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Table of Contents
About The Book
An LA Times Best Book of the Year, Christopher Award Winner, and Chautauqua Prize Finalist!
“Engrossing... examines the major events of the mid 19th century through the lives of three key figures in the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.” —Smithsonian
From the executive editor of The New Yorker, a riveting, provocative, and revelatory history of abolition and women’s rights, told through the story of three women—Harriet Tubman, Frances Seward, and Martha Wright—in the years before, during and after the Civil War.
“The Agitators tells the story of America before the Civil War through the lives of three women who advocated for the abolition of slavery and for women’s rights as the country split apart. Harriet Tubman, Martha Coffin Wright, and Frances A. Seward are the examples we need right now—another time of divisiveness and dissension over our nation’s purpose ‘to form a more perfect union.’” —Hillary Rodham Clinton
In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman, strategically brilliant and uncannily prescient, rescued some seventy enslaved people from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and shepherded them north along the underground railroad. One of her regular stops was Auburn, New York, where she entrusted passengers to Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances A. Seward, the wife of William H. Seward, who served over the years as governor, senator, and secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union Army in South Carolina as a nurse and spy, and took part in a spectacular river raid in which she helped to liberate 750 slaves from several rice plantations.
Wright, a “dangerous woman” in the eyes of her neighbors, worked side by side with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to organize women’s rights and anti-slavery conventions across New York State, braving hecklers and mobs when she spoke. Frances Seward, the most conventional of the three friends, hid her radicalism in public, while privately acting as a political adviser to her husband, pressing him to persuade President Lincoln to move immediately on emancipation.
The Agitators opens in the 1820s, when Tubman is enslaved and Wright and Seward are young homemakers bound by law and tradition, and ends after the war. Many of the most prominent figures of the era—Lincoln, William H. Seward, Frederick Douglass, Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner, John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison—are seen through the discerning eyes of the protagonists. So are the most explosive political debates: about the civil rights of African Americans and women, about the enlistment of Black troops, and about opposing interpretations of the Constitution.
Through richly detailed letters from the time and exhaustive research, Wickenden traces the second American revolution these women fought to bring about, the toll it took on their families, and its lasting effects on the country. Riveting and profoundly relevant to our own time, The Agitators brings a vibrant, original voice to this transformative period in our history.
“Engrossing... examines the major events of the mid 19th century through the lives of three key figures in the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.” —Smithsonian
From the executive editor of The New Yorker, a riveting, provocative, and revelatory history of abolition and women’s rights, told through the story of three women—Harriet Tubman, Frances Seward, and Martha Wright—in the years before, during and after the Civil War.
“The Agitators tells the story of America before the Civil War through the lives of three women who advocated for the abolition of slavery and for women’s rights as the country split apart. Harriet Tubman, Martha Coffin Wright, and Frances A. Seward are the examples we need right now—another time of divisiveness and dissension over our nation’s purpose ‘to form a more perfect union.’” —Hillary Rodham Clinton
In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman, strategically brilliant and uncannily prescient, rescued some seventy enslaved people from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and shepherded them north along the underground railroad. One of her regular stops was Auburn, New York, where she entrusted passengers to Martha Coffin Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances A. Seward, the wife of William H. Seward, who served over the years as governor, senator, and secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union Army in South Carolina as a nurse and spy, and took part in a spectacular river raid in which she helped to liberate 750 slaves from several rice plantations.
Wright, a “dangerous woman” in the eyes of her neighbors, worked side by side with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to organize women’s rights and anti-slavery conventions across New York State, braving hecklers and mobs when she spoke. Frances Seward, the most conventional of the three friends, hid her radicalism in public, while privately acting as a political adviser to her husband, pressing him to persuade President Lincoln to move immediately on emancipation.
The Agitators opens in the 1820s, when Tubman is enslaved and Wright and Seward are young homemakers bound by law and tradition, and ends after the war. Many of the most prominent figures of the era—Lincoln, William H. Seward, Frederick Douglass, Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner, John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison—are seen through the discerning eyes of the protagonists. So are the most explosive political debates: about the civil rights of African Americans and women, about the enlistment of Black troops, and about opposing interpretations of the Constitution.
