| Title | : | The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Womens Rights |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 147676073X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781476760735 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published March 30, 2021 |
| Awards | : | Plutarch Award (2022) |
In Auburn, New York, in the mid-nineteenth century, Martha Wright and Frances Seward, inspired by Harriet Tubman’s rescues in the dangerous territory of Eastern Maryland, opened their basement kitchens as stations on the Underground Railroad.
Tubman was enslaved, Wright was a middle-class Quaker mother of seven, and Seward was the aristocratic wife and moral conscience of her husband, William H. Seward, who served as Lincoln’s Secretary of State. All three refused to abide by laws that denied them the rights granted to white men, and they supported each other as they worked to overturn slavery and achieve full citizenship for blacks and women.
The Agitators opens when Tubman is enslaved and Wright and Seward are young women bridling against their traditional roles. It ends decades later, after Wright’s and Seward’s sons—and Tubman herself—have taken part in three of the defining engagements of the Civil War. Through the sardonic and anguished accounts of the protagonists, reconstructed from their letters, diaries, and public appearances, we see the most explosive debates of the time, and portraits of the men and women whose paths they crossed: Lincoln, Seward, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others. Tubman, embraced by Seward and Wright and by the radical network of reformers in western New York State, settled in Auburn and spent the second half of her life there.
With extraordinarily compelling storytelling reminiscent of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time and David McCullough’s John Adams, The Agitators brings a vivid new perspective to the epic American stories of abolition, the Underground Railroad, women’s rights activism, and the Civil War.
The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Womens Rights Reviews
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Wickendon offers compelling biographies of three women that lived in Auburn, New York during the tumultuous period leading up to the Civil War. The most famous member is Harriet Tubman who not only served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad leading escaped slaves to freedom, but worked as a scout, spy, and nurse for the Union Army. Martha Wright and Frances Seward opened their homes to Tubman’s fugitives.
Martha Wright was the younger sister of Lucretia Mott and friend of the famous feminists, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She was one of the founders of the Seneca Falls Convention, a supporter of property rights for married women and proponent of women’s suffrage. The third woman was Frances Seward, the wife of William Henry Seward whose political accomplishments included being governor of New York, senator of New York, and finally Lincoln’s Secretary of State. Frances was an insistent advocate for emancipation.
Wickendon is the executive editor of the New Yorker and scoured the letters, diaries and those of family members for insights into the stories of Martha and Frances. Harriet Tubman was illiterate and left no written record; but there were published interviews, and the letters and diaries of people who knew her.
While the movement toward abolition of slavery is the primary focus of the book, it also covers the embryonic feminist movement. Readers of the Civil War era will recognize many key historical figures—from John Brown, to Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, and many more. Wickenden’s assessment of the era—“The nation never had been so politically engaged—or so divided.” -
This is a fairly interesting group biography, providing a history of the American abolitionist and women’s rights movements in the 19th century through the stories of three women involved in them. Wickenden devotes just over half the book to Frances Seward, wife of Lincoln’s Secretary of State, Henry Seward. The rest is split between Martha Wright, Lucretia Mott’s younger sister, and underground railroad legend Harriet Tubman.* The book begins with each of their childhoods and traces the lead-up to the Civil War and the war itself, finishing shortly afterwards.
The subject matter is interesting, if slightly dry; the author leans more toward recitation of facts than much analysis of events or personalities. But it’s an interesting look at the abolitionist and women’s rights movements, and also provides engaging personal stories of the Civil War, including the stories of the principals’ relatives and close friends.
This is not the first book I’d recommend if you’re most interested in Harriet Tubman, who obviously has much more name recognition than the other two, but gets the least page time here. Unfortunately there isn’t a really great adult biography of her available, but
Bound for the Promised Land isn’t bad, and was also relied upon heavily by this author. Wickenden does seem to have done some of her own research on Tubman, but since Tubman was illiterate throughout her life there just aren’t a lot of sources. (I was surprised to see Wickenden nevertheless contradicting other Tubman biographies in some of the details. For instance, she ascribes Tubman’s continued illiteracy after reaching freedom to her head injury, a conclusion other authors did not seem ready to make.)
