime—such as banking and peacetime defense. States, localities and individual citizens began to undertake humanitarian and development projects—such as the Erie Canal—that would long affect the nation. The year 1816 also had two unprecedented events, which elicit Skeen's most spirited writing. The first was a "year without a summer." Both weather and political junkies will be fascinated by how widespread suffering caused by unusually cold months could not be alleviated by a still underpowered federal government. The second event was another kind of rare weather—a political tornado—whose story many will also savor. The justifiable effort by Congress to increase its members' pay aroused such public outrage that two-thirds of the congressmen were thrown out of office in the 1816 election. For all this, the year ended tranquilly with the election of James Monroe, and what we now know as the "Era of Good Feelings" began. Skeen misses the chance to bring the distinctive figures who peopled those days alive, but otherwise he relates this history with clarity and verve. 5 b&w photos. (July)