"Liberty to the Downtrodden": Thomas L. Kane, Romantic Reformer (The Lamar Series in Western History) - Hardcover

Grow, Matthew J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300136102 ISBN 13: 9780300136104

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Thomas L. Kane (1822–1883), a crusader for antislavery, women’s rights, and the downtrodden, rose to prominence in his day as the most ardent and persuasive defender of Mormons’ religious liberty. Though not a Mormon, Kane sought to defend the much-reviled group from the “Holy War” waged against them by evangelical America. His courageous personal intervention averted a potentially catastrophic bloody conflict between federal troops and Mormon settlers in the now nearly forgotten Utah War of 1857–58.

 

Drawing on extensive, newly available archives, this book is the first to tell the full story of Kane’s extraordinary life. The book illuminates his powerful Philadelphia family, his personal life and eccentricities, his reform achievements, his place in Mormon history, and his career as a Civil War general. Further, the book revises previous understandings of nineteenth-century reform, showing how Kane and likeminded others fused Democratic Party ideology, anti-evangelicalism, and romanticism.

About this title

About the Author:

Matthew J. Grow is assistant professor of history and director of the Center for Communal Studies, University of Southern Indiana.

Review:

"Grow's book is an enjoyable and enlightening read. . . in Grow's account, Kane's life comes alive, as does the wider context of Kane's America, particularly the mid-Atlantic region." - Susanna Morrill, Reviews in American History

"Though Grow is a careful and exacting scholar, he is also a gifted writer, drawing us into Kane's life such that we feel Kane's motivations and passion. Grow makes Kane come alive." - Joseph A. Cannon, Deseret News

"Not only does Grow enrich our understanding of social reform, romanticism, and antebellum religion, he also writes eloquently and has constructed a lively narrative fitting of Kane's own unusual path through life." - John G. Turner, Religion and American History 

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0300136102
• ISBN 13: 9780300136104
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368