This book is a compelling account of the origins of American radicalism from the founding of the republic right up to John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. Mark Lause asks a series of major questions, most of which have been neglected, weaving various elements of Antebellum radicalism together to form a new appreciation of class and radicalism rooted in the experience of working people in the US.Lause focuses on the radicalism of working citizens in the wake of the American Revolution, arguing that by the early nineteenth century skilled white workers took up ideas of class conflict. He goes on to look at how a class feeling began to transcend formal citizenship, and ultimately broadened out to include abolitionism. Lause argues that in the aftermath of 1848, American radicals saw themselves in a new, international light that informed original approaches to issues of race and gender. The 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry - an insurrectionary slave revolt orchestrated by John Brown - represented the coming together of the various currents in Antebellum radicalism.The book captures the spirit of American radicalism with a view towards exploring a broader hostility towards capitalism, providing an important reflection on the meaning of historical radical movements for contemporary movements, and on the evolving meaning of socialism today.