The Ferment of Reform and Culture

1790-1860“We (Americans) will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will

speak with our own minds”Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American

Scholar,” 1837

*The Second Great Awakening1850- ¾ of 23 million Americans attended church regularlyAlexis de Tocqueville noted that there was “ no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America.”

What led to the Second Great Awakening?• Calvinist doctrine- “original sin” & “predestination” had been waning since the

Revolution.• Founding Fathers like Franklin & Jefferson had embraced Deism (relied on

reason rather than revelation, on science rather than the Bible).• Deists: rejected concept of original sin, denied Christ’s divinity, believed in a

Supreme Being who created the universe, believed that God gave humans capacity for moral behavior.

The Unitarians• Deists inspired- spinoff of Puritanism• began in New England at end of eighteenth century• God existed in one person– not three• humans were essentially good, had free will, could obtain salvation through

good works• Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Unitarian

The Second Great Awakening Begins• reaction against the liberalism that had infiltrated religion began @ 1800• Effects of the Awakening: converted souls, reorganized or shattered churches,

numerous new sects, evangelicalism that exhibited itself in several areas: temperance, prison reform, abolition, and the women’s movement.

Characteristics & Adherents of the Awakening • spread through camp meetings in which itinerant preachers preached to

hundreds or thousands = boosted church membership = increased humanitarianism

• Baptists & Methodists reaped the most abundant harvest of souls (personal conversion, democratic control of church affairs, emotionlaism).

Revivalist Preachers1. Peter Cartwright (1785-1872): best known Methodist “circuit rider”;

preached for 50 years in Tenn. To Illinois.2. Charles Grandison Finney: greatest of all revivalist preachers; led

revivals in NY City & Rochester in 1830 & 1831.• Utilized the “anxious bench”• encouraged women to pray aloud in public= greater role in church• Believed that in Christian Kingdom on earth: denounced slavery & alcohol• became president of Oberlin College in Ohio (which opened its doors to

women & Blacks as well as white males).

Features of the Second Great Awakening1. Led to the feminization of religion (middle class women most likely to stay

committed after preachers left town)2. Evangelicals preached about: female worth & role in bringing husbands &

children back to God3. women played a key role in Reform movements of the 1820’s-1860’s

The ranges of tents, the fires, reflecting light…; the candles and lamps illuminating the encampment; hundreds moving to and fro…;the preaching, praying, singing, and shouting,… like the sound of many waters, was enough to swallow up all the powers of contemplation.

Charles G. Finney

(1792 – 1895)

Charles G. Finney

(1792 – 1895)

“soul-shaking”

conversionR1-2

The “Burned Over District” & a New Sect• Western NY = “Burned over District” because so many revivalist

preachers had sermonized there.• 1830’s- the “Millerites” or Adventists formed in the region;

William Miller interpreted Bible –Christ would return to earth on Oct. 22, 1844.

Denominational Diversity • the Awakening widened lines between classes & religions=

Eastern religions which were conservative & prosperous were less affected by revivalism• Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, & Unitarians

continued to rise based on wealthier, better educated classes• Methodists, Baptists and other sects had swelling membership

from less prosperous, less learned in South & West.• 1844-1845- Methodists & Baptists split with Northern brothers

over slavery

“The Benevolent Empire”:1825 - 1846

“The Benevolent Empire”:1825 - 1846

The “Burned-Over” Districtin Upstate New York

The “Burned-Over” Districtin Upstate New York

Second Great AwakeningRevival Meeting

Second Great AwakeningRevival Meeting

The Mormons- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints• rose from the “Burned Over District”- western NY• 1830 Joseph Smith founded the faith; based on the Book of

Mormon• faced opposition in Ohio, Missouri, & Illinois• 1844- Joseph Smith & his brother were killed by a mob in Illinois• 1846-1847- Brigham Young led Mormons to Utah (Mormon

Trail)• 1848- 5,000 settlers had arrived; made oasis of Utah based on

cooperation • 1850 Brigham Young named territorial governor by US

Government • 1857- US Army marched against Mormons in Utah• Congress passed a series of anti-polygamy laws 1862 & 1882• 1896- Utah made a state

The Mormons(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day

Saints)

The Mormons(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day

Saints)

Joseph Smith (1805-1844)

1823 Golden Tablets

1830 Book of Mormon

1844 Murdered in Carthage, IL

Violence Against MormonsViolence Against Mormons

The Mormons(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day

Saints)

The Mormons(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day

Saints)

Deseret community.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Brigham Young(1801-1877)

The Mormon “Trek”The Mormon “Trek”

1. The Second GreatAwakening

1. The Second GreatAwakening

“Spiritual Reform From Within”

[Religious Revivalism]

Social Reforms & Redefining the Ideal of Equality

Temperance

Asylum &Penal

Reform

Education

Women’s Rights

Abolitionism

In France, I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America, I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country… Religion was the foremost of the political institutions of the United States. -- Alexis de Tocqueville, 1832

