Social Changes in the US1800-1850

HUSHUnit 4

Second Great Awakening

Second Great Awakening continued- rejection of Puritan beliefs and more emphasis on the idea that God allowed people to make own decisions.

Charles Grandison Finney- NY Presbyterian minister/lawyer- “common sense” religion

Lyman Beecher- revivalist- reformist- abolitionist- father of Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Transcendentalists-

The Transcendentalists- “to rise above”- humans are naturally good- moral lives can make society better- good works can defeat evil

Ralph Waldo Emerson- leader of movement- Unitarian pastor

Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…

Transcendentalism(European Romanticism)

“Liberation from understanding and the cultivation of reasoning.”

“Transcend” the limits of intellect and allow the emotions, the soul,to create an original relationshipwith the Universe.

Henry David Thoreau-

Henry David Thoreau- student of Emerson- author, poet, philosopher, and abolitionist best known for Walden or Life in the Woods and 18 essays about his life in the wilderness of Concord MA. Also known for Civil Disobedience, an essay recalling his revolt against paying taxes for the Mexican War.

Transcendentalist Intellectuals/WritersConcord, MA

Ralph WaldoEmerson

Ralph WaldoEmerson

Henry DavidThoreau

Henry DavidThoreau

Nature(1832) Walden

(1854)

Resistance to Civil

Disobedience(1849)

Self-Reliance (1841)

“The American Scholar”

(1837) R3-1/3/4/5

Thoreau Quotations Go confidently in the direction of your

dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.

Men are born to succeed, not fail. I know of no more encouraging fact than

the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.

Public Education-

Public education was better in the North than South and middle states

Reformers wanted working class children educated by tax-supported public schools

Differentiated grade levels became widespread

Free public schools became norm in North

“Father of American Education”

Horace Mann (1796-1859)

children were clay in the hands of teachers and school officials children should be “molded” into a state of perfection discouraged corporal punishment established state teacher- training programs

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Prison Reform- Dorothea Dix Reformer wanted prisons

cleaned up and regulated

Homes for mentally ill established in north

Utopian Communities-

Utopia is a pun meaning both "good place" and "no place.“

Based on book by the British author- Sir Thomas More.

19th century utopian communities tried to change the way man lived and create a perfect society

The Oneida CommunityNew York, 1848

John Humphrey Noyes(1811-1886)

Millenarianism --> the 2nd

coming of Christ had already occurred. Humans were no longer obliged to follow the moral rules of the past.• all residents

married to each other.• carefully regulated “free love.”

New Harmony, Indiana Robert Owen established a

communistic colony in New Harmony, IN that gained prominence as a cultural and scientific center and attracted many noted scientists, educators, and writers.

Dissension arose, and in 1828 the community ceased to exist as a distinct enterprise, although the town remained an intellectual center.

Original Plans for New Harmony, IN

The Actual New Harmony in 1832

Brook Farm An experimental farm at West Roxbury,

Mass., based on cooperative living. The members of Brook Farm believed

that they could create a utopian microcosm of society that would eventually serve as a model for and inaugurate the social macrocosm.

Physical labor was perceived as a condition of mental well-being and health.

They believed that manual labor was uplifting, and thus, every member, even the writers and poets, spent at least a few hours a day in physical effort.

The Shakers The name Shakers comes from

“Shaking Quakers” was originally applied as a mocking description of their rituals of trembling, shouting, dancing, shaking, singing

The Shakers established several communities in the US

The first in 1776 at Nikayuna near Albany, NY

The governing principals of the Shaker life included celibacy and agrarian communal living

The Shakers

Shaker Hymn

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'Tis the gift to be free,'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,And when we find ourselves in the place just right,'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gainedTo bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,To turn, turn will be our delight,'Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Shaker Simplicity & Utility

The Utopian Communities

Clash!IndividualFreedom

Demands ofCommunity Life

spontaneity

self-fulfillment

discipline

organizationalhierarchy

The Temperance Movement

The Temperance Movement- the campaign to rid the US of “demon rum”

Drunken lives wasted- lives of families impacted- Reformers theorized that all could be changed if alcohol was made illegal

ME-passed law- reformers had an impact in educating public of dangers

The Temperance Movement

Frances WillardThe Beecher Family

1826 - American Temperance Society

Fought against “Demon Rum”!

