"It was Jane Addams, the founder of Hull House in Chicago, who most consistently carried Tolstoyan ideas into practice. Addams had visited Tolstoy in Russia and was a lifelong admirer of his work. She well understood the practical implications of his ideas, which she expressed as follows: "Tolstoy would make non-resistance aggressive. He would carry over into the reservoirs of moral influence all the strength which is now spent in coercion and resistance." In his spirit, she advocated "a newer humanitarianism," aggressive in its pursuit of social welfare and international in its reach, as a moral equivalent for war. Addams steadfastly carried these convictions into practice in her peace activities during World War I and her leadership in the postwar Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She suffered ostracism, vilification and isolation for her pacifism, but she was one of a handful of people who kept the idea and tradition alive in a time of conformity and reaction."
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Philosophers from the United StatesWomen activists from the United StatesWomen's rights activistsSociologists from the United StatesPeople from Illinois
Original Language: English
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Sources
Gerda Lerner, Why History Matters: Life and Thought (1997)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jane_Addams
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Jane Addams
Laura Jane Addams (6 September 1860 – 21 May 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, public administrator and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage in the United States and advocated for world peace. She co-founded Chicago's Hull House, one of America
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