Nathaniel Hawthorne, Liberty Tree

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Liberty Tree

(1841) builds on and is a continuation of Hawthorne’s first two children’s books,

Grandfather’s Chair

and

Famous Old People

.

Liberty Tree

consists of a Preface, eleven chapters, and five formally titled stories. The Preface invitingly begins, “Has the youthful reader grown weary of Grandfather’s stories about his Chair? Will he not come, this once more, to our fireside, and be received as an own grandchild, and as brother, sister, or cousin to Laurence, Clara, Charley, and little Alice?” (143). The Preface then summarizes various incidents of the American Revolutionary period to come, reminding readers that in all the stories

on its sturdy oaken legs, [Grandfather’s Chair] trudges diligently from one scene to another, and seems always to thrust itself in the way,

2679 words

Citation: Laffrado, Laura. "Liberty Tree". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 August 2011; last revised 08 October 2018. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33487, accessed 19 March 2024.]

33487 Liberty Tree 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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