The Rise of Popular ReligionThe Rise of Popular Religion

R1-1

Education ReformTax- supported public schools were scarce in early US history• had the “odor of pauperism” = existed chiefly to educate the children of the

poorWHAT CHANGED?? 1. Well to do citizens changed attitude= taxation for education was essential for

stability & democracy2. universal manhood suffrage= voters demanded free education• 1825-1850- tax-supported public schools cropped up in the North = little red

schoolhouse was centerpiece • early schools: stayed open only a few months per year, school teachers were

mostly men who were ill trained & poorly paid (more “licken” than “larnin”), focused mainly on the three R’s.

Education Innovators

1. Horace Mann (1796- 1859): Sec of Mass Board of Education; called for better teacher pay, longer school year, more & better school houses, mandatory attendance.= most states initiated his reforms.

2. Noah Webster (1758-1843): Yale graduate; “Schoolmaster of the Republic”-developed reading lessons used by millions designed to promote patriotism.

3. William McGuffey (1800- 1873): developed a grade school reader (McGuffey Reader) ; sold 122 million copies which taught morality, patriotism, idealism.

Higher Education Second Great Awakening led to the creation of many small, denominational, liberal arts colleges in the South & West-mainly.• offered a narrow curriculum which taught: Latin, Greek, mathematics, & moral

philosophy= little intellectual vitality= boredom. • first state supported universities sprang up in the South 1.University of North Carolina (1795): oldest state (PUBLIC) supported university 2.University of Virginia (1819): land grant college- designed by Thomas Jefferson.

Women & Higher Education • Early part of nineteenth century seen as a waste; too much education was

considered dangerous for women (Susan B. Anthony).

1.Emma Willard (1787-1870): established the Troy (NY) Female Seminary; secondary schools for girls sprang up in the 1820’s.

2. Mary Lyon: Mount Holyoke Seminary in Mass

Other Educational Opportunities• Public libraries or private subscription libraries • Lyceum lecture associations- by 1835 numbered about 3,000; traveling

lecturers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson• Magazines: North American Review (1851) read by intellectuals ; Godey’s

Lady’s Book (1830-1898) read mainly by women.

Reform & Reformers• inspired by Second Great Awakening- encouraged countless souls to do

battle against earthly evils.• Puritan ideals of a “perfected” society• Middle- class Women were the impetus of reform

The Prison Reform and Mental Insanity1.Debtor’s Prisons- hundreds of poor imprisoned; after universal

manhood suffrage= states abolished debtor’s prisons.• States softened penal codes= number of capital offenses reduced• Idea of prison as a means of reform became common= “houses of

correction” or “penitentiaries”

2. Mentally Insane: those with insanity treated with cruelty (chained in jails or poor houses).• Dorothea Dixx (1802- 1887): NE teacher-author; traveled 60,000 miles

in 8 years; assembled reports on treatment of mentally insane= her reports caused wide spread reform in treatment of mentally ill.

William Ladd: pushed ideas of peace; 1828 American Peace Society created= forerunner of 20th century peace organizations.

The Temperance Movement Reformers called for laws & reduction in alcoholic consumption—AMERICANS DRANK TOO HEAVILY • heavy drinking affected productivity & corrupted the sanctity of the home American Temperance Society (1826) formed in Boston; about 1000 similar groups sprang up. • members asked to sign temperance pledge; organized children’s clubs “Cold

Water Army”• Two methods to reduce drinking: strengthen individual’s will & remove

drinking by legislation. Neal S. Dow: “ Father of Prohibition”; mayor of Portland, Maine.• introduced 1851 Maine law prohibited the sale & manufacture of alcohol.• about a dozen laws passed in various Northern states by 1857--- many were

repealed within ten years.

Women’s Rights Movement women identified with black slaves: could not vote, legally beaten by a lord (husband), could not own property once married.many women avoided marriage (10% were unmarried at start of Civil War)• market economy was separating men & women into distinct economic roles• the home was the centerpiece of woman’s sphere= “cult of domesticity”• Female reformers gained strength at mid-century

Leading women reformers: • Lucretia Mott (Quaker) • Elizabeth Cady Stanton (mother of seven)• Susan B. Anthony (Quaker) militant lecturer for women's rights (‘Suzy B’s”)Other feminists • Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell- 1st graduate of medical college • Margaret Fuller- edited a transcendentalist journal The Dial; took part in revolt in

Italy & died upon her return to the US 1851.

