Edward Atkinson
Encyclopedia
Edward Atkinson was an economist
, and a founder of the Anti-Imperialist League.
He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts
, and educated in private schools. He received the degrees of Ph.D.
from Dartmouth College
and that of LL.D. from the University of South Carolina
. In the decade before the Civil War
, Atkinson was a successful entrepreneur as an executive of some of the leading cotton mills of New England
. Later, he was President of Boston Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company and the Mutual Boiler Insurance Company of Boston. He invented an improved kitchen stove, known as the “Aladdin cooker.”
He also fought against slavery by supporting the Free-Soil Party and a Boston committee to aid escaped slaves. Growing weary of compromise, he soon 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
in 1879.
Inspired by the ideas of Adam Smith
, Richard Cobden
, and John Bright
, Atkinson 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
and participated in the formation of the Clevelandite National Democratic Party (United States)
third party in 1896. Atkinson was appalled by the colonialist and imperialist policies of the McKinley
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. As a vice president of that organization, Atkinson wrote to the United States Department of War
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
, the correspondent J. F. Bass, and to Jacob Shurman and Dean Worcestrer on the Philippine Commission
.
On February 17, 1899, Edward Atkinson sent three pamphlets entitled:
...in order to test the right of citizens of the United States to the free use of the mail.
United States Postmaster General
Charles Emory Smith
ordered that the pamphlets be seized in San Francisco, declaring the pamphlets "seditious". The United States Attorney General
hinted that he would charge Atkinson with treason and sedition. In the end, officials decided that charging him would only make the seventy-two year old into a martyr.
.
The U.S. pro-expansion press called Atkinson a "latter-day copperhead
". Atkinson seemed to enjoy the infamy. Atkinson effusively and sacrastically thanked the Administration for calling national attention to his essays and increasing their demand in every state in the union.
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, and a founder of the Anti-Imperialist League.
Biography
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
, and educated in private schools. He received the degrees of Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
and that of LL.D. from the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
. In the decade before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Atkinson was a successful entrepreneur as an executive of some of the leading cotton mills of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Later, he was President of Boston Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company and the Mutual Boiler Insurance Company of Boston. He invented an improved kitchen stove, known as the “Aladdin cooker.”
He also fought against slavery by supporting the Free-Soil Party and a Boston committee to aid escaped slaves. Growing weary of compromise, he soon began raising money to pay for rifles and ammunition to support the insurgent guerrilla force of John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
. 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
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1879.
Inspired by the ideas of Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
, Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
, and John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
, Atkinson became a leading publicist for free trade. In many ways, he can be described as the American counterpart to Frédéric Bastiat
Frédéric Bastiat
Claude Frédéric Bastiat was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly. He was notable for developing the important economic concept of opportunity cost.-Biography:...
. He spoke out against the inflationist ideas of William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
and others but, unlike some, favored the total denationalization, or privatization, of money..
He campaigned for Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
and participated in the formation of the Clevelandite National Democratic Party (United States)
National Democratic Party (United States)
The National Democratic Party or Gold Democrats was a short-lived political party of Bourbon Democrats, who opposed the regular party nominee William Jennings Bryan in 1896. Most members were admirers of Grover Cleveland. They considered Bryan a dangerous man and charged that his "free silver"...
third party in 1896. Atkinson was appalled by the colonialist and imperialist policies of the McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
and Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
administrations in the wake of the Spanish-American War. He reacted by becoming a full-time activist in the American Anti-Imperialist League. As a vice president of that organization, Atkinson wrote to the United States Department of War
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
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
Henry Ware Lawton
Henry Ware Lawton was a highly respected U.S. Army officer who served with distinction in the Civil War, the Apache Wars, the Spanish-American War and was the only U.S. general officer to be killed during the Philippine-American War...
, Miller, and Otis
Elwell Stephen Otis
Elwell Stephen Otis was a United States of America General who served in the Philippines late in the Spanish-American War and during the Philippine-American War.-Biography:...
, Admiral Dewey
George Dewey
George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
, the correspondent J. F. Bass, and to Jacob Shurman and Dean Worcestrer on the Philippine Commission
Philippine Commission
The Philippine Commission was a body appointed by the President of the United States to exercise legislative and limited executive powers in the Philippines. It was first appointed by President William McKinley in 1901. Beginning in 1907, it acted as the upper house of a bicameral Philippine...
.
On February 17, 1899, Edward Atkinson sent three pamphlets entitled:
- "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?"
...in order to test the right of citizens of the United States to the free use of the mail.
United States Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
Charles Emory Smith
Charles Emory Smith
Charles Emory Smith was an American journalist and political leader. He was born in Mansfield, Connecticut....
ordered that the pamphlets be seized in San Francisco, declaring the pamphlets "seditious". The United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
hinted that he would charge Atkinson with treason and sedition. In the end, officials decided that charging him would only make the seventy-two year old into a martyr.
.
The U.S. pro-expansion press called Atkinson a "latter-day copperhead
Copperheads (politics)
The Copperheads were a vocal group of Democrats in the Northern United States who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates. Republicans started calling anti-war Democrats "Copperheads," likening them to the venomous snake...
". Atkinson seemed to enjoy the infamy. Atkinson effusively and sacrastically thanked the Administration for calling national attention to his essays and increasing their demand in every state in the union.
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,” he also issued:- “The Distribution of Products” (New York, 1885)
- “Margin of Profits” (1887)
- “Industrial Progress of the Nation” (1889)
External links
- Biography and Bibliography of Edward Atkinson: "Liberty and Anti-Imperialism"
- Edward Atkinson's The Anti-Imperialist: "Liberty and Anti-Imperialism"
- WorldCat