"Liberty to the Downtrodden"; Thomas L. Kane, Romantic Reformer

by Matthew J. Grow

• ISBN13: 9780300136104
• ISBN10: 0300136102
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2009-02-03
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Thomas L. Kane (18221883), 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 185758. 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.

Author Biography

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

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xiii
Raising Kane	p. 1
Europe	p. 13
Beginnings of Reform	p. 28
Meeting the Mormons	p. 47
The Suffering Saints	p. 71
Free Soil and Young America	p. 93
Fugitive Slaves	p. 113
Reforming Marriage	p. 128
The Utah War, Act I	p. 149
The Utah War, Act II	p. 174
Honor, Reform, and War	p. 207
Developing Kane	p. 236
Anti-Anti-Polygamy	p. 257
Epilogue	p. 282
Kane Family Chart	p. 287
Notes	p. 289
Index	p. 337
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