Puritan spirits in the abolitionist imagination /

Kenyon Gradert investigates how the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement, whether iconic figures of it like Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Lloyd Garrison or lesser-known writers and orators, drew on aspects of American Puritanism in shaping its political persona. From this angle, we can see a m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gradert, Kenyon (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2020]
Series:American beginnings, 1500-1900.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:Kenyon Gradert investigates how the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement, whether iconic figures of it like Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Lloyd Garrison or lesser-known writers and orators, drew on aspects of American Puritanism in shaping its political persona. From this angle, we can see a movement usually identified with liberal Protestantism in a radically new light. It also recasts our understanding of puritanism, often seen as a conservative force, little interested in worldly rebellion of the sort the abolitionists championed. As Gradert writes, 'By reimagining a pervasive narrative of Puritan origins, abolitionists urged the nation to war with its original sin.'
Physical Description:246 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9780226694023
022669402X