Henry Adams Archives - Page 3 of 5 - THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS

Summary and Analysis Chapter XXI – Twenty Years After

Summary This transitional chapter helps Adams to skip more than twenty years of his life during which he married Marian “Clover” Hooper of Boston (on June 27, 1872), taught at Harvard until 1877, published widely, traveled widely, and suffered through his wife’s suicide (December 6, 1885). During his year’s leave […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XX – Failure

Henry Adams

Summary Henry Adams serves Harvard as a history professor and editor of the prestigious North American Review from 1870 to 1877, taking a leave of absence during the 1872-1873 academic year to travel Europe with his new bride. Only the first year is discussed in the Education. He initially lectures […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XIX – Chaos

Henry Adams

Summary Henry returns to London in May of 1870 expecting a relaxing vacation after submitting his key essays for publication. The peaceful order of his life is turned to chaos when he receives a telegram informing him that his sister Louisa Catherine (Adams) Kuhn (1831-1870) has been thrown from a […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XVIII – Free Fight

Henry Adams

Summary Even in the dormant Grant administration, a young reformer soon has plenty to write about. On September 24, 1869, the price of gold crashes spectacularly, exposing a scheme involving financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk as well as President Grant’s own brother-in-law. The Legal Tender Act is still an […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XVII – President Grant

Henry Adams

Summary Initially optimistic about Grant’s first term in office, Henry soon becomes disillusioned. Because of Grant’s success during the Civil War, Henry assumes that the new President will at least be an effective administrator, as George Washington was, and have the wisdom to select top men for his Cabinet. The […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XVI – The Press

Henry Adams

Summary On a hot July night in 1868, the Adams family arrives in the States after seven years abroad. Henry is thirty years old. After a few months of relaxation and renewing friendships, he leaves Boston on October 12 to become a freelance journalist in Washington; en route to the […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XV – Darwinism

Henry Adams

Summary Henry becomes increasingly interested in contemporary methods of science, foreshadowing his later attempts to apply scientific method to the study of history. The works of two Englishmen are especially important to Henry at this point in his education. Naturalist Charles Robert Darwin has recently (1859) published his seminal work, […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XIV – Dilettantism

Henry Adams

Summary President Lincoln’s re-election in November 1864 confirms the strength of the Union as well as the firm position of the American Ministry in England. In order to improve the health of some of the Adams family, physicians recommend that they spend the winter of 1864-1865 in Italy; Henry serves […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XII-XIII – Eccentricity and The Perfection of Human Society

Henry Adams

Summary After devoting several chapters to diplomatic tensions in London, Adams alters the tone to consider British personalities and the social scene. He sees a propensity for eccentricity in the English character and asks whether this is strength or a weakness. It seems to Adams that eccentrics support the Confederacy. […]

Summary and Analysis Chapter XI – The Battle of the Rams

Henry Adams

Summary Throughout most of 1863, the strain of diplomacy continues in London as the war continues in the States. Minister Adams learns that William Laird & Son, shipbuilders in Liverpool, are constructing two ironclad warships for the Confederacy. Adams sends a series of notes of protest to British Foreign Secretary […]