Antebellum Reform Movements A New Wave of Reform Before the Civil War.

Antebellum Antebellum Reform Reform

MovementsMovementsA New Wave of Reform Before the Civil

War

CHANGECHANGEYOUR REALMS OF CHANGE:

*RELIGIOUS CHANGE*ABOLITION CHANGE

SOCIAL CHANGE*LITERARY CHANGE

*WOMEN’S RIGHTS CHANGE*EDUCATIONAL CHANGE

*JACKSONIAN POLITICAL CHANGEEACH OF THESE CHANGES AFFECTED THE NEW

COUNTRY.

Reasons for ReformReasons for Reform• Similar to reasons for Cult of True

Womanhood / Domesticity– o Barbara Welter – Women were supposed to be

• Pious• Purity• Submission• Domesticity

• Fear of rapid change (urbanization, industrialization, immigration…)

• Desire to return to a less materialistic (money and “thing” centered) lifestyle

• Religious fervor – “When things are wrong with society or there is progress, turn to GOD!”

Second Great Second Great AwakeningAwakening

• Renewed interest in religion• Traveling (itinerant) preachers• Religious revivals• Focus on emotion• Idea that anyone could be saved, anyone could

preach• Participation of many social groups (African-

Americans, women, slaves, etc.)• Influenced by Alex de Tocqueville’s – Democracy in

America o “…. there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a

greater influence over the souls of men than in America; and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.”

Camp MeetingsCamp Meetings• Multi-denominational

gatherings that demonstrate fanatical fervor about God

• Fiery speakers taught that the return of Jesus was imminent

• Speakers were not college educated and opposed the orthodox customs – why? Popularity?

• Methodism – fastest growing denomination 1800 – 70,000 1844– over 1 million

• Charles G. Finney – Father of American Revivalism

New YorkNew York• “Burned – over District”

o Charles Finney, the father of American revivalism, who explained in the 1870′s that the region had seen so many revivals in the previous decades that it no longer had any more “fuel” (the unconverted) to “burn” (convert).

o Western New Yorko Welcomed women into

active public life in the church

o Rejected Pre-destination; human effort in salvation

Religious SectsReligious SectsUnitarians Universalists

• God as ONE person – contrast with Trinitarians (God as 3 persons)

• Jesus was a Prophet not necessarily the Son of God as a God

• Did not believe in the concept of “original sin” – that man was inherently sinful from the dawn of time

• No belief in Hell• Living truth is much

more important than national, cultural, or religious boundaries

• All religions are true and are therefore worthy of dignity and respect

• Uphold principles, ethics, and actions that promote living right

MormonismMormonism• Joseph Smith grew up in the “Burned Over District”

in NY and continued to question traditional religious customs and orthodoxy

• Angel led him to interpret a book of revelation and – Book of Mormon

• Seen by his followers as a prophet • Belief that Jesus and God are two separate beings –

differed from orthodox Christianity – Trinitarianism• Persecuted because of polygamy – moved the

church to Illinois – Joseph Smith killed• Brigham Young moves the church and followers to

UTAH

Religious Utopian Religious Utopian SocietiesSocieties

• Utopia- a community designed to create a perfect society -- idea formed by Sir Thomas More

• Often wanted to bring the kingdom of heaven into reality on earth

• Shakers- stressed simple, communal lifestyle (shared everything), equality, celibacy (What could be 1 problem with this?)

• Mormons- founded by Joseph Smith, practiced plural marriage, mob in Carthage, IL. killed Smith in 1844.

• Moved west under Brigham Young to Great Salt Lake Valley

Oneida in New YorkOneida in New York• Founded by John Humphrey Noyes • Believed in equality of men and women• Practices

oComplex marriage and communal child-rearing

o Birth control through male continence & ascending fellowship (older people with younger)

o Stirpiculture- selective breeding to produce “better” offspring

• How might this have been liberating for women? How might it have been oppressive? Downfall?