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Annual Consumption of Alcohol

The Drunkard’s Progress

From the first glass to the grave, 1846

Temperance in song and print

By the late 1820s, By the late 1820s, temperance groups were temperance groups were holding public meetings and holding public meetings and distributing prohibition distributing prohibition pamphlets and songs.pamphlets and songs.

Opposition to temperance

II

Saloon owners, liquor distributors, and other Saloon owners, liquor distributors, and other organizations that opposed the temperance organizations that opposed the temperance movement, published their own songs movement, published their own songs suggesting that the “prudes” also enjoyed a suggesting that the “prudes” also enjoyed a drink from time to time.drink from time to time.

Abolitionist Movements

Anti-slavery groups became mush more organized and committed in the 1830’s-1840’s.

Founders of Abolitionist movements- Mennonites, Quakers, free blacks, northerners, women

Anti-Slavery Alphabet

Liberia African homeland

established in western Africa for freed African-Americans

Set up by African Colonization Society

Not popular among most blacks Only 140,000 emigrated

from US

William Lloyd Garrison Famous Boston

abolitionist and publisher of The Liberator

Slavery was a moral, notan economic issue Slavery undermined

values. Wanted

Immediate emancipation

Helped get attention started a movement of radical abolitionists

The Liberator

Premiere issue January 1, 1831

R2-5

The Tree of Slavery—Loaded

with the Sum of All Villanies!

Former slave who escaped Maryland and became famous writer and speaker

Publisher of the North Star- an abolitionist newspaper-

Became advisor to President Lincoln later in life

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)

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Became religious reformer who took on the cause of both women rights and abolition

Sojourner Truth (1787-1883)

or Isabella Baumfree

1850 --> The Narrative of Sojourner Truth R2-10

The Underground Railroad

A network of escape routes from the South to the North/Canada- secret stops along the way made for a safe route to freedom.

Harriet Tubman led more than 300 slaves to freedom and earned the name “Moses”

The Underground Railroad “Conductor” ==== leader of the

escape

“Passengers” ==== escaping slaves

“Tracks” ==== routes

“Trains” ==== farm wagons transporting the escaping slaves

“Depots” ==== safe houses to rest/sleep

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)

$40,000 bounty on her head. Served as a Union spy during the Civil

War.

“Moses”

•Tubman suffered from seizures and blackouts due to a childhood injury that a slave-owner had inflicted on her-•“Let my people go”•“I never lost a passenger”

Resistance to Abolition North- Merchants opposed due to the idea it

would harm business and cause competition for jobs Whites did not want blacks in neighborhoods…

South- believed that the south should be able to decide for itself- no federal rules on what they believed was a states rights issue

Anger and fear at the Nat Turner rebellion; Powerful Southern leaders invoked the gag

rule in Congress which made it illegal to even speak or read abolitionist literature in Congress

Even Churches Split over Slavery

American churches divided over the slavery issue

The Methodist and Baptist churches split into two sides creating 2 churches in many towns Created Southern Baptists (Pro-slavery) Created Methodist Episcopal Church (Abolitionists)

The South generally did not change in any large form by any reform movements

The Northern abolitionists had to wait to Civil War for changes to happen

The Lack of Women’s Rights

1. Unable to vote.2. Legal status of a minor.3. Single could own her own

property.4. Married no control over her

property or her children.5. Could not initiate divorce.6. Couldn’t make wills, sign a contract,

or bring suit in court without her husband’s permission.

What It Would Be Like If Ladies Had Their Own

Way!

