Reforming American Society What changes occurred in 1800s America?
Spiritual Awakening Inspires Reform America needs reform – esp. due to slavery 2nd Great Awakening (1790s-1840s) a. Series of Christian meetings to revive faith & address need to reform American Society b. church attendance increases (1 in 6) 2. Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson forms new religious group, truth can be discovered by observing nature & relating it to one’s own emotions & spiritual experience 3. African- American Churches a. So = use sermons as source of inspiration/hope b. No = political, social, & cultural centers
William Lloyd Garrison: radical abolitionist Abolition of Slavery William Lloyd Garrison: radical abolitionist a. 1831: published antislavery newspaper, The Liberator. Freedom by any means necessary 2. Frederick Douglass: Former slave turned abolitionist a. 1847: published antislavery newspaper, the North Star. Freedom w/o violence Another issue is what will happen to freed slaves? Return them to Africa or make them US Citizens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su-4JBEIhXY
Women and Reform Women involved in abolition & temperance movements Education & health awareness for women need to expand 3. Women’s Rights Movement begins a. Seneca Falls Convention, NY (1848, 1st Women’s rights convention b. Main leaders: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth