THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION America: Past and Present Chapter 11.

THE PURSUIT OF THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTIONPERFECTION

America: Past and Present

Chapter 11

The Rise of EvangelicalismThe Rise of Evangelicalism

Separation of church and state gives all churches the chance to compete for converts

Pious Protestants form voluntary associations to combat sin, “infidelity”

The Second Great Awakening: The Second Great Awakening: The Frontier PhaseThe Frontier Phase

Camp meetings contribute to frontier life– provide emotional religion – offer opportunity for social life

Camp meeting revivals convey intensely personal religious message

Camp meetings rarely lead to social reform

The Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening in the Northin the North

In New England reformers defend Calvinism against the Enlightenment

Charles G. Finney rejects Calvinism to preach free will

Finney preaches in upstate New York Finney stresses revival techniques Revivals lead to organization of more

churches

From Revivalism to ReformFrom Revivalism to Reform

Northern revivals stimulate reform Middle-class participants adapt

evangelical religion to preserve traditional values

"The benevolent empire" of evangelical reform movements alter American life– e.g. temperance movement cuts alcohol

consumption by more than fifty percent

Domesticity and Changes in Domesticity and Changes in the American Familythe American Family

New conception of family’s role in society

Child rearing seen as essential preparation for self-disciplined Christian life

Women confined to domestic sphere Women assume crucial role within

home

Marriage for LoveMarriage for Love

Mutual love must characterize marriage Wives became more of a companion to

their husbands and less of a servant Legally, the husband was the

unchallenged head of the household

The Cult of DomesticityThe Cult of Domesticity

"The Cult of True Womanhood" – places women in the home– glorifies home as center of all efforts to

civilize and Christianize society Middle- and upper-class women

increasingly dedicated to the home as mothers

Women of leisure enter reform movements

The Discovery of ChildhoodThe Discovery of Childhood

Nineteenth-century child the center of family

Each child seen as unique, irreplaceable Ideal to form child’s character with

affection Parental discipline to instill guilt, not fear Train child to learn self-discipline

Institutional ReformInstitutional Reform

Domesticity to inform public institutions Schools continue what family begins Asylums, prisons mend family’s failures

The Extension of EducationThe Extension of Education

Public schools expand rapidly 1820-1850 Working class sees as means to advance Middle-class reformers see as means for

inculcating values of hard work, responsibility

Horace Mann argues schools save immigrants, poor children from parents’ bad influence

Many parents believe public schools alienate children from their parents

Discovering the AsylumDiscovering the Asylum

Poor, criminal, insane seen as lacking self-discipline

Harsh measures to promote rehabilitation– solitary confinement of prisoners– strict daily schedule

Public support for rehabilitation skimpy Prisons, asylums, poorhouses become

warehouses for the unwanted

Reform Turns RadicalReform Turns Radical

Most reform aims to improve society Some radical reformers seek

destruction of old society, creation of perfect social order

Divisions in the Benevolent Divisions in the Benevolent EmpireEmpire

Radical perfectionists impatient by 1830s, split from moderate reform– temperance movement – peace movement– antislavery movement

Moderates seek gradual end to slavery Radicals demand immediate

emancipation 1833--American Anti-Slavery Society

The Abolitionist Enterprise: The Abolitionist Enterprise: Theodore Dwight WeldTheodore Dwight Weld

Weld an itinerant minister converted by Finney

Adapted his revivalist techniques to abolition

Successful mass meetings in Ohio, New York

The Abolitionist Enterprise: The Abolitionist Enterprise: Public ReceptionPublic Reception

Appeal to hard-working small town folk Opposition in cities & near Mason-Dixon

line Opposition from the working class

– dislike blacks – fear black economic and social competition

Solid citizens see abolitionists as anarchists

The Abolitionist Enterprise: The Abolitionist Enterprise: ObstaclesObstacles

Abolitionists hampered by in-fighting William Lloyd Garrison disrupts

movement by associating with radical reform efforts– urged abolitionists to abstain from

participating in the political process– also got involved in women’s rights

movement Some abolitionists help form the Liberty

Party in 1840

Black AbolitionistsBlack Abolitionists

Former slaves related the horrible realities of bondage– prominent figures included Frederick

Douglass and Sojourner Truth Black newspapers, books, and

pamphlets publicized abolitionism to a wider audience

Blacks were also active in the Underground Railroad

From Abolitionism to Women's From Abolitionism to Women's RightsRights

Abolitionism open to women’s participation Involvement raises awareness of women’s

inequality Seneca Falls Convention in 1848

– Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton organize

– prompted by experience of inequality in abolition movement

– begins movement for women’s rights

Radical Ideas & Experiments: Radical Ideas & Experiments: Utopian CommunitiesUtopian Communities

Utopian socialism – Inspired by Robert Owen, Charles Fourier– New Harmony, Indiana—Owenite– Fourierite phalanxes

Religious utopianism– Shakers– Oneida Community

Utopian Communities Before the Utopian Communities Before the Civil WarCivil War

Radical Ideas & Experiments: Radical Ideas & Experiments: TranscendentalismTranscendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson Margaret Fuller George Ripley

– founded cooperative community at Brook Farm

Henry David Thoreau

Counterpoint on ReformCounterpoint on Reform

Reform encounters perceptive critics– Nathaniel Hawthorne allegorically refuted

perfectionist movements Reform prompts necessary changes in

American life