When Darwin Came To America: The Influence of 'On the Origins of Species' before the Civil War

FAIN: FT-61647-14

Randall J. Fuller, PhD
University of Tulsa (Tulsa, OK 74104-9700)

In the winter of 1859-60, a single copy of Charles Darwin's "On the Origins of Species" was read and discussed by five extraordinary American intellectuals: Asa Gray, the Harvard botanist who led the fight for Darwin's theory in America; Charles Loring Brace, the minister and child welfare reformer who used Darwin's book in his relentless crusade against slavery; Franklin Sanborn, a key supporter of John Brown; Bronson Alcott, the philosopher and father of Louisa May, who vehemently resisted Darwin's insights as a threat to transcendental idealism; and Henry David Thoreau, who used Darwin's theory to redirect his life's work. My book project, "When Darwin Came to America," is the biography of Darwin's idea as it was encountered by this group of transcendental intellectuals during a single year: 1860.

Associated Products

The Book That Changed America (How Darwin's Theory of Evolution Ignited a Nation (Book)
Title: The Book That Changed America (How Darwin's Theory of Evolution Ignited a Nation
Author: Randall Fuller
Abstract: Throughout its history America has been torn in two by debates over ideals and beliefs. Randall Fuller takes us back to one of those turning points, in 1860, with the story of the influence of Charles Darwin’s just-published On the Origin of Species on five American intellectuals, including Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, the child welfare reformer Charles Loring Brace, and the abolitionist Franklin Sanborn. Each of these figures seized on the book’s assertion of a common ancestry for all creatures as a powerful argument against slavery, one that helped provide scientific credibility to the cause of abolition. Darwin’s depiction of constant struggle and endless competition described America on the brink of civil war. But some had difficulty aligning the new theory to their religious convictions and their faith in a higher power. Thoreau, perhaps the most profoundly affected all, absorbed Darwin’s views into his mysterious final work on species migration and the interconnectedness of all living things. Creating a rich tableau of nineteenth-century American intellectual culture, as well as providing a fascinating biography of perhaps the single most important idea of that time, The Book That Changed America is also an account of issues and concerns still with us today, including racism and the enduring conflict between science and religion.
Year: 2017
Publisher: Viking
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780525428336
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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