Through richly detailed letters from the time and exhaustive research, Wickenden traces the second American revolution these women fought to bring about, the toll it took on their families, and its lasting effects on the country. Riveting and profoundly relevant to our own time, The Agitators brings a vibrant, original voice to this transformative period in our history.
Reading Group Guide
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This reading group guide for The Agitators includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
Dorothy Wickenden, the New York Times bestselling author of Nothing Daunted, once again brings historical figures vividly to life in The Agitators, a riveting dive into the lives of three unlikely collaborators in the quest for abolition and women’s rights. By taking readers through the lives of these women—Harriet Tubman, Frances Seward, and Martha Wright—Wickenden offers an unusual and highly intimate perspective on the classic American stories of abolition, the underground railroad, women’s rights activism, and the Civil War.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. Discuss the book’s epigraph. How does this quote prepare you for the text? In what way does it resonate with current events?
2. The prologue and epilogue bookend the text with vivid descriptions of Fort Hill Cemetery today. What is the value of beginning and ending the book in this way? What effect does this have on your reading experience?
3. The first three chapters establish the very different backgrounds of Martha, Frances, and Harriet and the time in which they lived. What is your sense of their personalities and how they changed over time?
4. In chapter 4, Frances’s husband, Henry, makes the extraordinarily controversial decision to defend William Freeman, the twenty-three-year-old Black man who confessed to murdering four members of a white family. This is one of the first uses of the insanity defense, which is based on the belief that a person who is unable to distinguish right from wrong should not be criminally charged because they cannot take moral responsibility for their crime. Henry’s father-in-law, a county judge, thought his defense of Freeman would end his political career. Why was Frances so supportive of his choice?
5. In chapter 5, Martha overhears a party guest calling her “a very dangerous woman” because of her social activism and her friendship with Frederick Douglass. Consider what it meant to be a “dangerous woman” in Martha’s time and place. Who, or what, is being threatened by Martha’s behavior? Is there a modern-day equivalent of the term “dangerous woman?”
6. Discuss these two quotes from chapter 13 and how they have “aged” since their initial utterance: “The United States government ‘was made by white men for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever.’” —Senator Stephen A. Douglas. “I know, and you know, that a revolution has begun. I know, and all the world knows, that revolutions never go backward.” —Senator William Henry Seward
7. Each of these women was bold, principled, and intent on changing the world. They express their idealism in different ways. Discuss the avenues and methods each used to try and affect change.
8. At the end of chapter 13, Henry and the British intellectual Harriet Martineau discuss slavery, “the great American question.” What might you consider today’s “great American question”?
9. Harriet Tubman and her companions felt guided by their religious faith in pursuit of their activism, as did many reformers of the time, which often aided the progress of their causes. How was the political expression of evangelical thought different from how it is manifested today?
10. Harriet was an extraordinary orator and storyteller who, as the author says in chapter 15, knew how to play to “her audiences’ enthusiasm for hair-raising first-person accounts of slavery and escape.” What role does storytelling play throughout the book and in activism?
11. Throughout the book, we see Martha’s roles as activist and mother intersect. In chapter 14, “Martha Leads,” we see this manifest in conflict with her daughter Ellen, who, according to the author, was “overwhelmed by self-doubt” and, “to Martha’s dismay,” was “more interested in her succession of suitors than in her studies.” How does Martha’s career as an activist seem to affect her daughter’s development? What do you think of Martha’s early reservations about becoming a leader and her own doubts about her capabilities? Do you see this conflict present in modern-day mother-daughter relationships?
12. Discuss the interplay of women’s rights and anti-slavery activism throughout the book. The abolitionist and women’s rights movement were aligned through much of the mid-nineteenth century. The movement split in the late 1860s over priorities—some women insisting that the fight for Black male suffrage take precedence over the fight for women’s rights, while Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony broke away to fight solely for the women’s vote. In what ways have the conflicts of this period extended to our own?