Seward and Wright are lesser-known figures whose stories I had not read before, and they were certainly interesting, though it’s clear they were also fairly minor figures in their movements; this book would perhaps be most rewarding to those who’ve already read about the best-known players, though all these folks knew each other so many of them appear briefly here. Following her sister’s lead, Wright was primarily involved in women’s rights organizing, and seems to have been an energetic and well-liked figure.
Seward seemed most interested in abolitionism but was involved mostly behind the scenes, in deference to her husband’s political career. I didn’t know much about Henry Seward, a well-known national politician widely expected to be nominated for president in 1860; he lost the nomination to Abraham Lincoln in a surprise move at the convention. Nevertheless, he went on to join Lincoln’s cabinet and was severely assaulted himself (along with two of his and Frances’s sons) on the same day Lincoln was assassinated. Henry Seward seems to have enjoyed the bustle and acclaim of politics and wanted to accommodate the South despite personally opposing slavery, a compromise the more ideologically committed Frances found repugnant. She also ran an underground railroad stop out of their house (with his quiet approval) and pushed him in her letters to be harder on slaveholders, while trying to avoid public life herself.
I can’t help suspecting Wickenden really wanted to write a book about Frances Seward, or a joint biography with her husband, because these are the book’s most in-depth sections. The connections between the three women she ultimately settled on feel relatively tenuous; they were friends, yes, but they all had plenty to choose from. But while not quite what I was expecting, it’s all interesting material. I do think the publisher could have made it a bit easier to read, by not printing on deckle edge pages (UGH) and by including family trees of the Wrights and Sewards (5-7 kids each are a lot to keep track of). Nevertheless, this is a perfectly fine history including some information I hadn’t seen before, and worth a read if you’re interested in the material.
* After finishing the book with the sense Wickenden was much more interested in Seward than the other two, I counted the pages to check my instincts. Out of 282 pages of text (excluding blank pages between chapters and a few pages of general history not through the eyes of any of the protagonists), Seward gets 144 (or 51%), Wright 75 (or 27%) and Tubman 63 (or 22%). -
The Agitators by Dorothy Wickenden is an excellent nonfiction that weaves together the stories of three friends or “Auburn agitators”: Frances Seward, Harriet Tubman, and Martha Wright. This was an excellent book!
I loved learning more about Frances, Martha, and Harriet and their quests for not only personal accomplishments, survival, and concern, but also for their selfless devotion to abolition and to advance women’s rights.
I learned so much more about their involvement and additions to the advancement of these causes, their involvement with the Underground Railroad, and also more about the societal problems and political atmosphere during the 1840s-1910s.
I loved the addition of a few other famous advocates: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (National Woman Suffrage Association) , Lucy Stone, Fredrick Douglass, Lucretia Mott, and many others. I had no idea how intertwined all of these figures were.
I have to say my favorite aspect was learning even more about Harriet Tubman. She is truly one of the most amazing women in modern history. I am stunned with each new thing I learn about her. I loved it!
This book is well-written, well-paced, and thoroughly researched. It is clear the author did her due diligence in all of her listed sources. What she was able to create was a book that is breathtaking and unforgettable. I have already purchased this as a preorder and will recommend this to everyone I know.
Well done! 5/5 stars
Thank you to the Author and Scribner for this stunning ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR, Instagram, Bookbub, Amazon, and B&N accounts upon publication. -
A cool concept for a book, weaving these three women's lives together. There were some flaws though. I'll say, it did make me want to read a biography on Harriet Tubman.
Hear more of my thoughts in my 2022 BookTube Prize Octofinals wrap up:
https://youtu.be/L8O7ngkpgkA -
These women are the very definition of "squad goals" and I loved learning more about them.
Choose Your Fighter:
Martha Wright - Quaker, Underground Railroad stop runner, Abolitionist, and Women's Rights Activist. I loved her earthy sense of humor and her fierce arguments with her husband via letter. She was bold and unapologetic. Her pragmatism helped reign in some of the crazy impulses of her friends Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Her daughter Eliza continued on her legacy of activism (and her friendship with Harriet Tubman).
Frances Seward - First Lady of NY State and the quiet supporter of the underground railroad and abolitionist. She reminded me a lot of Eleanor Roosevelt - like ER, Frances was more liberal than her husband and urged him to fight harder for progressive principles.
