American radicals : how nineteenth-century counterculture shaped the nation

**A dynamic, timely history of nineteenth-century activists—free-lovers and socialists, abolitionists and vigilantes—and the social revolution they sparked in the turbulent Civil War era **"In the tradition of Howard Zinn's people's histories, __American Radicals__ reveals a forgotten yet inspiring past."—Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of __Margaret Fuller: A New American Life__ and __Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast__**** On July 4, 1826, as Americans lit firecrackers to celebrate the country's fiftieth birthday, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were on their deathbeds. They would leave behind a groundbreaking political system and a growing economy—as well as the glaring inequalities that had undermined the American experiment from its beginning. The young nation had outlived the men who made it, but could it survive intensifying divisions over the very meaning of the land of the free? A new... A dynamic, timely history of nineteenth-century activists—free-lovers and socialists, abolitionists and vigilantes—and the social revolution they sparked in the turbulent Civil War era “In the tradition of Howard Zinn’s people’s histories, American Radicals reveals a forgotten yet inspiring past.”—Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SMITHSONIAN On July 4, 1826, as Americans lit firecrackers to celebrate the country’s fiftieth birthday, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were on their deathbeds. They would leave behind a groundbreaking political system and a growing economy—as well as the glaring inequalities that had undermined the American experiment from its beginning. The young nation had outlived the men who made it, but could it survive intensifying divisions over the very meaning of the land of the free? A new network of dissent—connecting firebrands and agitators on pastoral communes, in urban mobs, and in genteel parlors across the nation—vowed to finish the revolution they claimed the founding fathers had only begun. They were men and women, black and white, fiercely devoted to causes that pitted them against mainstream America even while they fought to preserve the nation’s founding ideals: the brilliant heiress Frances Wright, whose shocking critiques of religion and the institution of marriage led to calls for her arrest; the radical Bostonian William Lloyd Garrison, whose commitment to nonviolence would be tested as the conflict over slavery pushed the nation to its breaking point; the Philadelphia businessman James Forten, who presided over the first mass political protest of free African Americans; Marx Lazarus, a vegan from Alabama whose calls for sexual liberation masked a dark secret; black nationalist Martin Delany, the would-be founding father of a West African colony who secretly supported John Brown’s treasonous raid on Harpers Ferry—only to ally himself with Southern Confederates after the Civil War. Though largely forgotten today, these figures were enormously influential in the pivotal period flanking the war, their lives and work entwined with reformers like Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Henry David Thoreau, as well as iconic leaders like Abraham Lincoln. Jackson writes them back into the story of the nation’s most formative and perilous era in all their heroism, outlandishness, and tragic shortcomings. The result is a surprising, panoramic work of narrative history, one that offers important lessons for our own time. A dynamic, timely history of nineteenth-century activists--free-lovers and socialists, abolitionists and vigilantes--and the social revolution they sparked in the turbulent Civil War era On July 4, 1826, as Americans lit firecrackers to celebrate the country's fiftieth birthday, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were on their deathbeds. They would leave behind a groundbreaking political system and a growing economy--as well as the glaring inequalities that had undermined the American experiment from its beginning. The young nation had outlived the men who made it, but could it survive intensifying divisions over the very meaning of the land of the free? A new network of dissent--connecting firebrands and agitators on pastoral communes, in urban mobs, and in genteel parlors across the nation--vowed to finish the revolution they claimed the Founding Fathers had only begun. They were men and women, black and white, fiercely devoted to causes that pitted them against mainstream America even while they fought to preserve the nation's radical ideals: the brilliant heiress Frances Wright, whose shocking critiques of religion and the institution of marriage led to calls for her arrest; the radical Bostonian William Lloyd Garrison, whose commitment to nonviolence would be tested as the conflict over slavery pushed the nation to its breaking point; the Philadelphian businessman James Forten, who presided over the first mass political protest to free African Americans; Marx Lazarus, a vegan from Alabama whose calls for sexual liberation masked a dark secret; black nationalist Martin Delany, the would-be founding father of a West African colony who secretly supported John Brown's treasonous raid on Harpers Ferry--only to ally himself with Southern Confederates after the Civil War. Though largely forgotten today, these figures were enormously influential in the pivotal period flanking the war, their lives and work entwined with reformers like Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Henry David Thoreau, as well as iconic leaders like Abraham Lincoln. Jackson writes them back into the story of the nation's most formative and perilous era in all their heroism, outlandishness, and tragic shortcomings. The result is a surprising, panoramic work of narrative history, one that offers important lessons for today. A rollicking, character-driven narrative history about the nineteenth-century radicals-from Fanny Wright and Henry David Thoreau to John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison-who demanded that the United States live up to its revolutionary ideals, and what their successes and failures can teach us today July 4, 1826, marked a turning point for the young United States. Even as Americans lit firecrackers to celebrate their country's fiftieth birthday, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were on their deathbeds. They left behind a country with a solid political system and a growing economy-as well as increasing political division over slavery, which still tarnished the "land of the free." Luckily, a new generation of political thinkers was ready to take up the mantle and finish the revolution the Founding Fathers had started. They were men and women, black and white, fiercely devoted to a variety of causes that put them outside the mainstream: from the brilliant heiress Fanny Wright, whose choice to speak in front of mixed-gender crowds created almost as much scandal as her calls to destroy the institution of marriage; to the radical abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, whose nonviolent principles would be tested as the conflict over slavery pushed the nation to its breaking point; to the black nationalist Martin Delany, who smuggled escaped slaves across the Canadian border and funded John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry-only to ally himself with Southern Confederates after the Civil War. Tracing the period from 1824 to Reconstruction, American Radicals: How Nineteenth-Century Counterculture Shaped the Nation rediscovers these largely forgotten figures, and others, in all their heroism and complexity, and in so doing adds to our understanding of an often neglected but crucial period in America's stop-and-go journey toward living up to its promises. The result is a surprising, panoramic work of narrative history, one that offers important lessons for today's generation of radicals and resisters In the 1800s, a new network of dissent-- connecting firebrands and agitators on pastoral communes, in urban mobs, and in genteel parlors across the nation-- vowed to finish the revolution they claimed the founding fathers had only begun. They were men and women, black and white, fiercely devoted to causes that pitted them against mainstream America even while they fought to preserve the nation's founding ideals. Jackson writes these largely forgotten figures back into the story of the nation's most formative and perilous era, and shows that they offers important lessons for our own time. -- adapted from jacket "A character-driven narrative history about the nineteenth-century radicals -- from Fanny Wright and Henry David Thoreau to John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison -- who demanded that the United States live up to its revolutionary ideals, and what their successes and failures can teach us today"-- Provided by publisher "A character-driven narrative history about the nineteenth-century radicals--from Fanny Wright and Henry David Thoreau to John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison--who demanded that the United States live up to its revolutionary ideals, and what their successes and failures can teach us today"-- Résumé de l'éditeur