Edward Atkinson (activist)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Edward Atkinson (February 10, 1827 – December 11, 1905) was an
economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
, inventor, and a founder of the American Anti-Imperialist League.


Biography


Early years

Edward Atkinson was born in
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
and educated in private schools. He received a Ph.D. from Dartmouth College and an LL.D. from the
University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
. In the decade before the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, Atkinson was a successful entrepreneur as an executive of some of the leading cotton mills of
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. Later, he was President of Boston Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company and the Mutual Boiler Insurance Company of Boston. Atkinson married Mary Caroline Heath in 1855; they had 9 children, 7 of whom survived to adulthood."Edward Atkinson Papers, 1819–1920: Guide to the Collection,"
Massachusetts Historical Society, /www.masshist.org/
One of his sons, Robert Whitman Atkinson (1868–1934) was a musician and composer best known for composing "The Party at Odd Fellows Hall", a popular waltz of the 1890s, to words by J. Wendell Jr. In 1886 Atkinson invented an improved kitchen stove known as the "Aladdin cooker," a slow-cooking device that used a minimal power input, akin to the principle employed by the modern crock pot.


Political activity

Atkinson fought against slavery by supporting the Free-Soil Party and the Boston Vigilance Committee, an organization that aided escaped slaves. Growing weary of compromise, he began raising money to pay for rifles and ammunition to support the insurgent guerrilla force of John Brown. In 1866, he was chosen a delegate to the national union convention held in Philadelphia, but he took no part in its deliberations. He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1879. He was inspired by the ideas of Adam Smith, Richard Cobden, and John Bright, and he became a leading publicist for free trade. In many ways, he can be described as the American counterpart to Frédéric Bastiat. He spoke out against the inflationist ideas of William Jennings Bryan and others but, unlike some, favored the total denationalization or privatization of money. He campaigned for
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...
and participated in the formation of the Clevelandite National Democratic ticket in 1896. Atkinson was appalled by the colonialist and imperialist policies of the
McKinley McKinley may refer to: People *McKinley (name), a page for people with the surname and given name "McKinley" **William McKinley, 25th president of the United States. Places Philippines * Fort William McKinley (now Fort Bonifacio) in Metro Ma ...
and Roosevelt administrations in the wake of the Spanish–American War. He reacted by becoming a full-time activist in the American Anti-Imperialist League, and was opposed to U.S. intervention against Spain in Cuba and the Philippines. As a vice president of that organization, Atkinson wrote to the
United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...
for a list of soldiers serving in the Philippines so that he might send them his privately published pamphlets. Failing to receive a reply, Atkinson announced to the press that he was sending copies to Generals Lawton, Miller, and Otis, Admiral Dewey, correspondent J. F. Bass, and to Jacob Shurman and Dean Worcestrer on the Philippine Commission. On February 17, 1899, Edward Atkinson sent three pamphlets to test the right of citizens of the United States to the free use of the mail: * "The Cost of a National Crime," detailing the American military oppression of the Filipinos and the spiraling cost of the war to American taxpayers. * "The Hell of War and Its Penalties" * "Criminal Aggression: By Whom Committed?"
United States Postmaster General The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...
Charles Emory Smith ordered that the pamphlets be seized in San Francisco, declaring them "seditious". The
United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...
hinted that he would charge Atkinson with treason and sedition, but decided against it, as officials feared that charging him would only make the 72-year-old a martyr. The US pro-expansion press called Atkinson a "latter-day copperhead". Atkinson seemed to enjoy the infamy, and he effusively and sarcastically thanked the Administration for calling national attention to his essays and increasing their demand in every state in the union. On the other hand, sympathetic accounts portraying him as a "self-made man" were promptly refuted by Atkinson, who scoffed at the term itself. "You might as well speak of a self-laid egg," he countered, crediting the quote to his friend, the late Francis Lieber."He Has a Fancy for Figures"
''The Lafayette Sunday Times''. June 10, 1894. p. 5. Retrieved July 19, 2024.


Death and legacy

Edward Atkinson died on December 11, 1905. He was 78 years old at the time of his death. Atkinson's papers are housed at the Massachusetts Historical Society and include 32 cartons and six bound volumes of material.


Works

For nearly four decades, Atkinson was actively engaged in the distribution of brochures of which he was the author on banking, competition, cotton manufacture, economic legislation, fire prevention, industrial education, the money question, and the tariff. In addition to his 1899 series of pamphlets, broadcast over the United States, which he entitled "The Anti-Imperialist:" * ''Cheap Cotton by Free Labor'' (Boston, 1861) * ''The Distribution of Products'' (New York, 1885) * ''Margin of Profits'' (1887) * ''Industrial Progress of the Nation'' (1889) * ''Taxation and Work: A Series of Treatises on the Tariff and the Currency'' (New York 1892)


Notes


References


Further reading

* Robert L. Beisner, ''Twelve Against Empire: The Anti-Imperialists, 1898–1900.'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968. * * Harold Francis Williamson, ''Edward Atkinson: The Biography of an American Liberal, 1827–1905.'' Boston: Old Corner Book Store, 1934. —Reprinted by the Arno Press, 1972.


External links

* Biography and Bibliography of Edward Atkinson
"Liberty and Anti-Imperialism"
* Edward Atkinson's ''The Anti-Imperialist''


WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Edward 1827 births 1905 deaths 19th-century American inventors 19th-century American non-fiction writers 19th-century American economists 20th-century American economists 20th-century American inventors 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Abolitionists from Massachusetts American anti-war activists American economics writers American libertarians American male non-fiction writers Anti-imperialists Economists from Massachusetts Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Massachusetts Free Soilers Monetary economists National Democratic Party (United States) politicians Activists from Brookline, Massachusetts People of the Philippine–American War University of South Carolina alumni Writers from Massachusetts Dartmouth College alumni Inventors from Massachusetts