Americans in dissent : thirteen influential social critics of the nineteenth century / Steven L. Piott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Piott, Steven L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social reformers--United States--History--19th century.

Social reformers.

Political activists--United States--History--19th century.

Political activists.

History.

United States--Social conditions--19th century.

United States.

Social conditions.

United States--Politics and government--19th century.

Politics and government.

United States--History--19th century.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

v, 243 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham ; Boulder ; New York ; London : Lexington Books, [2014]

Summary:

American in Dissent: Thirteen Influential Social Critics of the Nineteenth Century is designed as a collection of biographical essays written for general readers and under-graduates that focuses on the topic of American dissent from 1830 to 1890. Centered on influential nineteenth-century social critics, this volume shifts the focus of American reform away from "romantic" attempts at reforming the individual to more pragmatic efforts aimed at confronting social, economic, and political problems an undercurrent of genuine realism. Coexisting with what seemed to be a preponderance of romanitc idealism during much of period was. Instead of looking through the prism of a pre-modern society, many of these dissenters focused on how society was becoming increasingly acquisitive and entrepreneurial. They were among the first to question laissez-faire individualism and unrestrained industrial capitalism and anticipated the critiques of later Progressive Era reformers. Representing a wide range of interests, each selection features a fascinating and provocative man or woman who offers a fundamental critique of American society and make significant contributions to the development of the reform ethos that characterized the period. Book jacket.

Contents:

Sarah G. Bagley: labor activist

Thomas Skidmore and George Henry Evans: agrarians

William H. Sylvis: labor protagonist

Oliver Hudson Kelley: patron of husbandry

George Perkins Marsh: environmental philosopher

Elizabeth Cady Stanton: radical feminist

Frances Willard: pragmatic feminist

Helen Hunt Jackson: Indian rights advocate

T. Thomas Fortune: race leader

Thomas Nast: muckraking cartoonist

Jacob Riis: urban reformer

Edward Bellamy: Utopian socialist.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739192481

0739192485

OCLC:

884480366