New Harmony in New Harmony in IndianaIndiana

• Goal – a planned environment will improve social behavior and misery will eventually banish

• Based on SOCIALISM / COLLECTIVISM and COMMUNISMo Equal distribution of wealtho Cooperation NOT Competition

Brook Farm in Brook Farm in MassachusettsMassachusetts

• Founded near Boston by Transcendentalists – commune with nature / protest technology

• Founded for people to personally connect with divinity (God) rather than participate in organized ritualistic religion

• Intellectuals such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne

ShakersShakers• Founded by Mother Ann Lee

o Sex was the main cause of EVIL in the worldo Named because of convulsive danceso Isolationist communities based of separation of

genders and equalityo Population growth due to converts and

adoption of orphans

TranscendentalistsTranscendentalists• Romantic movement, early 1800’s• Protest movement• Emphasized importance of individual, natural

simplicity, spiritual renewal• Belief that people could transcend (rise above)

material things in life• Emerson- Self Reliance -- rely on oneself instead of

new technology / commune with nature• Henry David Thoreau- Walden (about his time living

in the woods, getting away from technology, big cities), Civil Disobedience -- PROTEST

Poem of Emily Poem of Emily DickinsonDickinson

“Some keep the Sabbath going to church;I keep it staying at home,With a bobolink (bird) for a chorister (choir), And an orchard for a dome.”

How does this reflect the themes of transcendentalists?

Literary ReformLiterary Reform• Emily Dickinson – emotional poetry• James Fennimore Cooper – The Last of the

Mohicans – American Historical Fiction• Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter • Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass• Edgar Allan Poe – The Raven• American authors writing distinctly American

stories and poems about American culture

Hudson River SchoolHudson River School• Philosophy or “school” of thought – People

sharing ideas about ART• Artists painting or depicting distinctly American

landscapes, figures, CULTURE!!!

• Thomas Cole / Asher Durand

Other Reform Other Reform MovementsMovements

• Temperance (persuade people to temper or limit alcohol consumption)

• Education- Horace Mann, common schools, uniform curriculum & teacher training, bigger impact in the North.

• Mentally ill- Dorothea Dix; advocated better treatment, separation of criminals, mentally ill

• Prisons- try to rehabilitate, penitentiary new institution

• Abolitionism – attempt to rid the South of slavery• Women’s Rights – attempt to gain the right to vote

Temperance Temperance MovementMovement

• By 1830, Americans were drinking 7 gallons of alcohol per person, per year on average

• Men spent too much $$$, avoided their families, and beat their wives (domestic violence)

• Lyman Beecher and Protestant churches formed Temperance societies

• Economic PANIC of 1837 caused workers to question their drinking habits

• Women’s Christian Temperance Union – protest organization that pushes for legalizing morality (outlawing drinking)

TemperanceTemperance

Source: http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Month=March&Date=21

“The Bar of Destruction”Thomas NastOriginal Date:March 21, 1874

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

ReformsReforms• In each small group cooperatively investigate and discuss

who were the leaders of these movements and how did their reforms change / shape American society. Lets look at each reform area and discuss one / two that is found on the next several slides. This will give each group an idea of what is expected – after your chart is completely filled out think about today’s reforms in your particular area.

Women’s Rights / Seneca Falls Women’s Rights / Seneca Falls

ConventionConvention• Women’s Movement –Seneca Falls

Convention NY- call for suffrage- Lucretia Mott/ Elizabeth Cady Stanton / Sojourner Truth

• Declaration of Sentiments – many men respected the drafting of this document but conventional thinking would not permit women the right to vote

• “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal”

• 1900’s Women’s Rights – Carrie Chapman Catt/ Susan B. Anthony – culminated in 19th Amendment (women’s suffrage in 1920)

Seneca Falls Convention- Lucretia Mott/ Seneca Falls Convention- Lucretia Mott/

Elizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady Stanton

•Caption: "Get Thee Behind Me, (Mrs.) Satan!”

•Wife (with heavy burden). "I'd rather travel the hardest path of matrimony than follow your footsteps."

•Satan: Victoria Woodhull, an advocate of women’s rights and free love, who ran for President in 1872.

