1. The Ferment of Reform and Culture
Chapter 15
The Ferment of Reform and Culture

2. Tax-Supported Schools
Educate the children of the poor.
Noah Webster’s Dictionary – helped to standardize the American Language.

3. Reasons Why Women Were Denied a Formal Education
Learning injured the female brain.
Learning undermined women’s health.
Education rendered a young woman unfit for marriage.

4. Age of Reform
Women were the most prominent group that participated in reform.
Reasons why women participated in reform:
Opportunities to escape the confines of home.
Entrance into the public arena.
A way to improve the World in-which they lived.

5. Oneida Community John Humphrey Noyes – founder
* Key to happiness – suppression of
selfishness.
* Advocated : 1. No private property
2. Sharing all material
goods
3. Belief in vengeful deity
Oneida’s financial success – manufacture of steel animal traps and silverware.

6. Scientific Achievement
America was more interested in practical matters.

7. Artistic Achievements
Least interested in architecture.
Hudson River School – excelled in the area of painting landscapes.
“Civil Disobedience” – Henry David Thoreau.
Edgar Allan Poe did not believe in human goodness and social progress.