** 1848 Seneca Falls Convention• led by Lucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton• issued the Declaration of Sentiments- “ all men and women are created equal…” • Demanded the right to vote• Beginning of the modern women’s rights movement

Utopian Societies• more than 40 communities of a cooperative nature or

“communistic” nature were established1. New Harmony: set up by Robert Owen, a wealthy Scottish textile

manufacturer in Indiana.• 1000 people; little harmony existed2. Brook Farm: (Mass) community set on 200 acres in 1841

established by 20 transcendentalists.• Prospered until 1846- fire destroyed a large building= debt

=collapse3. Oneida Community: (NY) 1848; practiced “free love” (complex

marriage), birth control, eugenic selection of parents to produce superior offspring.

• lasted 30 years- due to artisans who made steel traps & Oneida Community silver plates.

4. The Shakers (1770’s): led by Mother Ann Lee; set up about 20 religious communities= membership of 6,000 by 1840.

• Longest –lived sects- but customs prevented marriage & sexual relations= extinct by 1940.

Shaker MeetingShaker Meeting

Shaker HymnShaker Hymn

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'Tis the gift to be free,'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,And when we find ourselves in the place just right,'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gainedTo bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,To turn, turn will be our delight,'Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Shaker Simplicity & Utility

Shaker Simplicity & Utility

Science, Art, and Literature • Americans best known for borrowing & adapting European

findings

• Nathaniel Bowditch (1733-1838) mathematician; wrote about practical navigation.

• Mathew Maury (1806-1873)- oceanographer• Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864)- chemistry & geology (Yale)• Louis Agazzi (1807-1873)- Harvard; biology• John Audubon - ornithology • medicines- bleeding, “patent medicines”• illnesses: smallpox, yellow fever, illnesses due to improper diet,

bad teeth, poor sanitation• life expectancy: 1850= 40 years old for white- less for blacks• Dentistry- blacksmiths• EARLY 1840’S- use of laughing gas & ether common for the 1st

time

Art & Literature1. Architecture- Americans still built shelter hastily; imitated

European designs.• Public Buildings= Greek & Roman designs• 1820- 1850- Greek Revival popular• Mid-century= Gothic (pointed arches-large windows)

2. Art: American artists still went to Europe for training & patrons.

• Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)- (RI) painted GW ; idealized & dehumanized GW.

• Charles Wilson Peale (1741-1827) (Maryland) 60 portraits of GW (GW sat for about 14)

• John Trumbull (1756-1843) fought in Am. Rev; painted scenes from the war.

Hudson River School: emerged after the War of 1812; nationalistic.• Focused on landscapes– not merely human forms

Photography- daguerreotype- crude photography invented 1839

by Frenchman.

Thomas Cole- Hudson River School of art

Edgar Allen Poe“daguerreotype”

Music & LiteratureAmericans sought to shake off the Puritan admonition not to sing non-religious songs.• “darky tunes” were popularized by whites by mid-century;

minstrel shows which featured whites in “blackface”• Stephen C. Foster (1826-1864) Penn; wrote famous “black” songs Literature: “Who reads an American book”? 1820’s British criticBefore 1820- Federalist Papers, Common Sense, Franklin’s AutobiographyAfter the War of 1812- nationalist spirit= boosted genuine American literature.

The Knickerbocker Group (NY) • Washington Irving (1783-1859)NY;1st general writer; used English

& American styles• did much to explain America to Europe & Europe to America • James Fennimore Cooper (1789-1851) first American novelist;

tales set in America with American characters.

• William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878): • wrote one of the first high quality poems (“Thanatopsis”)• became editor for New York Post.

The Transcendentalists Golden age of literature during the 1830’s.• centered in NE (Boston)• influenced by German Romantic philosophers & religions of Asia• major idea: truth transcends the senses-it cannot be observed

alone= individualism (self reliance, self culture)• every person has an “inner light” that illuminates truth to put

him/her in touch with God= dignity of the individual.1. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): “Self Reliance” essay; speech

at HARVARD “The American Scholar”• Outspoken critic of slavery; supporter of the Union2. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): “Walden”; “On Civil

Disobedience”– influenced Gandhi & MLK.

3. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Brooklyn; “Leaves of Grass”; unconventional poet- did away with titles, stanzas, rhymes.

Other Poets-Writers• Longfellow (popular American poet), John Greenleaf Whittier (anti-

slavery crusader), Lowell , Oliver Wendell Holmes, • Louisa May Alcott- Little Women, Emily Dickenson (nature, death,

immortality)• Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) Southern writer; eccentric genius.• Alcoholic ; wrote the ‘Raven” fascinated by the morbid or ghastly. • Nathaniel Hawthorn (1804-1864) (Mass) obsessed with ideas of good

v. evil= “Scarlet Letter”• Herman Melville (1819-1891) (NY) : “Moby Dick”- allegory good v.

evilHistoriansA distinguished group of historians emerged• George Bancroft (1800-1891)- “Father of American History”; founded

Naval Academy- published super patriotic history of US in 6 volumes • early American historians: almost exclusively from NE = had an

antislavery- anti-southern bent for generations.