Description:

A dramatic retelling of the Transcendentalists’ story, revealing them as social activists who shaped progressive American values. Conflagration illuminates the connections between key members of the Transcendentalist circle--including James Freeman Clarke, Elizabeth Peabody, Caroline Healey Dall, Elizabeth Stanton, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Theodore Parker, and Margaret Fuller--who created a community dedicated to radical social activism and laid the groundwork for democratic, progressive religion in America. In the tumultuous decades before and after the Civil War, the Transcendentalists instigated lasting change in American society through their literary achievements and activism. They fought for the abolition of slavery, democratically governed churches, equal rights for women, and against the dehumanizing effects of brutal economic competition and growing social inequality. The Transcendentalists' passion for social equality stemmed from their belief in spiritual friendship--transcending differences in social situation, gender, class, theology, and race. Together, their fight for justice changed the American sociopolitical landscape.