The Ferment of Reform & Culture Chapter 15 The Ferment of Reform & Culture

Second Great Awakening Wave of spiritual fervor “camp meetings”- thousands gathered to listen to a preacher Boosted church membership Stimulated humanitarian reforms Missionary work

Second Great Awakening Peter Cartwright Traveling preacher Called upon sinners to repent Charles Grandison Finney

Second Great Awakening Feminization of religion Middle class women- religious enthusiasts Majority of new church members Female spiritual worth

Denominational Diversity Second Great Awakening widened the lines b/w religions Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Unitarians: wealthier classes of society (untouched by SGA, east) Methodists, Baptists: spawned by religious fervor, came from less prosperous classes in S & W

Desert “Zion” in Utah Book of Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints New religion- Joseph Smith Opposition (polygamy) Brigham Young leads Mormons to Utah

Transcendentalism Golden age in American literature Rejected John Locke’s theory that knowledge comes to the mind from the senses Truth “transcends” the senses: it cannot be found through observation alone Self-reliance & self-discipline

Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Poet & philosopher Stressed self-reliance & self-confidence Outspoken critic of slavery Henry David Thoreau Poet, mystic, non-conformist Truth through study & meditation

Education Reform Tax-supported public education came about. educate their children because the children were the future. Not very many schools in the U.S. because of their high costs to communities. Horace Mann- campaigned effectively for a better schooling system.

Higher Goals for Higher Learning Noah Webster- “Schoolmaster of the Republic” Dictionary published in 1828 SGA led to small, denominational, liberal arts colleges in the South & West Tradition-bound curriculum First state-supported universities Higher education for women rose

An Age of Reform states gradually abolished debtors' prisons Idea that prisons should reform as well as punish arose Dorothy Dix- released a report on insanity and asylums; improved conditions for the mentally ill.

Temperance The problem of drinking was found in women, clergymen, and members of Congress. American Temperance Society Problem of drinking tore down the family structure. Neal S. Dow- "Father of Prohibition"; supported banning the manufacture and sale of liquor

Women in Revolt role of women was to stay at home and be subordinate to her husband. Women could not vote and when married, she could not retain her property. Women actually started to avoid marriage. Feminists met at Seneca Falls, New York in a Woman's Rights Convention in 1848; wrote The Declaration of Sentiments (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)

Scientific Achievement Americans were more interested in practical gadgets than in pure science. by modern standards. In the early 1840s, several American doctors and dentists successfully used laughing gas and ether as anesthetics.

New Literature The Blossoming of a National Literature Most of the reading material in America was imported or taken from British sources. Washington Irving- the first American to win international recognition as a literary figure. James Fenimore Cooper- the first American novelist to gain world fame.

New Literature Edgar Allan Poe- wrote with a pessimistic tone, not like the literature at the time. Herman Melville- writer of the novel Moby Dick. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow- one of the most famous poets to come from America wrote for the refined class; was adopted by the less-cultured class.