Harriet Tubman - "She Moses" underground railroad conductor, raider and scout during the Civil War, and suffrage campaigner. She never learned to write or read, but had an amazing and powerful impact on the world.
While I didn't always feel like the connection between these three women was obvious, there were enough points of connection that the book came together for me and painted a picture of life for these women and their intertwining friendships. So fascinating to learn about some of the unsung heroes of the pre- and post-civil war human rights campaigns.
One of my favorite quotes was from Martha Wright: "...Here come the women who are going to do something" (page 148). While she wasn't talking about herself (but about future activists), the quote could accurately apply to all three women. -
I've read quite a bit about the 1850's, my favorite decade in American history. But Dorothy Wickenden, besides being a fine writer, has uncovered details through her meticulous research that I've never read elsewhere, all while focusing on leading activist women.
I'd never heard of Martha Coffin Wright, although her sister Lucretia Mott is much better known. (The book made me want to read an entire book just about Lucretia.) Martha's story is worth telling as well; here was someone, like the two other women featured--Frances Seward and Harriet Tubman--who held firmly to the highest ideals of human freedom despite laws and politicians attempting to ridicule them, limit that freedom or deny it completely.
I also now want to know more about Harriet Tubman--what a heroine! Despite risking her life countless times to free enslaved people, and working hard all her life with very uncertain income, she lived to age 91, far longer than the other two who were much better off.
From Frances Seward's story we see in detail the life and career of her husband Henry, Lincoln's competitor for the 1860 presidential nomination and later Secretary of State, and thus of Lincoln himself. Frances was less willing to compromise her ideals than was her husband, but was limited in her activism by not wanting to damage his career.
If you admire women of conviction who weren't willing to cave to the stifling limits of their contemporary society, who worked hard for women's rights and abolition, this is definitely a book to seek out. -
This book was a slog. Unfortunately, I don’t think there was enough material to put together a coherent interesting story. It did make me want to read a biography of Harriet Tubman.
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This is the surprising story of three women whose lives intersected in Auburn, New York, and who had major impacts -- each in a way consistent with her own character -- on the fight against slavery and for women's rights in the years leading up to (and during) the American Civil War. The three women are Frances Adeline Miller, who was to marry William Henry Seward (later Governor of New York and Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State), Martha Coffin (younger sister to the more famous Lucretia Coffin Mott), who would take as her second husband David Wright, an attorney (raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania), and Harriet Tubman, whose involvement in the fight for abolition and the rights of blacks took her beyond her seminal role in the Underground Railroad to embrace espionage, nursing, and activism. Uncomfortable as the wife of one of the nation's most prominent politicians, the retiring Frances Seward was a more fierce opponent to slavery than even her husband, but, when it came to women's rights, although she was fiercely in favor, she agreed -- out of respect for the delicacy of her husband's position -- not to take an openly public role in the fight for female suffrage. Martha Wright, on the other hand, while not comfortable at first with a public speaking role (more than willing to defer to her elder sister, as well as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony), became front and center in the women's gatherings that preceded and followed the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention; she was deemed a 'dangerous woman.' While Harriet Tubman is probably the best-known of the trio, many of her activities were behind-the-scenes and, of necessity, under the radar, so to speak: shepherding slaves out of the antebellum South, leading many of them to the safety of Canada, spying for the Union Army during the war, and nursing its casualties. Three fascinating individuals -- and their lives are well-captured in this well-written, well-researched book. The subject matter may not appeal to all...but, IMHO, it *should*! Recommended!
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In mid-1800s America, freedom was a foundational concept, but it had many, often thorny, branches. Who could doubt that African slaves were deprived of it, or that women, no matter how privileged, were not enjoying its fullest benefits? These multifaceted issues would lead to a destructive war and a lingering divide. In the midst of the fray were three remarkable women --- Harriet Tubman, Martha Wright and Frances Seward --- whose portraits are painted in THE AGITATORS by Dorothy Wickenden, a noted writer and the executive editor of The New Yorker.
