[This] excellent [book]...provides a vivid history of the legal,
cultural, and intellectual upheaval engendered by the trial of
Anthony Burns, who was unmistakably, to use von Frank's fine
phrase, an 'innocent victim of a guilty law.'--Gregory J. Sullivan
"The Trenton Times "
[Von Frank] provides a gripping history of the case, which in his
interpretation was a touchstone for all kinds of political and
intellectual passions of the pre-Civil War period...What most
distinguishes von Frank's book from previous treatments of the
subject is its discussion of the growing social involvement of the
New England Transcendentalists. Von Frank convincingly demonstrates
that Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were not mere philosophical
dreamers aloof from social problems, as is often claimed. To the
contrary, he argues, Emerson's philosophy, dedicated to independent
thinking and moral action, sparked the outrage over Anthony Burns.
As von Frank puts it, 'Emerson was a force in antislavery because
of his idealism, not in spite of it'...After reading this book, one
is convinced that the ordeal of Anthony Burns was instrumental in
reminding Americans of both the meaning and the responsibilities of
freedom.--David S. Reynolds "New York Times Book Review "
Like Barbara Tuchman, von Frank makes history read like fiction.
With the immediacy of reenactment, he tells of the Northerners who
protested when Anthony Burns, a Virginia Slave, ran away to Boston
and was ordered returned under the Fugitive Slave Law...His lively
sources span from notes on scrap paper to published poetry...This
is a most entertaining and informative view of history and an
excellent study of the 1850s in Boston. Von Frank should also be
commended for arguing that history is affected by ideas as much as
people. If ideas lead, as in this instance, to personal freedom and
social equality, we can only hope he is right.--Kevin Grandfield
"Booklist "
Mr. von Frank's cinematic book tells the interior story of the
Burns case, a case that in the spring of 1854 absorbed a corner of
the country as fully as the recent O.J. Simpson case absorbed the
whole nation--and with a great deal more moment. While historians
once explained what happened in rolling prose, they now prefer to
send us news clips, as it were, from the past. And this is Mr. von
Frank's method, used with great skill, blending his narrative
thread with letters, newspaper reports, diaries and other
contemporania of the principals. For those who wish to understand
Boston's (and much of the Northeast's) attitude toward slavery,
this book is a must. For though many see abolitionist Boston as a
monolith, an idealistic city on a hill, there is much more to be
said.--Duncan Spencer "Washington Times "
On the level of story-telling, von Frank's book is a joy to read.
As a primer on the anti-slavery movement in the Northeast, this
book provides a superb tutorial on the social and ideological
forces that propelled this country towards the Civil War. But I
recommend this book primarily for what it teaches about the role of
ideas and of intellectuals in bringing about social change. This is
a deeply compassionate book that says much about who we are as
Americans.--Daniel R. Williams "New York Law Journal "
This book explores the 1854 trial of fugitive slave Anthony Burns
in the context of the overlapping intellectual, cultural, and
political networks of antebellum Boston and argues that the case
was the critical turning point in converting Massachusetts from
tolerant unionism to radical abolitionism...Propelled by the desire
to demonstrate the impact of ideas on events, von Frank has written
a dramatic and detailed narrative, immersing his readers in the
intricacies of the case and the city, capturing the colorful, the
contingent, and the bizarre. The author has made excellent use of
newspapers, public records, and the memoirs and diaries so
abundantly available from literate Yankee New Englanders in the
1850s...The work will have a significant impact on scholars
reconsidering antislavery.--Carol Lasser "Journal of Southern
History "
Von Frank has written a provocative, stimulating defense not only
of Transcendentalists but of a style of history that elevates
events over trends, the creative individual over the masses, and
rationality over social causation.--Phyllis F. Field "Civil War
History "
Von Frank presents a strong narrative line: from Burns's arrest, to
his trial, to his return and mistreatment in Virginia, to his
eventual purchased freedom, to the multiple consequences of this
stunning sequence of events on Greater Bostonians. Through this
narrative appear a cast of compelling characters...Most of all,
after reading this important and dramatic book, we can never again
see Emerson as an idealist who transcended politics. On the
Fugitive Slave Law, he said 'I will not obey it, by God.' Emerson
inspired the best minds and stoutest hearts of his day to follow
his ideas and his example.--Shaun O'Connell "Boston Globe "
Von Frank's look at this crucial bit of history is a remarkably
well-written intellectual exercise, and a joy to read.--John C.
Walter "Seattle Times "
[In] the first modern analysis of the [Anthony Burns] case...von
Frank focuses on the cases's impact on American thought and
culture, particularly Emerson's Transcendentalists, [but] the
case's sheer drama drives the narrative.
also be commended for arguing that history is affected by ideas as
much as people. If ideas lead, as in this instance, to personal
freedom and social equality, we can only hope he is right.
literate Yankee New Englanders in the 1850s...The work will have a
significant impact on scholars reconsidering antislavery.
see abolitionist Boston as a monolith, an idealistic city on a
hill, there is much more to be said.
Fugitive Slave Law, he said 'I will not obey it, by God.' Emerson
inspired the best minds and stoutest hearts of his day to follow
his ideas and his example.
Parker, as well as to thousands of other Americans stumbling into
the bloody conflict of the next decade.
ÝIn¨ the first modern analysis of the ÝAnthony Burns¨ case...von
Frank focuses on the cases's impact on American thought and
culture, particularly Emerson's Transcendentalists, Ýbut¨ the
case's sheer drama drives the narrative.
ÝThis¨ excellent Ýbook¨...provides a vivid history of the legal,
cultural, and intellectual upheaval engendered by the trial of
Anthony Burns, who was unmistakably, to use von Frank's fine
phrase, an 'innocent victim of a guilty law.' -- Gregory J.
Sullivan "The Trenton Times"
ÝVon Frank¨ provides a gripping history of the case, which in his
interpretation was a touchstone for all kinds of political and
intellectual passions of the pre-Civil War period...What most
distinguishes von Frank's book from previous treatments of the
subject is its discussion of the growing social involvement of the
New England Transcendentalists. Von Frank convincingly demonstrates
that Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were not mere philosophical
dreamers aloof from social problems, as is often claimed. To the
contrary, he argues, Emerson's philosophy, dedicated to independent
thinking and moral action, sparked the outrage over Anthony Burns.
As von Frank puts it, 'Emerson was a force in antislavery because
of his idealism, not in spite of it'...After reading this book, one
is convinced that the ordeal of Anthony Burns was instrumental in
reminding Americans of both the meaning and the responsibilities of
freedom. -- David S. Reynolds "New York Times Book Review"
A complex cultural story of how the trial of an escaped Virginia
slave brought the distant horror of slavery to the attention of
North America.
Anyone with the slightest acquaintance with the United States
during the turbulent 1850s knows about the arrest and trial of the
fugitive slave Anthony Burns; but no one before has told the story
with greater interest and narrative skill (one suspects some
enterprising producer has already purchased film rights to this
book) or understands better its meaning to such figures as Emerson,
Dana, Higginson, Alcott, Conway, Thoreau, Whitman, and Parker, as
well as to thousands of other Americans stumbling into the bloody
conflict of the next decade.
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