Antebellum Reform Movements and Charles P Mc Ilvaine
Antebellum Reform Movements and Charles P. Mc. Ilvaine American Religious History, Topic 6
Living History
� The largely Christian-motivated reform movements of antebellum (pre-Civil War) America sought to bring order and stability to a nation in transition. From Jefferson’s transitional election in 1800 to just after the Civil War (186165), America more than sextupled in population and quadrupled in area (thanks to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the annexation of Texas in 1845, the Mexican Cession in 1846, the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, and the procurements of Florida in 1819, Oregon Country in 1846, and Alaska in 1867), eastern cities ballooned, immigration surged, westward migrations brought streams of settlers across the Great Plains, steamboats and railroads shrank the continent, industrial and market revolutions prepared the United States for future global industrial supremacy, and lawmakers struggled with a variety of issues related to states’ rights, Indian removal, African American slavery, and women’s rights. Background: A Nation in Transition
Seeing History U. S. Government, National Atlas of the United States, Map of American Territorial Acquisitions (c. 2005) (in the public domain at wikimedia. org)
�By the 1830 s, many Christian reformers had organized societies to address the problems associated with such far-reaching changes, and, in many cases, women provided the lion’s share of laborers and leaders who worked for reform. The reform movements were as broad as the societal changes that necessitated them, and reformers tackled issues as diverse as temperance, public education, care for the handicapped and poor, rehabilitation of criminals and the mentally ill, germ theory and public health, prostitution and divorce, reservations and schools for Indians, female suffrage, and, most famously, the abolition of slavery. Background: Reform Movements
�The temperance movement provides one case study of the power of reform-minded Christians to effect change. Fueled by the Protestant revivalism of the Second Great Awakening, reformers who believed that every individual could become worthy of salvation worked tirelessly to help people help themselves. Individual perfectibility meant that societal perfectibility was possible, and noted preachers such as Charles Grandison Finney and Charles P. Mc. Ilvaine called for a crusade against personal immorality, starting with drunkenness. Background: Temperance
Seeing History Nathaniel Currier, Lithograph "The Drunkard's Progress" (c. 1846) (in public domain at wikimedia. org)
�What principles or lessons stand out to you from the history covered by the preceding slides? �What one word would you choose to describe the history covered by the preceding slides? Please explain. �What is the biggest question that you have about the history covered by the preceding slides? Reason from the Background
�“The moral foundation of our doctrine can be a beacon light to the world and can be a unifying force for both morality and faith in Jesus Christ. We need to protect our families and be at the forefront together with all people of goodwill in doing everything we can to preserve light, hope, and morality in our communities” (Elder Quentin L. Cook, Nov. Ensign 2010). Relate the Words of Modern Prophets
� By the 1830 s, alcoholism was so viral that the average male consumed three times as much alcohol as the average person today. Intemperance directly contributed to a staggering amount of crime, disorder, abuse, unemployment, and poverty. Evangelical Protestants led the crusade against drunkenness with the creation, in 1826, of the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance. Similar organizations, such as the Washington Temperance Society, would follow. By 1840, more than a million people had signed a pledge to abstain from hard liquor, and, by the 1850 s, states such as Maine had begun to restrict the sale and use of alcohol. Following the Civil War, the movement experienced a major resurgence, as Christian groups, such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU; led by Frances Willard), worked for national prohibition (the complete, legalized cessation of the sale and manufacture of alcoholic drinks) and an amendment to the US Constitution. Background: Temperance Societies
�By 1911, the WCTU had become the single largest women’s organization in America of its day, and its Christian messages about the far-reaching evils of alcohol led to nineteen states passing prohibition laws by 1916. In 1917, progressive lawmakers passed prohibition in Congress, and, by 1919, every state except Connecticut and Rhode Island (which had large Catholic and immigrant populations opposed to prohibition) ratified the Eighteenth Amendment, which made prohibition part of the Constitution, starting in January 1920. It would be repealed in 1933. Background: Prohibition
Seeing History Matthew Brady, Library of Congress Photograph of Episcopalian Bishop Charles P. Mc. Ilvaine (c. 1855 -65) (in public domain on wikimedia. org)
�The creation of the public education system provides a second illustration of the influence of Christian reformers on antebellum America. By 1830, the Second Great Awakening and the “Age of the Common Man” had created a widespread belief in the potential of each individual. Wellmeaning Christians, especially in the North, wanted to provide an equal opportunity for a basic education to all children in order to engineer a literate, knowledgeable, civicminded, and moral populace that could contribute to the stability of the growing nation. Background: Public Education