13. Think about the husbands of Martha, Frances, and Harriet. How did they help or hinder their wives in their sociopolitical goals? What impact did these relationships have on the women in their decision-making processes? How did the women shape the thinking and actions of their husbands?
14. Reflect on the Henry’s long anti-slavery career, the battle between Frances and Henry in the early 1860s about immediate emancipation, and the ultimate assassination attempt on Henry and two of their sons. Martha blames Henry for Frances’s unhappiness and, the author writes, finds him “hungrier for power than for principle.” What is your final assessment of Henry and of the difficulties of their marriage?
15. Letters, photos, and portraits appear throughout the book as chapter and section openers. What do these add to your reading experience? How does it feel to have faces and handwriting to put to these historical figures?
16. Consider the impact that the actions of the activists in the book may have had directly on your own life. Can you conjure an example of how their efforts in the movements benefited you personally?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Check the National Register of Historic Places for historical sites near you. See what you can learn about your local history!
2. Correspond with your friends through handwritten letters about the book. This way, you might get a sense of what it was like to hold passionate discussions through snail mail as the women in the text did.
3. Brainstorm ways you might contribute to social activism today. Research causes that you are passionate about and take inspiration from Martha, Frances, and Harriet. Is there a local group you can participate in or online resources available in your area?
Introduction
Dorothy Wickenden, the New York Times bestselling author of Nothing Daunted, once again brings historical figures vividly to life in The Agitators, a riveting dive into the lives of three unlikely collaborators in the quest for abolition and women’s rights. By taking readers through the lives of these women—Harriet Tubman, Frances Seward, and Martha Wright—Wickenden offers an unusual and highly intimate perspective on the classic American stories of abolition, the underground railroad, women’s rights activism, and the Civil War.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. Discuss the book’s epigraph. How does this quote prepare you for the text? In what way does it resonate with current events?
2. The prologue and epilogue bookend the text with vivid descriptions of Fort Hill Cemetery today. What is the value of beginning and ending the book in this way? What effect does this have on your reading experience?
3. The first three chapters establish the very different backgrounds of Martha, Frances, and Harriet and the time in which they lived. What is your sense of their personalities and how they changed over time?
4. In chapter 4, Frances’s husband, Henry, makes the extraordinarily controversial decision to defend William Freeman, the twenty-three-year-old Black man who confessed to murdering four members of a white family. This is one of the first uses of the insanity defense, which is based on the belief that a person who is unable to distinguish right from wrong should not be criminally charged because they cannot take moral responsibility for their crime. Henry’s father-in-law, a county judge, thought his defense of Freeman would end his political career. Why was Frances so supportive of his choice?
5. In chapter 5, Martha overhears a party guest calling her “a very dangerous woman” because of her social activism and her friendship with Frederick Douglass. Consider what it meant to be a “dangerous woman” in Martha’s time and place. Who, or what, is being threatened by Martha’s behavior? Is there a modern-day equivalent of the term “dangerous woman?”
6. Discuss these two quotes from chapter 13 and how they have “aged” since their initial utterance: “The United States government ‘was made by white men for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever.’” —Senator Stephen A. Douglas. “I know, and you know, that a revolution has begun. I know, and all the world knows, that revolutions never go backward.” —Senator William Henry Seward
7. Each of these women was bold, principled, and intent on changing the world. They express their idealism in different ways. Discuss the avenues and methods each used to try and affect change.
8. At the end of chapter 13, Henry and the British intellectual Harriet Martineau discuss slavery, “the great American question.” What might you consider today’s “great American question”?
9. Harriet Tubman and her companions felt guided by their religious faith in pursuit of their activism, as did many reformers of the time, which often aided the progress of their causes. How was the political expression of evangelical thought different from how it is manifested today?
