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Overview
Scholars have long debated the question of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s relationship to the abolition movement and the degree of his commitment to the antislavery cause. Some early commentators depicted Emerson as an active social reformer, while others have seen him as a contemplative dreamer, serenely aloof from frenetic reform activity.
In Virtue’s Hero, Len Gougeon draws on a huge array of primary documents—unpublished speeches, the correspondence of abolitionists, family papers, records of abolition society meetings, and more—to offer a detailed and comprehensive account of Emerson’s antislavery position. Tracing the development of Emerson’s thought in both his personal and public reactions to the social crises that sprang from the slavery issue, Gougeon shows conclusively that the New England Transcendentalist not only philosophized about reform but actually immersed himself in it. Time and again, he demonstrated the depth of his commitment to the power of personal virtue and to the principle articulated in his 1837 address “The American Scholar”: “Action,” he declared, “is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it he is not yet man.”
In Virtue’s Hero, Len Gougeon draws on a huge array of primary documents—unpublished speeches, the correspondence of abolitionists, family papers, records of abolition society meetings, and more—to offer a detailed and comprehensive account of Emerson’s antislavery position. Tracing the development of Emerson’s thought in both his personal and public reactions to the social crises that sprang from the slavery issue, Gougeon shows conclusively that the New England Transcendentalist not only philosophized about reform but actually immersed himself in it. Time and again, he demonstrated the depth of his commitment to the power of personal virtue and to the principle articulated in his 1837 address “The American Scholar”: “Action,” he declared, “is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it he is not yet man.”
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780820334691 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Georgia Press |
| Publication date: | 04/15/2010 |
| Pages: | 424 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.20(d) |
About the Author
LEN GOUGEON is a professor of American literature and Distinguished University Fellow at the University of Scranton. He is coeditor ofEmerson’s Antislavery Writings and author ofEmerson & Eros: The Making of a Cultural Hero. In 2008 he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society.
LEN GOUGEON is a professor of American literature and Distinguished University Fellow at the University of Scranton. He is coeditor ofEmerson’s Antislavery Writings and author ofEmerson & Eros: The Making of a Cultural Hero. In 2008 he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society.
LEN GOUGEON is a professor of American literature and Distinguished University Fellow at the University of Scranton. He is coeditor ofEmerson’s Antislavery Writings and author ofEmerson & Eros: The Making of a Cultural Hero. In 2008 he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society.
Table of Contents
Preface to the 2010 Edition ix
Acknowledgments xv
List of Abbreviations xix
CHAPTER ONE. Abolition and the Biographers 1
CHAPTER TWO. Early Concerns: 1821–1837 24
CHAPTER THREE. The Silent Years: 1838–1844 41
CHAPTER FOUR. Confusion and Commitment: 1844–1849 86
CHAPTER FIVE. Counterattack: 1850–1852 138
CHAPTER SIX. The Struggle Intensifi es: 1853–1855 187
CHAPTER SEVEN. The Battle Lines Are Drawn: 1856–1859 217
CHAPTER EIGHT. Confl ict and Victory: 1860–1865 250
CHAPTER NINE. Reconstruction and Other Struggles: 1865 and After 314
CHAPTER TEN. Conclusion 337
Notes 349
Index 399
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