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“Separate Spheres” Concept“Cult of

Domesticity” A woman’s “sphere” was in the home (it was arefuge from the cruel world outside).

Her role was to “civilize” her husband andfamily.

An 1830s MA minister:The power of woman is her dependence. A woman who gives up that dependence on man to become a reformer yields the power God has given her for her protection, and her character becomes unnatural!

Slow Progress for Women

Urbanization and industrialization changed the lives of women Many working class women worked outside

the home in factories Catherine Beecher- daughter of

abolitionist Lyman Beecher became an advocate for women’s rights established a school for women interested in

pursuing an education

Tactics Used for Equal Rights

The reformists used boycotts, lectures, demonstrations Women reformers became involved in

abolitionist movement because of the many parallels between the two groups

1840- The first “World Anti-slavery Convention” was held in London Women were not allowed to attend. This caused the birth of a powerful group of

women who set out to change things

Important Women Reformers

Sojourner Truth became powerful speaker for movements as well as Catherine Beecher, her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Harriet Tubman

Lucretia Mott- Quaker minister who housed runaway slaves

Elizabeth Cady Stanton- Lawyer who fought for women’s rights and abolition

Women’s Rights

1840 --> split in the abolitionist movement over women’s role in it.

London --> World Anti-Slavery Convention

Lucretia Mott Elizabeth Cady Stanton

1848 --> Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments

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The Seneca Falls Convention

In Seneca Falls NY in 1848, a group of reformers met an presented a Declaration of Sentiments based on Declaration of Independence 12 Resolutions including suffrage for women

Most Americans still believed a women’s place was in the home Congress did not take the Seneca Falls

Resolutions seriously However, it was step in the right direction

Declaration of Sentiments We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all

men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness…

Women’s Rights Take a Back Seat…For Now

After Seneca Falls, society became a bit more accepting of some rights for women Girls began to be educated Colleges accepted women

But men and women reformers put the issue of slavery on the front burner

Women’s rights had to wait until after the Civil War and late 19th century-early 20th

Immigration Immigration Issues appeared because

of the rising numbers of immigrants Most came from northern Europe

Ireland and Germany 1820’s- 129k

1830’s-540k 1840’s- 2.8 million!!!!

Irish Immigrants- In the mid 1840’s the Irish Potato Famine hit

the Emerald Isle and devastated the island’s crops and way of life It was a blight that turned potatoes black

Many Irish fled and moved to Boston and New York and became naturalized American citizens

Took labor, working class jobs- and policemen- established a place in the northeast Working class people- no real education or skills Most became Democrats… It’s that common man

theme again!

A third of the Potato Crop was

wiped out in Ireland

The Great Hunger

German Immigrants Rebellions in Europe as a result of local wars

and the Protestant Reformation scattered many Germans to England and then to the US

Many Germans settled in the East and Midwest Most were German Catholics had been

discriminated against in Protestant Europe and came looking for a new home and new life Most were hard-working Some were working class but others were middle

class Different than Irish…blended more quickly

The Fight Gets Political

Political parties were formed to fight the influx of too many immigrants

American Republican Party Tried to pass a law establishing a 21

year old age requirement for immigrants It didn’t pass

What were the

two sides of these

important issues?

The Divisions Widen

Economics Alcohol Immigration Women’s rights Slavery Religion Ethnic groups Social morals

Immigration Issues in US Many immigrants faced discrimination by “real

Americans” Religious and economic differences Do these sound familiar?

Are they taking jobs? Should we be paying to educate their children? Are they causing the “wrong party” to be elected?? Do they believe the Pope should run the country from

Rome?

2004 Election Headlines

Outreach effort and moral values theme pays off for Bush with

Hispanics -- Nov. 3, 2004 [FOX News]

Election Reinforces USA’s Religious Schism

-- Nov. 4, 2004 [USA Today]

'It's a Victory for People Like Us'Bush Emphasis on Values Drew Ohio

Evangelicals-- Nov. 5, 2004 [Washington Post]