Reforming American Society 1820-1850

Aim: How did religion spark reform in American society? Second Great Awakening: religious movement in which individual responsibility for seeking salvation and the need for personal and social improvement was emphasized Rejected the idea of predestination Promoted individualism and responsibility

Aim: How did religion spark reform in American society? Second Great Awakening:(cont.) Revivalism: emotional meetings designed to awaken religious faith through passionate preaching and prayer Ex: Charles Grandison Finney

Aim: How did religion spark reform in American society? Second Great Awakening:(cont.) Enslaved African-American embrace Christianity Baptist and Methodist churches were open to both blacks and whites Free African-Americans establish churches Richard Allen-Bethel African Church in Philadelphia

Aim: How did religion spark reform in American society? Reform of Asylums and Prisons: Dorothea Dix: Reported on the inhumane conditions in prisons and asylums Result: 1843-laws passed at improving conditions 1845-1852: Helped to set up hospitals for the mental ill Focused on rehabilitation

Aim: How did the abolitionist movement attempt to eliminate slavery? Rural Slavery: Large plantation lifestyle Endless labor Strict conditions Unskilled work Urban Slavery: Growth of cotton industry created a demand for slaves Skilled laborers

Aim: How did the abolitionist movement attempt to eliminate slavery? Nat Turner’s Rebellion: Preacher that spurred on rebellion 1831- Turner attacked four plantations with 80 men Result: Rebellion put down by federal and state troops Turner caught and put to death Strengthened southern resolve to control their slaves

Aim: How did the abolitionist movement attempt to eliminate slavery? A call to outlaw slavery William Lloyd Garrison: Editor of The Liberator Called for emancipation (free of the slaves with no payment to slaveholders) New England Anti-Slavery Society National Anti-Slavery Society

Aim: How did the abolitionist movement attempt to eliminate slavery? Abolitionist Movement: (cont.) David Walker Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World 1829 Fight for freedom rather than waiting for slave owners to end slavery

Aim: How did the abolitionist movement attempt to eliminate slavery? Abolitionist Movement: (cont.) Frederick Douglass: Hoped political action could abolish slavery The North Star

Aim: What role did women play in reforming American society in the 1800’s? Role of Women mid-1800’s: Cult of domesticity Focus on home and family Activities restricted to housework and child care No right to vote No right to sit on a jury

Aim: What role did women play in reforming American society in the 1800’s? Women and the reform movement: Sarah and Angelina Grimke-Abolitionists An Appeal to Christian Women of the South Raised money, literature, petitioned Congress Temperance Movement: An effort to prohibit the drinking of alcohol

Aim: What role did women play in reforming American society in the 1800’s? Women and the reform movement: (cont.) Education: Emma Willard- Troy Female Seminary 1821 Mary Lyon-Mount Holyoke Female Seminary 1837 Health: Elizabeth Blackwell-New York Infirmary for Women and Children

Aim: What role did women play in reforming American society in the 1800’s? Women’s Rights Movement: Seneca Falls 1848: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott Declaration of Sentiments- statement of grievances Modeled after the Declaration of Independence