American Defiance

by Crispin Sartwell

First published 2016

Crispin Sartwell gathers the voices of America's most defiant rebels across three centuries of resistance. His anthology spans from Quaker abolitionist John Woolman to anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre, collecting both celebrated and forgotten acts of rebellion against authority. Sartwell includes familiar essays by Emerson and Thoreau alongside lesser-known gems: speeches by Native American leaders Sitting Bull and Tecumseh, a rare essay on race by Frederick Douglass, and provocative writings on sexuality by Angela Heywood. The collection features feminist pioneers like Sarah Grimke and Lucretia Mott, radical abolitionists including David Walker and Nathaniel Peabody Rogers, and anarchist philosopher Josiah Warren. Sartwell presents these anti-authoritarian voices as part of an ongoing American tradition of principled resistance. The book offers readers a chance to discover how pacifists, race rebels, and anarchist thinkers challenged power structures throughout American history.

Genres: american, biography-memoir, activism, american-history

Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, underdog

Setting: America

Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century

416 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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