A synthesis of intellectual and social history, Walking in the Way of Peace investigates the historical context, meaning, and expression of early Quaker pacifism in England and its colonies. In a nuanced examination of pacifism, Weddle focuses on King Philip's War, which forced New EnglandQuakers, rulers and ruled alike, to define the parameters of their peace testimony.
Ryan P. Jordan explores the limits of religious dissent in antebellum America, and reminds us of the difficulties facing reformers who tried peacefully to end slavery. In the years before the Civil War, the Society of Friends opposed the abolitionist campaign for an immediate end to slavery and considered abolitionists within the church as heterodox radicals seeking to destroy civil and religious liberty. In response, many Quaker abolitionists began to build "comeouter" institutions where social and legal inequalities could be freely discussed, and where church members could fuse religious worship with social activism. The conflict between the Quakers and the Abolitionists highlights the dilemma of liberal religion within a slaveholding republic.
CHOSEN AS ONE OF THE BEST GRAPHIC NOVELS OF 2021 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE GUARDIAN, AND THE GLOBE AND MAIL A teenage Quaker joins the Union Army and experiences firsthand the brutality of the Civil War in this singular graphic novel by a beloved comics artist and animator. During the Civil War, many Quakers were caught between their fervent support of abolition, a desire to preserve the Union, and their long-standing commitment to pacifism. When Charles Cox, a young Quaker from Indiana, slips out early one morning to enlist in the Union Army, he scandalizes his family and his community. Leaving behind the strict ways of Quaker life, Cox is soon confronted with the savagery of battle, the cruelty of the enemy (as well as of his fellow soldiers), and the overwhelming strangeness of the world beyond his home. He clings to his faith and family through letters with his sister, Fanny, who faces her own trials at home: betrayal, death, and a church that seems ready to fracture under the stress of the war. Discipline is told largely through the letters exchanged between the Cox siblings—incorporating material from actual Quaker and soldier journals of the era—and drawn in a style that combines modern graphic storytelling with the Civil War–era battlefield illustrations of the likes of Thomas Nast and Winslow Homer. The result is a powerful consideration of faith, justice, and violence, and an American comics masterpiece.
This innovative cultural history investigates an intriguing, thrilling, and often lurid assortment of sensational literature that was extremely popular in the United States in 1848--including dime novels, cheap story paper literature, and journalism for working-class Americans. Shelley Streeby uncovers themes and images in this "literature of sensation" that reveal the profound influence that the U.S.-Mexican War and other nineteenth-century imperial ventures throughout the Americas had on U.S. politics and culture. Streeby's analysis of this fascinating body of popular literature and mass culture broadens into a sweeping demonstration of the importance of the concept of empire for understanding U.S. history and literature. This accessible, interdisciplinary book brilliantly analyzes the sensational literature of George Lippard, A.J.H Duganne, Ned Buntline, Metta Victor, Mary Denison, John Rollin Ridge, Louisa May Alcott, and many other writers. Streeby also discusses antiwar articles in the labor and land reform press; ideas about Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua in popular culture; and much more. Although the Civil War has traditionally been a major period marker in U.S. history and literature, Streeby proposes a major paradigm shift by using mass culture to show that the U.S.-Mexican War and other conflicts with Mexicans and Native Americans in the borderlands were fundamental in forming the complex nexus of race, gender, and class in the United States.
Nestled on the west bank of the Hudson River between the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge and the Hamilton Fish Newburgh-Beacon Bridge lies the enchanting town of Marlborough, New York. Although many residents appreciate its proximity to New York City, Marlborough remains a largely rural community. Residents of Marlborough value their history, small businesses, schools, religion, farms, and scenic surroundings. In Marlborough, learn about the town that served as an inspiration for Alfred H. Maurer and George Inness, members of the mid-19th-century Hudson River School of Art, and was called home by world-famous type designer Frederic Goudy from 1924 until his death in 1947. Enjoy past views of Marlborough that were predominantly selected from the Marlboro Free Library's archives to best tell the story of this beloved town.