Harriet Tubman’s story is perhaps the best known: a former slave who singlehandedly started what became known as the Underground Railroad to move Black people from captivity in the Southern states to new lives in the Northern regions. Along the way, she was able to enlist the assistance of people like Martha Wright, a Quaker mother of seven, and Frances Seward, the wife of Governor, then Senator, then Secretary of State William H. Seward. Wright and Seward were already allies in Auburn, New York, both free-thinkers whose views were not always understood by their neighbors or, at times, their spouses.
Wright was the sister of Lucretia Mott, who was well known to Tubman as a radical defender of all human rights; Mott avowed that Quakers should be not quietists but “agitators” in the face of injustice. As the possibility of war geared up, Wright, Seward and Tubman would approach it in different ways, but all were determined to abolish slavery, and to press for women’s rights and suffrage.
Wickenden has mined the annals of social, political and cultural history in composing this complex, wide-ranging tome. She shows each woman in particular situations that highlight her aspirations, even describing an incident where Tubman, posing as an old lady in prayer, initiated a street brawl with constables holding a fugitive slave in chains. There are behind-the-scenes glimpses of Lincoln seen by some as a radical, by others as ineffectual. Opinions differed about his Emancipation Proclamation, with Tubman believing it wouldn’t help the people enslaved in border states like Maryland, Wright seeing it as “far less than we had hoped,” and Seward referencing doubts about its “ultimate consequences.”
All three women were esteemed in their time, heading organizations and championing causes to proclaim and promote human rights well ahead of majority thinking, and all have been duly recognized and honored in Auburn and beyond. Wickenden is participating in that ongoing process, bringing their accomplishments and shared goals to light for a new generation.
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott -
I really wanted to love this book, but….
As a woman of color and equality evangelist, I had assumed I’d love this book. I wanted to learn more about these strong, trailblazing women who fought for the rights I enjoy today. However, I struggled to trudge through the book which I found extremely dry. It read to me like a high school mid-term paper: tons of facts, not particularly compelling in its writing, and with an air of detachedness. There were so many characters who were referred to interchangeably by their first or last names. There were so many facts spewed that I felt like I was reading a history textbook. I didn’t walk away with a deep understanding of any of the three women nor their friendship. Even very significant events such as the assassination of President Lincoln and the attempted murder of Secretary of State Henry Seward seemed very dry and disengaging. For most of the book, I failed to follow who the author was even talking about, and about halfway through the book, I stopped caring. If not for the facts that this was chosen as my book club’s book and that I have a compulsion to finish every book I start, I would have abandoned this book about a quarter into it. I loved the purported premise of the book, but unfortunately the execution just fell extremely flat for me. -
Wickenden gives excellent background on the Civil War, the quest to end slavery, and women's rights. This is done through the lens of three women. Harriet Tubman, the most well-known figure and quite a force of nature. Frances Seward, the wife of Lincoln's Secretary of State Henry Seward and and Martha Wright worked tirelessly for the end of slavery and the vote for women. Wickenden, a current editor at the New Yorker, has done excellent research and has blended the three lives into a highly readable book.
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Three amazing women and their stories interwoven with the women's rights and abolitionist movements. Fascinating read since I live in upstate New York where lots of the action happened- Rochester, Auburn, and Seneca Falls. Sheds a fascinating light on Frances Seward and Martha Coffin Wright and their heroic efforts for freedom of all people. Harriet Tubman is the most familiar figure of the three, but I learned a lot more about this courageous woman leader. Well documented work of readable history.
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This must be my summer of books about—in the best sense—uppity women. The book focuses on Florence Seward (wife of Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State), Martha Wright and Harriet Tubman, friends and neighbors in Auburn, New York, and pivotal figures in the fight for emancipation and women’s rights in the years before and immediately after the Civil War. Truly fascinating; it makes me want to explore the area around Auburn the next time I’m in New York State. Highly recommended.
Heather Alicia Simms, Anne Twomey and Gabra Zackman were excellent narrators of this book. -
Read for Booktube Prize. Review to follow
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Talked a little too much about their husbands for my taste. However I was glad they recognized the racism within the suffragette movement itself - I was worried it would not be addressed.
