Chapter 10 Religious Revival and Reform 1824 1840

Chapter 10 Religious Revival and Reform 1824 -1840

The Rise of Popular Religion • Introduction – In the 1820’s and 1830’s, Americans turned to preachers who rejected Calvinist beliefs in predestination – Just as politics was becoming more democratic, so was religious doctrine – The primary message was that any individual could be saved through his or her own efforts and faith – This democratic transformation was produced in part by a series of religious revivals known as the Second Great Awakening

The Second Great Awakening • From New England, the Second Great Awakening moved rapidly to frontier areas • Thousands gathered at religious camp meetings – These frontier revivals helped to promote law and order – Diminished the violence prevalent in new western areas • The Methodists were the largest, most successful denomination on the frontier • Early 1800’s to 1840’s

Eastern Revivals • By the 1820’s, the center of religious revivals had moved east again • It was particularly strong in an area of western New York known as the Burned-Over District – Mostly along Erie Canal

Eastern Revivals (cont. ) • Charles G. Finney – Revivalist leader – Preached humans were capable of living without sin – Humans needed to experience an emotional religious conversion

Critics of Revivals: The Unitarians • In New England, the educated and wealthy were often repelled by the emotional excesses of revivalism and turned instead to Unitarianism • This denomination preached that goodness should be cultivated by a gradual process of character building • Emulate the life and teachings of Jesus • Believed humans could shape their own destiny and improve their behavior

The Rise of Mormonism • Joseph Smith – Started Mormonism in 1820’s – In the Burned-Over District • Moved to Nauvoo, IL to start a model city – Began practice of polygamy – Prosecuted by authorities and attacked by mobs (murdered Smith in 1844)

The Rise of Mormonism (cont. ) • The hostility that the Mormons encountered from others convinced Mormon leaders that they must separate themselves from American society • Brigham Young moved Mormons to the Great Salt Lake region in 1846

The Shakers • Started by Mother Ann Lee in the U. S. A. in 1774 • Founded separate religious communities • The Shakers rejected economic individualism and tried to withdraw from American society • They separated men and women • Banned marriage • Relied on converts and adoption to keep their numbers up • They pooled their land tools and labor in the process of creating remarkably prosperous villages

The Age of Reform • Introduction – The reform movements were strongest in New England in areas of the Midwest settled by New Englanders

The War on Liquor • The temperance movement began by preaching moderation in the use of liquor • American Temperance Society – Movement began to demand total abstinence and prohibition laws – Most members were middle class • 1840’s Washington Temperance Societies attracted workers though • The movement was successful in cutting per capita consumption of alcohol in half between the 1820’s and 1840’s

Public School Reform • Horace Mann • Secretary of the MA Board of Education

Public School Reform (cont. ) • Advocated many educational innovations: – State tax support of schools – Grouping pupils into classes by age and level of competence – Longer school terms – Use of standardized textbooks – Compulsory attendance laws

Public School Reform (cont. ) • Despite opposition from various groups, many northern states adopted these reforms • Backed by important constituencies: – Businesses – needed disciplined, literate workers • Workingmen’s groups – Saw education as a road to social mobility • Reform-minded women – realized school reform would open teaching careers to women – By 1900, 70% of public school teachers were female

Abolition • Opposition to slavery in the 1820’s came mostly from black Americans • 1831 – Militant white abolitionist movement began – Led by William Lloyd Garrison – The Liberator – http: //www. pbs. org/wgbh/aia /part 4/4 h 2928 t. html

Abolition (cont. ) • Most northern whites in the 1830’s and 1840’s were hostile to the abolitionists • American Anti-Slavery Society – Founded in 1833 – Suffered from internal quarrels between its Garrisonian wing and its New York and western wings – 2 main points of dispute: • Whether to support rights for women as well as black • Whether to take abolitionism into politics

Abolition (cont. ) • http: //www. ohiohistorycentral. org/entry. php ? rec=832 • http: //usa. usembassy. de/etexts/democrac/18. htm

Women’s Rights • Many of the women’s rights leaders began their reform careers in the abolitionist movement • Seneca Falls, NY • 1848 • Women’s rights convention • Elizabeth Cady Stanton • Lucretia Mott • Declaration of Sentiments

Women’s Rights (cont. ) • http: //www. nps. gov/archive/wori/declaration. htm • Launch of the feminist movement • Women gained a few rights • They did not get to vote fully until 1920

Penitentiaries and Asylums • In the 1820’s and 1830’s, religious revivalists and reformers came to believe that crime, poverty, and deviancy were caused by failures of parental guidance that could be mended by institutions providing the proper discipline and environment • Following that belief, reformers created penitentiaries and workhouses for criminals and the indigent

Penitentiaries and Asylums (cont. ) • Dorothea Dix fought for the establishment of insane asylums to treat the mentally ill • These programs were tied to the belief that deviancy could be erased by settling the deviants in the right environment

�Utopian Communities • A few reformers founded “ideal” or “utopian” communities • Demonstrate ways of life that they thought were superior to those prevailing in antebellum American • New Harmony, IN • Hopedale, MA • Brook Farm, MA • Most utopian communities were short lived

New Harmony, IN