THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION America: Past and Present Chapter 12

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

The 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 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 Radical Most reform aims to improve society Some radical reformers seek destruction of old society, creation of perfect social order

Divisions in the Benevolent Empire 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: Theodore 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: Public 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: Obstacles 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 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 Rights 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: Utopian Communities Utopian socialism Inspired by Robert Owen, Charles Fourier New Harmony, Indiana—Owenite Fourierite phalanxes Religious utopianism Shakers Oneida Community

Utopian Communities Before the Civil War

Radical Ideas & Experiments: Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson Margaret Fuller George Ripley founded cooperative community at Brook Farm Henry David Thoreau

Counterpoint on Reform Reform encounters perceptive critics Nathaniel Hawthorne allegorically refuted perfectionist movements Reform prompts necessary changes in American life