This study tells for the first time the story of a bitter cultural and political conflict that arose between the leading writers and intellectuals of Great Britain and the United States during the Civil War. The latter were virtually all New Englanders. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a central figure. The British side included such notables as Thomas Carlyle, Matthew Arnold, and John Ruskin. The conflict was focused on the viability of liberal democracy and the notion that ‘all men are created equal.’ The question was: What type of social, political, and cultural paradigm was best suited to ensure the advancement of civilization––one in which all have equal rights, regardless of race or class, or one where a small number of privileged white elites exercise a controlling power? The New Englanders embraced the former and the British the latter. The result was a bitter alienation that ignited a global campaign for racial equality and universal human rights.
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Len Gougeon is Distinguished Professor of American Literature, Emeritus, at the University of Scranton, past President of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society, and recipient of the society’s Distinguished Achievement Award. He is the author of
Emerson and Eros: The Making of a Cultural Hero, also by SUNY Press.
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