Emerson’s Liberalism E     E   Series Editor Paul S. Boyer Margaret Fuller: Transatlantic Crossings in a Revolutionary Age Edited by Charles Capper and Cristina Giorcelli Emerson’s Liberalism Neal Dolan Observing America: The Commentary of British Visitors to the United States, 1890–1950 Robert P. Frankel Picturing Indians: Photographic Encounters and Tourist Fantasies in H. H. Bennett’s Wisconsin Dells Steven D. Hoelscher Cosmopolitanism and Solidarity: Studies in Ethnoracial, Religious, and Professional Affiliation in the United States David A. Hollinger Seaway to the Future: American Social Visions and the Construction of the Panama Canal Alexander Missal Imaginary Friends: Representing Quakers in American Culture, 1650–1950 James Emmett Ryan The Presidents We Imagine: Two Centuries of White House Fictions on the Page, on the Stage, Onscreen, and Online Jeff Smith Unsafe for Democracy: World War I and the U.S. Justice Department’s Covert Campaign to Suppress Dissent William H. Thomas Jr. Emerson’s Liberalism Neal Dolan           Publication of this volume has been made possible, in part, through support from           at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. E The University ofWisconsin Press 1930 Monroe Street, 3rd Floor Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059 www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/ 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England Copyright © 2009 The Board ofRegents ofthe University ofWisconsin System Allrightsreserved.Nopartof thispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any format or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,orotherwise,orconveyedviatheInternetoraWebsitewithoutwrittenpermission of theUniversity of Wisconsin Press, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews. 1 3 5 4 2 Printed in the United States ofAmerica Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dolan, Neal. Emerson’s liberalism / Neal Dolan. p. cm.—(Studies in American thought and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-299-22804-0 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-299-22803-3 (e-book) 1. Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803–1882—Political and social views. 2. Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803–1882—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Liberalism in literature. I. Title. II. Series. PS1642.S58D65 2009 814´.3—dc22 2008038489 To my mother and my brothers, E in memory of Dad and Brian. E And to Laura Jane and Rory, with unending love. We must try to understand that which we have suddenly discovered we possess and value. . . . [W]e need to know just what it is we love. Ernest Gellner, Conditions of Liberty E Contents Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Introduction The Political Reception of Emerson 3 1 Progress Journals (1820–1824); “Self-Reliance” (1841) 28 2 Reason I, Science Journals (1826–1832) 53 3 Reason II, Virtue Nature(1836) 77 4 Property, Culture The Philosophy of History (1836–1837); Human Culture (1837–1838); Human Life (1838–1839); The Present Age (1839–1840); “The Divinity School Address” (1838); “History” (1841); “Compensation” (1841) 108 5 Reason III, Skepticism “Experience” (1844) 138 vii viii E Contents 6 Limited Government “Man the Reformer” (1841); “Lecture on the Times” (1841); “The Conservative” (1841); “The Transcendentalist” (1842); “The Young American” (1844); “Politics” (1844); “New England Reformers” (1844) 169 7 Natural Rights, Civil Society “An Address ... on ... the Emancipation of the Negroes in the British West Indies” (1844) 194 8 Empiricism Representative Men(1850) 222 9 Liberty, Commerce Biography (1835); English Literature (1835–1836); English Traits(1856) 255 Conclusion The Conduct of Life(1860); “The President’s Proclamation” (1862); “The Fortune of the Republic” (1863) 282 Notes 303 Index 331 Acknowledgments Whatever merits this book may have I owe largely to the intellectual in- spiration,example,andguidancegivenovermanyyearsbyanextraordi- narysequenceof teachers.AtSt.Anthony’sHighSchoolalmostthirty years ago Brother Owen Justinian Sadlier, Brother Cletus Burke, and Mr. Kevin Ahearne recognized and encouraged my curiosity about phi- losophy, American history, and literature. I will never forget their gen- erosity, humor, unpretentious learning, love of teaching, and genuine Christiankindness.AtYaleLeslieBrismanshowedanIrishItalianCath- olic boy how to bring Talmudic scrutiny to bear on the secularized Prot- estant literature of English Romanticism, and found time also for occa- sional and much-needed paternal admonitions. Without his help and his confidence in me I never would have found my way in the strange world of academia. And at Harvard the late Alan Heimert put his vast historical learning at my disposal while allowing me to think things through, however slowly, for myself. Alan embodied and extended the legacy of his great teacher Perry Miller, and I hope this book does honor to that tradition. Lawrence Buell stepped in after Heimert’s death to ad- vise this project at its dissertation stage and has given me the utmost pro- fessional support and good counsel every step of the way since then. And I owe special words of thanks to Helen Vendler, who took an inter- est in me, who never insisted I write about poetry, who read and com- mented on every word of the first draft of this book despite not being on my dissertation committee, and who remains, to me and many others, a model of dedicated teaching, inspired scholarship, and candid, undog- matic intelligence. I would also like to thank Peter Berkowitz, Stephen Macedo, and Rob Devigne for letting a literature scholar join their evening seminars on liberal political thought at Harvard back in the mid- and late 1990s. This book is in many ways a continuation of those discussions, which ix