Date: February 17, 1872Source: http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Month=February&Date=17

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

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Abolitionist MovementAbolitionist Movement• Abolition – Freedom from slavery• American Colonization Society – wanted free

slaves then move ALL blacks to Liberia (in Africa) / didn’t work – slaves are from America

• American Anti-Slavery Society (1833-1870) – founded by Wm. Lloyd Garrison believed in IMMEDIATE abolition of the slave / slave owners are sinful / criticized the A.C.S. (above)

• Lucy Stone / women’s rights / maiden name / divorce rights etc.

Fredrick DouglassFredrick Douglass• American abolitionist, author, women’s

suffragist• Wrote and published The North Star• Purchased his freedom and became an

ardent abolitionist• In thinking of America, I

sometimes find myself admiring her bright blue sky-her grand old woods-her fertile fields-her beautiful rivers-her mighty lakes and star-crowned mountains. But my rapture is soon checked when I remember that all is cursed with the infernal spirit of slave-holding and wrong; When I remember that with the waters of her noblest rivers, the tears of my brethren are borne to the ocean, disregarded and forgotten; That her most fertile fields drink daily of the warm blood of my outraged sisters, I am filled with unutterable loathing.”

Believed in Believed in

IMMEDIATE IMMEDIATE

ABOLITION ABOLITION

NOTNOT GRADUALISM GRADUALISM

William Lloyd Garrison – The Liberator

Sarah and Angelina Sarah and Angelina Grimke-Grimke-

• Abolitionists who moved from South Carolina (daughters of slave owner) to the North to promote the abolitionist movement

• AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY- END SLAVERY – HEADED BY WILLIAM LLYOD GARRISON

Education Reform Education Reform • Horace Mann-

(Massachusetts) pressed for more public education and helped create a state board of education in 1837.

• He was secretary of the new board – he doubled teacher salaries, opened 50 new high schools, and establish training schools for teachers.

• 1st State School Superintendent

• Pushed COMPULSORY EDUCATION

Dorothea DixDorothea Dix

• Led Sunday school classes for prisoners.

• Saw the mentally ill in the prisons and saw how neglected they were as they lay on the floor.

• Started the crusade to improve the conditions for the mentally ill- hospital.

Elizabeth BlackwellElizabeth Blackwell• First woman to earn a

medical degree.

Nativism – Feelings of anger Nativism – Feelings of anger

and hatred toward immigrantsand hatred toward immigrants• Know – Nothing Party – political party aimed at

promoting “native” American views and ideals. Fear of Irish Catholics helped fuel this party.

• Most of their program goals and aims were NOT achieved.

• Wanted increased naturalization requirements.

Election of 1840 Election of 1840 • William Henry Harrison (Whig) vs. Martin Van

Buren (Democrat) LOG CABIN ELECTION• Whigs (Party formed chiefly out of dislike for

Jackson – viewed him as a king)• “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” – Harrison and Tyler

promoted the idea of the “common man” just as Jackson had before them (WON)

• E.C. Booze – distilled hard apple cider and poured them in log cabin bottles to pass out at political functions – BOOZE

““Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”

Spirit of ReformSpirit of Reform• You are to participate and find

changes/ reforms in American history from 1828- 1845 in the areas listed on the prior slide. Each cooperative group have a specific area to show the reforms. Follow the flow charts in each area. Then relate these changes to the changes of today – (EX. – Changes today in the area of education. )

Spirit of Reform Spirit of Reform • Looking Forward: The

United States in 1850 …Manifest Destiny brought western lands into the country which helped bring about sectionalism which was apart of the reforms Americans had to dealt with in society. (abolition)

Manifest Destiny- John O’Sullivan- caused Manifest Destiny- John O’Sullivan- caused

sectionalism- how would the nation deal with the sectionalism- how would the nation deal with the

issue of slavery as it spreads westward. Painting by issue of slavery as it spreads westward. Painting by

John Gast- The American Progress.John Gast- The American Progress.

Spirit of ReformsSpirit of Reforms• VOCABULARY : Standard Course of Study:

reform, transcendentalism, utopia, romanticism, nativists, Second Great Awakening, abolition, emancipation.

• Group activity – help one another complete the assignment – vocabulary on Jacksonian Democracy and Reforms. Work with one another in your groups to complete each term and discuss the terms while you define them…this will be graded.