Against the gallows [[electronic resource] ] : antebellum American writers and the movement to abolish capital punishment / / Paul Christian Jones

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910781769103321
• Autore: Jones Paul C. <1969->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Iowa City, : University of Iowa Press, c2011
• ISBN: 1-60938-049-5
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (242 p.)
• Disciplina: 810.9/3556
• Soggetti: Literature and society - United States - History - 19th century; Social problems in literature; Capital punishment in literature; Capital punishment - Moral and ethical aspects - United States
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-222) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Haunted by the gallows: Antebellum American literature and capital punishment -- The politics of poetry: The democratic review and anti-gallows verse in 1840s America -- The American Newgate novel: Antebellum crime fiction and anti- gallows sympathy -- Walt Whitman's anti-gallows writing: The appeal to Christian sympathy -- Women's anti-gallows writing: The sentimental strategy of E. D. E. N. Southworth -- Herman Melville's Billy Budd: The legacy of antebellum anti-gallows literature.
• Sommario/riassunto: In Against the Gallows, Paul Christian Jones explores the intriguing cooperation of America's writers-including major figures such as Walt Whitman, John Greenleaf Whittier, E. D. E. N. Southworth, and Herman Melville-with reformers, politicians, clergymen, and periodical editors who attempted to end the practice of capital punishment in the United States during the 1840's and 1850's. In an age of passionate reform efforts, the antigallows movement enjoyed broad popularity, waging its campaign in legislatures, pulpits, newspapers, and literary journals.