Sarah Katherine Manning Rodriguez

Transnational histories of the Civil War era have proliferated in recent years. Scholars have compared emancipation processes in the Caribbean and the U.S. South, explored Confederate diplomacy and expatriatism, and drawn insightful conclusions about the similarities between Lincoln and Garibaldi. Even in this relatively prolific field, Erika Pani’s Torn Asunder stands out as a necessary contribution. The author’s first full length manuscript published in English draws from over a decade of cutting-edge research into the coterminous mid-century conflicts that redefined Mexico and the United States.

Excerpt: Hemphill was not, like the other men we have followed, so important in his time as to be well known to historians today. Yet he participated in key changes in politics and the economy, from the Missouri Compromise to the conflicts over banking and Indian Removal, to the internal improvements that made the “transportation revolution,” to the development of Philadelphia as a capital of industry. Moreover, born as he was on the eve of the American Revolution, he was witness to a period of rapid transformation and serves as a bridge to hte next generation of Philadelphians that we will meet. (cont.)