Life in Antebellum America

Racial Tensions in Northern Cities Black underclass Irish immigrants Philadelphia Riots of 1834, 1844 Why the tension between immigrants and free blacks?

Free Blacks in the North Rights actually became fewer as time went on 1840: 93% couldn’t vote Little educational opportunity Prudence Crandall’s CT school burned when she admitted black children

Black Americans in 1850

Free Blacks in 1850

Middle Class Life The middle class increasingly set itself apart from the working class with an elaborate set of social norms and etiquette.

Middle Class Life in the Antebellum Era Industrialization led to the formation of a new middle class. These were people who did not labor with their hands and attained a certain amount of wealth. They developed a new culture and way of life distinct from the working class.

Manners An elaborate set of manners was created to set the new middle class apart. Numerous books and pamphlets detailing proper manners and etiquette were published. With a circulation of 150,000 by 1860, “Editress” Sarah Josepha Hale’s magazine was the most widely-read in America.

Gender Roles Gender roles were changing and becoming more defined. Men and women were believed to have different, but equally important, talents. Men: strong, decisive, intelligent, leadership Women: “innately pious, virtuous, unselfish, modest” The concept of Domesticity became influential. How was this related to the industrial revolution?

Domesticity Men and Women operate in different “spheres.” Men in public sphere Women in home sphere

Children Childhood considered a separate and unique stage in life and celebrated Education, rather than work Declining birth rate

Women’s Sphere Home, children, religion, family morality Women were considered innately pious and virtuous, so they were associated with morality. Women came to be seen as the moral guardians of society.

Men’s Sphere Outside the home: economics, politics Logical, rational, leaders, better suited for education

Expanding Education: Education for Women The numbers of literate and educated women rose dramatically throughout the 19th Century. Women’s literacy rate = Men’s literacy rate by 1850 US first country in world to accomplish this! Schools for girls/women not uncommon in Antebellum era Women made up 1/3 of college students by 1880

Pioneering Girls’/Women’s Education Emma Willard founded Troy Female Seminary, a renowned secondary school for girls in 1821. Oberlin College became the nation’s first co-ed college in 1837.