1. Antebellum American Culture

2. Causes of reform in Antebellum America: 1830-1860
The Second Great Awakening
Jacksonian Democracy
American Culture- Art, Literature, Transcendentalism

3. The Hudson River School
American Art was unique for its portrayal of the frontier and wilderness
Famous painters of the Hudson River School include Thomas Cole and Frederic Church

4. James Fennimore Cooper
The 1st Great American Novelist
Wrote stories of adventure involving Native Americans and the wilderness
Last of the Mohicans, The Deerslayer (Natty Bumppo stories)
Themes: the need for order in control on the frontier and in the wilderness, celebration of American spirit and adventure

5. Walt Whitman 1st Great Poet in American History
Wrote about liberation of the individual and celebrating democracy
Most famous work- Leaves of Grass

6. The Debbie downers- Herman Melville and Edgar Allen Poe
Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick in a story about courage, vengeance, and obsession
Edgar Allen Poe wrote The Raven (1845) and other macabre works that stressed intellect and exploring deeper emotions

7. Transcendentalism A philosophy and major theme of literature
Stressed instincts and emotions
Being in touch with Nature
Transcending the limits of understanding
America’s 1st Hippies?

8. Famous Transcendentalists
Ralph Waldo Emerson- popular write and lecturer, wrote Self Reliance and Nature.
Explained the importance of nature to finding faith and the meaning of life
Henry David Thoreau- Walden (spent 2 years alone) and Civil Disobedience
Preached non violent resistance to unjust laws

9. Utopias Brook Farm- founded (1841) by George Ripley In Massachusetts
All members shared equally in the work and leisure
Fire and self motivation destroys the community
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a bitter resident- Blithedale Romance
New Harmony- founded (1825) by Robert Owen
“village of cooperation” also failed

10. Oneida community
Utopian experiment founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 (upstate New York)
Complex Marriage and an attempt to reach perfection
Read the article Now!

11. Shakers Protestant denomination founded by Mother Ann Lee in 1770’s
Got name from ecstatic religious ritual dance to shake away sin
Redefined gender roles- women had power in the church
Believed in complete celibacy and had to grow by conversion

12. The Mormons Founded by Joseph Smith- Book of Mormon published in 1830
Joseph Smith took his followers to Illinois where he was murdered
Brigham Young took over and brought Mormons to Utah