The Ferment of Reform and Culture
Deism Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason Churches are “set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” Deism – belief in reason & science Ben Franklin Thomas Jefferson
Unitarianism Unitarianism – God is one being, not a trinity Free will and salvation through good works Goodness of human nature God is loving Began in New England
2 nd Great Awakening 2 nd Great Awakening – result of the alternate views of religion Led to reforms in many facets of society “camp meetings”
“Spiritual Reform From Within” [Religious Revivalism] Social Reforms & Redefining the Ideal of Equality Temperance Asylum & Penal Reform Education Women’s Rights Abolitionism The Second Great Awakening
Peter Cartwright Best known of the Methodist “circuit riders” Urged people to repent Knocked out people who tried to break up his meetings
Charles Grandison Finney Greatest revivalist preacher Trained as a lawyer Held massive revivals in Rochester and NYC Innovator of the “anxious bench” Denounced alcohol and slavery
“Burned-Over District” “Burned-Over District” – Western NY, where many descendents of New England Puritans settled “hellfire and brimstone” sermons popular
Millerites Millerites, or Adventists, rose out of the “burned-over district” Hundreds of thousands of converts Predicted Christ would return on Oct. 22, 1844 William Miller
Social Class & Faith Wealthier, better educated from the East: Propertied Episcopalians Presbyterians Congregationalists Unitarians Less educated of the South and West: Methodists Presbyterians Many of the churches split over the slavery issue
Joseph Smith Joseph Smith – found golden tablets in NY with the teachings of the Book of Mormon written on them Formed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Mormons Mormons experienced discrimination due to their Polygamy Drilling militia Voting as a group Population grew quickly Joseph Smith assasinated
Brigham Young After Smith’s death, Brigham Young led the Mormons to Salt Lake City, Utah
Free Education Free education had previously been opposed as a hand out Support increased Wanted educated voters 1828 Free public Education Teachers were poorly trained
Horace Mann Horace Mann – “Father of Public Education” Fought for better schools Longer terms Higher pay for teachers Expanded curriculum
Noah Webster Known for his dictionary of American English Blue Back Spellers Promoted patriotism
McGuffey’s Readers William H. McGuffey produced grade school readers in the 1830s Taught religious values, morals, and respect for order Taught Protestant work ethic
Secondary Education Small universities were built in the South & West 1 st state school was the University of North Carolina in 1795 Jefferson started the University of Virginia Free from religion or politics Women were not educated Emma Willard Troy Female Seminary (1821) Mount Holyoke Seminary (1837) Oberlin opened doors to women
An Age of Reform Reformers opposed a variety of issues Tobacco Alcohol Debtors prisons Wanted criminal codes relaxed & reformatories created
Dorothea Dix Dorothea Dix – teacher and author Reform of the mentally insane Petitioned Mass. Legislature in 1843
William Ladd 1828 American Peace Society formed Fought for peace internationally Civil War put an end to it all
Temperance Movement Drunkenness was common and widespread Ten Nights in a Barroom and What I Saw There American Temperance Society formed in Boston (1826) Stressed temperance Tried to enact prohibition laws Maine Law of 1851
Women’s Movement Women had no voting rights Were perceived as weak emotionally & physically Seen as pure, nurturing and loving Women’s movement came about as a way to abolish slavery
Leaders of the Women’s Movement Lucretia MottSusan B. AnthonyElizabeth Cady Stanton Margaret FullerAmelia BloomerGrimke Sisters
Seneca Falls Convention Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention (1848) Declaration of Sentiments – “all Men and Women are created equal” Demanded voting rights for women
New Harmony, IN (1825) Communal society founded by Robert Owen Former textile manufacturer About 1,000 people Failed miserably
Brook Farm ( 1841) Began in Mass., by 20 transcendentalists Founded by George Ripley On 200 acres “plain living and high thinking” Lasted until 1846 (fire)
Oneida Community (1848) Founded in NY Lasted 30 years Practiced free love (“complex marriage”), birth control, eugenic selection of parents
Shakers Led by Mother Ann Lee Began in 1770s God could be found within Emphasized simplicity & ingenuity Movement died out Customs prevented marriage & sex
Early American Scientists Interested in practical gadgets than pure science Mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch – navigation Oceanographer Matthew Maury – winds & currents
Influential U.S. Scientists Benjamin Silliman – chemistry, geologist (Yale) Louis Agassiz – original research (Harvard) Asa Gray – botany (Harvard) John Audubon – painted birds in exquisite detail
Medicine Medicine was primitive Bleeding still use Patent medicines Barbers or butcher as surgeon Smallpox & yellow fever Life expectancy ~40 yrs
Artistic Achievements U.S. imitated European art Greek & Gothic art forms popular Thomas Jefferson – as architect MonticelloUniversity of Virginia
Artistic Achievements Gilbert StuartCharles Willson Peale John Trumbull
National Literature Practical work: Federalist Papers, Common Sense, Franklin’s Autobiography, Poor Richard’s Almanac The Knickerbocker group Washington Irving James Fenimore Cooper William Cullen Bryant Thanatopsis
Transcendentalism Literature movement, ~ 1830 Believed knowledge came from reason & inner light Individualism, self-reliance & non-conformity Ralph Waldo Emerson Popular essayist, philosopher “Self Reliance” Henry David Thoreau Condemned slavery Walden: Or Life in the Woods On the Duty of Civil Disobedience Walt Whitman – “Leaves of Grass”
Glowing Literary Lights Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “The Courtship of Miles Standish” “The Ride of Paul Revere” “The Song of Hiawatha” “Evangeline” Louisa May Alcott Little Women Emily Dickinson Nature poems
Literary Individualists & Dissenters Edgar Allen Poe “The Raven” & many morbid horror stories Pit & the Pendulum Tell-tale Heart Inventor of detective novel Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter Dealt with adultery Herman Melville Moby Dick Good vs. Evil
Portrayers of the Past George Bancroft - “Father of American History” Secretary of Navy, founded Naval Academy History of U.S. to 1789 William H. Prescott Conquests of Mexico & Peru Francis Parkman Struggle between France & England for N. America Historians were from North East Anti-South bias