Darwin, The Origin, & the US in 1860

[hoosier88]

The book that changed America : how Darwin's theory of evolution ignited a nation / Randall Fuller, 1963-, c2017, Viking, 576.82 FULL.

Subjects
•   Darwin, Charles, -- 1809-1882. -- On the origin of species.
•   Darwin, Charles, -- 1809-1882 -- Influence.
•   Evolution (Biology) -- United States -- History -- 19th century.

Notes
•   Part I: Origins -- The Book from Across the Atlantic -- Gray's Botany -- Beetles, Birds, Theories -- Word of Mouth -- Making a Stir -- A Night at the Lyceum -- The Nick of Time -- Part II: Struggles -- Bones of Contention -- Agassiz -- The What-Is-It? -- A Spirited Conflict -- Into the Vortex -- Tree of Life -- A Jolt of Recognition -- Wildfires -- Part III: Adaptations -- Discord in Concord -- Moods -- Meditations in a Garden -- The Succession of Forest Trees -- Races of the Old World -- A Cold Shudder -- Part IV: Transformations -- At Down House -- The Ghost of John Brown -- In the Transcendental Graveyard.

Summary
•   Traces the impact of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" on a diverse group of writers, abolitionists, and social reformers, including Henry David Thoreau and Bronson Alcott, against a backdrop of growing tensions and transcendental idealism in 1860 America.

Length
•   x, 294 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : index, chapter notes, select bibliography

Darwin’s Origin hit the US just as the Civil War was coming over the horizon.  Links among Abolitionists, pro- & anti-Darwinists, universities, religion.  A history of ideas, sheds light on connections I wasn’t aware of.  A worthwhile read.