10. Harriet was an extraordinary orator and storyteller who, as the author says in chapter 15, knew how to play to “her audiences’ enthusiasm for hair-raising first-person accounts of slavery and escape.” What role does storytelling play throughout the book and in activism?
11. Throughout the book, we see Martha’s roles as activist and mother intersect. In chapter 14, “Martha Leads,” we see this manifest in conflict with her daughter Ellen, who, according to the author, was “overwhelmed by self-doubt” and, “to Martha’s dismay,” was “more interested in her succession of suitors than in her studies.” How does Martha’s career as an activist seem to affect her daughter’s development? What do you think of Martha’s early reservations about becoming a leader and her own doubts about her capabilities? Do you see this conflict present in modern-day mother-daughter relationships?
12. Discuss the interplay of women’s rights and anti-slavery activism throughout the book. The abolitionist and women’s rights movement were aligned through much of the mid-nineteenth century. The movement split in the late 1860s over priorities—some women insisting that the fight for Black male suffrage take precedence over the fight for women’s rights, while Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony broke away to fight solely for the women’s vote. In what ways have the conflicts of this period extended to our own?
13. Think about the husbands of Martha, Frances, and Harriet. How did they help or hinder their wives in their sociopolitical goals? What impact did these relationships have on the women in their decision-making processes? How did the women shape the thinking and actions of their husbands?
14. Reflect on the Henry’s long anti-slavery career, the battle between Frances and Henry in the early 1860s about immediate emancipation, and the ultimate assassination attempt on Henry and two of their sons. Martha blames Henry for Frances’s unhappiness and, the author writes, finds him “hungrier for power than for principle.” What is your final assessment of Henry and of the difficulties of their marriage?
15. Letters, photos, and portraits appear throughout the book as chapter and section openers. What do these add to your reading experience? How does it feel to have faces and handwriting to put to these historical figures?
16. Consider the impact that the actions of the activists in the book may have had directly on your own life. Can you conjure an example of how their efforts in the movements benefited you personally?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Check the National Register of Historic Places for historical sites near you. See what you can learn about your local history!
2. Correspond with your friends through handwritten letters about the book. This way, you might get a sense of what it was like to hold passionate discussions through snail mail as the women in the text did.
3. Brainstorm ways you might contribute to social activism today. Research causes that you are passionate about and take inspiration from Martha, Frances, and Harriet. Is there a local group you can participate in or online resources available in your area?
About The Author
Photograph © Jayme Grodi
Dorothy Wickenden is the author of Nothing Daunted and The Agitators and has been the executive editor of The New Yorker since January 1996. She also writes for the magazine and is the moderator of its weekly podcast The Political Scene. A former Nieman Fellow at Harvard, Wickenden was national affairs editor at Newsweek from 1993-1995, and before that was the longtime executive editor at The New Republic. She lives with her husband in Westchester, New York.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner (June 8, 2023)
- Length: 416 pages
- ISBN13: 9781476760742
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Raves and Reviews
Praise for The Agitators
"This collective biography draws out the distinct voices of its characters while molding them into a rich ensemble.”
—New York Times Book Review
"Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker, does an almost perfect job of braiding together the stories of three very different women."
—Los Angeles Times
"The Agitators is an impressive narrative of three women who were at the center of a burgeoning movement. Their trailblazing path is captured and related deftly by the author, their triumphs and tragedies narrated emphatically for a modern audience. All three women lived and breathed for the freedom of all men and women, selflessly giving as much as they were capable. An A+ historical narrative."
—San Francisco Book Review
"Wickenden does a brilliant job of weaving all the complicated threads together, telling a compelling story that we thought we knew well. This is history at its best: personal, powerful, and inspiring.”
—Marissa Moss, New York Journal of Books
"An epic and intimate history. . . . Wickenden's commitment to keeping her trio in the frame and in focus showcases prodigious narrative control. The Agitators is a masterpiece, not least, of structure. . . . . Entwining these three asymmetrical lives as deftly as Wickenden does proves illuminating."