� In the 1830 s, ’ 40 s, and ’ 50 s, reformers such as Horace Mann in Massachusetts worked to create this system of universal public education, which was to be tuition-free and tax-supported, claiming that an educated electorate was essential to maintaining liberty. Reformers wanted the schools to teach responsible character, civic participation and virtue, and a nonsectarian Protestant morality based on foundational Bible passages. They would never have imagined that the Christian religion would not be taught in the public system, but, due to the wide variance of doctrinal differences among American Christians (who were overwhelmingly Protestant at the time), they hoped to respect the consciences of individual families by teaching only the Christian principles and beliefs on which the majority of Protestants agreed. Background: Public Education’s Aims
�What principles or lessons stand out to you from the history covered by the preceding slides? �What one word would you choose to describe the history covered by the preceding slides? Please explain. �What is the biggest question that you have about the history covered by the preceding slides? Reason from the Background
� “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this same attitude of looking after the interests of others governed Latter-day Saints who are making a profit from the sale or promotion of alcoholic beverages? Consider the terrible effects of alcohol. Alcohol-related accidents are the leading cause of death of those under twenty-five. The physical, social, and financial effects of alcohol ruin marriages and family life. By dulling inhibitions, alcohol leads to untold numbers of crimes and moral transgressions. Alcohol is the number one addictive drug in our day. The consumption of alcohol is increasing among youth. Targeting young audiences, advertisers portray beer and wine as joyful, socially desirable, and harmless. Producers are promoting new types of alcoholic beverages as competitors in the huge softdrink market. Grocery and convenience stores and gas stations stock alcoholic beverages side by side with soda pop. Can Christians who are involved in this commerce be indifferent to the physical and moral effects of the alcohol from which they are making their profits” (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Nov. Ensign 1986)? Relate the Words of Modern Prophets
�In fact, Bible reading in public schools would remain a fixture of state education well into the twentieth century. With the aim of ensuring that minimum levels of competency and quality would be met, state -established standards for curricula, textbooks, facilities, time in school, salaries, and teaching methods—and teachers’ colleges to train instructors and administrators in the new standards—all became part of the state-education landscape of the mid-nineteenth century. By the start of the Civil War, 94 percent of the North and 83 percent of the white South could read—some of the highest rates of any nation in the world—and the reformers claimed success. Background: Standards
�On the other hand, as the system grew, it came under attack from Americans who questioned the overall effects of a “factory approach” to educating individuals, the legitimacy of the standards and the motives of those who selected them, the growing of government—and taking of taxes—to provide the mandated services, and, especially after Catholics in urban areas began challenging the fairness of a Protestant slant in the curricula, the legal sustainability of a one-size-fits-all approach to religious and moral instruction in light of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Background: Opposition
Seeing History Southworth and Hawes, Daguerreotype of Horace Mann (c. 1850) (in public domain at wikimedia. org)
Seeing History A. H. Folsom, Boston Public Library Photograph of Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (1893) (in public domain at wikimedia. org)
Seeing History Daderot, Photograph of Boston Manufacturing Company Mill Complex (Francis Cabot Lowell Mill) in Waltham, MA, Next to the Charles River (2009) (deeded by the author to the public domain at wikimedia. org)
�What principles or lessons stand out to you from the history covered by the preceding slides? �What one word would you choose to describe the history covered by the preceding slides? Please explain. �What is the biggest question that you have about the history covered by the preceding slides? Reason from the Background
�“[Horace Mann] was the speaker at the dedication of a [school for boys]. … In his talk he said, ‘This school has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars; but if this school is able to save one boy, it is worth all that it cost. ’ One of his friends came up to [Mr. Mann] at the close of the meeting and said, ‘You let your enthusiasm get away with you, didn’t you? You … said that if this school, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, were to save just one boy, it was worth all that it cost? You surely don’t mean that. ’ Horace Mann looked at him and said, ‘Yes, my friend. It would be worth it if that one boy were my son; it would be worth it’” (President Harold B. Lee, Jun. Ensign 1971). Relate the Words of Modern Prophets
�According to Mc. Ilvaine, what were the negative effects of intemperance in America? Reason from the Source
�How was Mc. Ilvaine’s Christianity tied up in his desires for reform? Reason from the Source
�What strategies of the antebellum reformers did Mc. Ilvaine mention? Reason from the Source
�How does the document relate to FACE Principle #2: The Christian Principle of Self. Government: “God ruling internally from the heart of the individual. In order to have true liberty man must be governed internally by the Spirit of God rather than by external forces. Government is first individual then extends to the home, church and community”? Relate the FACE Seven Principles
�How does the document relate to 2 Peter 2: 19? ◦ “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. ” Relate the Anchor Scriptures
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