'Educating New England' reconsiders Transcendentalism as a practical
experiment in education. Located at the intersection of intellectual
history and literary studies, this study shows that the
Transcendentalist educational ventures represent a radical alternative
to the early nineteenth-century educational practices in New England.
Contributing to the ongoing reassessment of Transcendentalism as an
educational movement, this is the first comprehensive study of the
Transcendentalists' educational practices. It relates the educational
ventures of Margaret Fuller, but also of more marginalized
Transcendentalists such as Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, George Ripley, and
Amos Bronson Alcott to the educational landscape of early
nineteenth-century New England. Drawing on the richness of archival
material that has never been systematically studied, this study shows
that the Transcendentalists took an active part in forming and shaping
the future of American education.