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Great Book on Three Friends from Auburn NY
The book starts out a bit clunky in writing but it picks up and becomes very interesting. I liked that it covered areas near me. Auburn, Syracuse and Rochester. -
I feel like I've read a lot about the Civil War and the nascent women's suffrage movement but I learned a lot reading The Agitators. The story of the friendship between Martha Wright, Francis Seward, and Harriet Tubman was new to me. I had heard of all three in different contexts (Tubman was my first real hero in grade school) but never as a trio of friends and supporters in the women's suffrage movement.
It was absorbing to listen to how the lives of each of these women influenced events in the Civil War and in advancing the rights of women. Even in the mid to late Nineteenth Century, each left their mark and changed the course of history. -
This book is as much about the Civil War as abolition and women’s rights—but of course the war heavily shaped what came next. I enjoyed the audiobook, with three narrators. Full of letters and details of these women’s backgrounds and intertwining lives, you get a real feel for the ways in which they transcended the expected roles for women of the time.
But Harriet Tubman looms larger than life. I was stunned at how much I didn’t know about her, from her Union position during the Civil War to her activism into her 90’s. So much to learn about even the African Americans we thought we’d studied... -
As the world comes crashing down around us, (is that a hyperbole?), I couldn't help but notice the similarity in politics during anti-slavery, pre-civil war activists, and well..today's activists.
The story of these women, who, with the exception of Harriet Tubman, were unknown to me, tells me that we are teaching history completely wrong. I had no idea who Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State was (and why would I?) but upon this amazing biography of the time and the era, everyone should. This tight-knit group of women helped shape the country, by being their husband's confidants, running the whisper networks, being allies and friends, and fighting for what is just. They were raised in families who saw them as equal (for the most part), they recognized right from right and wrong from wrong. And they welcomed Harriet Tubman, and because they were limited in what they could do-they did what they can.
That's the gist of the book. But what bothers me the most, is the continued discourse in 2022, in our government to "keep the peace." If history is cyclical, and if history repeats itself, then we are headed nowhere. The party that is always the unyielding one, is the one that wins (unless we have war). Even pre-civil war, many abolitionists were changing their speeches and not fighting to abolish slavery anymore, but instead started to speak more and more of "state's rights." Thank goodness for a leader (while he had his faults), who knew that we could not maintain the status quo. Ending slavery was not easy, and the appalling response from Lincoln, "that the inequality the soldiers faced was “a necessary concession” to those who didn’t believe they should serve at all."
There were many benefits that came out of this time. The ending of Slavery, women being able to hold property and attend university, but ignoring the little things that should have been done to better society is what leads this country on the path it is on. To many times the "democratic" party (back then the Republican party), continues to fold when they are in power. Instead of upsetting the smaller portions of society, they backpedal and water down bills. We have all the answers to make this country more equitable and improve the health and well-being of many citizens. And yet, we never enable the change we so need.
As I watch Roe v. Wade fall, I question how we move forward, "I know, and you know, that a revolution has begun. I know, and all the world knows, that revolutions never go backward." And yet, here we are, a 250-year-old country, slipping backward. And I am at a loss of how to stop it, but I can see it happening all around. -
Harriet Tubman is amazing. I love reading about the incredible things she did. This book is worth reading just to learn more about her. But in this great book, we get to read about two other interesting women, as well.
I was particularly taken with Frances Seward. For a woman who was probably fairly quiet and retiring by nature she led a life very close to the big public issues of her time — abolition of slavery and suffrage for Black people and women. Being married to such a prominent public figure can't have been easy for her. Her husband was William Henry Seward. He was, among other political positions, Lincoln's Secretary of State. She never hesitated to let him know what she thought and she was no doubt an influence on his views. She was an abolitionist and thought that freedom for the enslaved people of the South was more important than preservation of the Union. She thought that the South should have been allowed to secede from the Union, and that it wouldn't have survived as an independent country, and slavery would have ended sooner.
Was she ultimately disappointed in her husband's political compromises? It's certainly tempting to read her that way.
Looking more into the Sewards led me to the Seward Family Digital Archive, where you can read their letters to one another, as well as to and from many other people:
https://sewardproject.org/ -
Well-written, informative, and lively slice of women's political history.
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Too pedagogical. And the fact that I used the word - maybe a first in my lifetime - says it all. A historical lesson is one thing - this drones like a textbook.