—Jane Kamensky, New York Times Book Review
"Absorbing and richly rewarding . . . . [Wickenden] traces the Auburn women's lives with intelligence, compassion, and verve . . . [and her] assessment of the era leading up to the Civil War will resonate with readers in our own fractious era."
—Melanie Kirkpatrick, Wall Street Journal
"She brings a reporter’s eye for detail to this complex history... [and] invites readers to take a closer look at the path of American progress and the women who guided it."
—Carla Jean Whitley, BookPage
"Told with literary flare, Dorothy Wickenden's The Agitators sheds some much-needed light on the lives and passions of a small circle of abolitionists: Harriet Tubman, Martha Wright, and Frances Seward."
—Bustle
"New Yorker executive editor Wickenden brings three fascinating women to life in rich, humanizing detail ... Wickenden pulls this history out of the dry dustiness of fact and adds color and warmth to its retelling. The women of our shared past deserve more treatments like this."
—Booklist
"Riveting. . . . [Wickenden] weaves [these] stories together with gravity and humor in a narrative so tightly knit it reads like accomplished literary fiction. . . . The Agitators will move you, and it will make you sad. So much of what convulsed the country in the 19th century remains with us: mob violence, virulent racism and an appalling disregard for human dignity. But there's another message: People of fierce and heartfelt principles can bend history to their will. If you're an agitator, even a quiet one, read this book."
—Mary Ann Gwinn, The Star Tribune
Praise for The Agitators
"This collective biography draws out the distinct voices of its characters while molding them into a rich ensemble.”
—New York Times Book Review
"Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker, does an almost perfect job of braiding together the stories of three very different women."
—Los Angeles Times
"The Agitators is an impressive narrative of three women who were at the center of a burgeoning movement. Their trailblazing path is captured and related deftly by the author, their triumphs and tragedies narrated emphatically for a modern audience. All three women lived and breathed for the freedom of all men and women, selflessly giving as much as they were capable. An A+ historical narrative."
—San Francisco Book Review
"Wickenden does a brilliant job of weaving all the complicated threads together, telling a compelling story that we thought we knew well. This is history at its best: personal, powerful, and inspiring.”
—Marissa Moss, New York Journal of Books
"An epic and intimate history. . . . Wickenden's commitment to keeping her trio in the frame and in focus showcases prodigious narrative control. The Agitators is a masterpiece, not least, of structure. . . . . Entwining these three asymmetrical lives as deftly as Wickenden does proves illuminating."
—Jane Kamensky, New York Times Book Review
"Absorbing and richly rewarding . . . . [Wickenden] traces the Auburn women's lives with intelligence, compassion, and verve . . . [and her] assessment of the era leading up to the Civil War will resonate with readers in our own fractious era."
—Melanie Kirkpatrick, Wall Street Journal
"She brings a reporter’s eye for detail to this complex history... [and] invites readers to take a closer look at the path of American progress and the women who guided it."
—Carla Jean Whitley, BookPage
"Told with literary flare, Dorothy Wickenden's The Agitators sheds some much-needed light on the lives and passions of a small circle of abolitionists: Harriet Tubman, Martha Wright, and Frances Seward."
—Bustle
"New Yorker executive editor Wickenden brings three fascinating women to life in rich, humanizing detail ... Wickenden pulls this history out of the dry dustiness of fact and adds color and warmth to its retelling. The women of our shared past deserve more treatments like this."
—Booklist
"Riveting. . . . [Wickenden] weaves [these] stories together with gravity and humor in a narrative so tightly knit it reads like accomplished literary fiction. . . . The Agitators will move you, and it will make you sad. So much of what convulsed the country in the 19th century remains with us: mob violence, virulent racism and an appalling disregard for human dignity. But there's another message: People of fierce and heartfelt principles can bend history to their will. If you're an agitator, even a quiet one, read this book."
—Mary Ann Gwinn, The Star Tribune
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- Author Photo (jpg): Dorothy Wickenden Photograph © Jayme Grodi(0.1 MB)
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