Charles Follen's search for nationality and freedom

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This unique account of Charles Follen, a German nationalist and revolutionary, provides insight into various historical contexts of the early nineteenth century. Follen, trained as a lawyer in Germany, engaged in student nationalism and revolutionary Jacobinism, ultimately fleeing to Switzerland in 1819 after participating in the assassination of playwright August von Kotzebue. In Switzerland, he continued his revolutionary activities until they were discovered in 1824, prompting his move to America. For a decade, Follen taught at Harvard as the first professor of German literature in the U.S., significantly influencing the importation of German ideas to New England and contributing to literature, philosophy, and theology. His marriage to Eliza Lee Cabot connected him to Boston's elite social circles. After becoming a Unitarian minister in 1836, Follen merged his passion for social reform, particularly the antislavery movement, with his clerical duties, forming friendships with prominent figures like William Ellery Channing and William Lloyd Garrison. However, in the final two years of his life, he grappled with doubts about his ability to effect political change, culminating in a crisis of self-confidence before his untimely death at forty-three.