From the Pulitzer Prize finalistThe Battle for Christmas,here isthe story of America's first reportedChristmas tree: a tale of antislaveryand radical German philosophy, a popular British travel writer and Boston Brahmin elites, the education ofnineteenth-century children and candles blowing in the wind.Now-forgotten chronicler Harriet Martineau immortalized what became known as the first American Christmas tree,set upin the house of her friend Charles Follen.But she neglected toexplainwhat brought the two of them together in the first place: a passion for abolition. Martineaualsofailed tomention Follen'sconvolutedpath to America, from banished German radical toHarvard professor and U.S.citizen. Stephen Nissenbaum explains all in this amusing and somewhat astonishing expose of the Christmas tree,taken from hisdefinitive and award-winning history of Christmasin America.An eBook short.