Religion,

Intellectual Growth

and Reform in

Antebellum

America

http://www.learner.org/courses/amerhistory/units/8/video/

See first 23 minutes of video above for introduction to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t62fUZJvjOs&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s&index=15

Crash Course US History – 19th Century Reforms (Episode 15)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM1czS_VYDI&index=16&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s

Crash Course US History – Women in the 19th Century (Episode 16)

The religious revival known as “the 2nd Great

Awakening” beginning in the 1820’s 1840’s

sparks nationwide reform movements

The emotional

appeal of

new style

religious

leaders of the 2nd Great Awakening

connects

with the

“Common Man”

in the new

industrial age

Charles G. Finney and

other evangelical

Protestant ministers of 2nd

Great Awakening stress

“free will” & “good works”

in order to “perfect”

mankind on earth instead

of just hoping for

salvation that was

“predestined”.

They preach that people

are “moral free agents”

with “free will” to do

“good works” and spark a

“benevolent empire” of

new social reform

movements that aims at

“perfectionism” on earth.

Women play a greater roll

in these efforts to reform

& perfect their families

and society as a whole.

The New Religious Philosophy

of the 2nd Great Awakening

Outdoor evangelical “Camp Meetings” are

a popular new strategy aimed at the

“common man” who lived in rural areas

New Protestant

Denominations Grow

During the 2nd Great

Awakening

Ex: Unitarian,

Episcopalian &

Presbyterian Churches in

the North

Methodist & Baptist

Churches in the South

A famous example of the evangelical fervor of the

era was the so-called “Burned Over District”

Western NY (along the Erie Canal) that was

figuratively ablaze with revivalism

Each dot represents a

“camp” style revival meeting

during the 1830’s & 1840’s

What were some major Antebellum

Intellectual and Literary Developments?

Example: Lyceums

Example: Ralph Waldo Emerson & Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism was (and is) difficult to

categorize, as it could be viewed as a:

Spiritual movement

Philosophical movement &

Literary movement

Emerson himself provided a fairly open definition in

his 1842 essay “The Transcendentalist”:

The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection

of spiritual doctrine. He believes in miracle, in the

perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx

of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in

ecstasy. He wishes that the spiritual principle should

be suffered to demonstrate itself to the end, in all

possible applications to the state of man, without the

admission of anything unspiritual; that is, anything

positive, dogmatic, personal. Thus, the spiritual

measure of inspiration is the depth of the thought,

and never, who said it? And so he resists all

attempts to mimic other rules and measures on the

spirit than its own.

Example:

Henry David

Thoreau &

Walden -

A reaction to

industrialization

Another Definition of Transcendentalism: A 19th-century idealistic, philosophical and social

movement stressing that divinity pervades all nature.

Transcendentalists believed key to happiness was for

people to follow their own individual, intuitive beliefs

above scientific and empirical evidence.

In this way, individuals can “transcend” authority and

tradition to find their own truth by examining nature and

the human spirit

Example: Walt Whitman – Non Conformist,

transcendentalist inspired poet

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more

than the metaphysics of books.

Be curious, not judgmental.

Do I contradict myself? Very

well, then I contradict myself, I

am large, I contain multitudes.

Freedom means to walk independently

and know no superior.

I say to mankind, be not curious about

God. For I, who am curious about

each, am not curious about God - I

hear and behold God in every object,

yet understand God not in the least.

Other major antebellum American literary figures

including Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville

were split on support of transcendentalism

Antebellum Religious Evangelism &

Intellectualism Spawns New Social Activism

Example: the “Benevolent Empire”

Ex: Temperance Movement

Institutional Reform (Schools, Prisons & Hospitals)

Ex: Dorothea Dix and Insane Asylums

Women reformers realize that to change

society in a great way, they need to

vote…leading to the Suffrage MovementExample: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B.

Anthony at Seneca Falls Convention - 1848

However, the anti-slavery movement

(Abolitionism) becomes the most

widespread reform effort of the

antebellum periodAbolitionists were very diverse in motivations & goals

Examples:

American Colonization Society (Conservative)

Gradualists (Moderate)

Immediate Abolition & Social Equality for Africa-Americans (Radicals)

All oppose slavery, but solutions differed greatly

Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison

Most well known “Radical” Abolitionists:

Abolitionist

Strategies

Include:

Appeal To

Public

Opinion

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Political Pressure

Help slaves escapeExaple : Underground Railroad

Map 12.3 The Underground Railroad in the 1850s (p. 356)

Violent Uprising Example: Turner’s Rebellion - 1831

Stronger Abolition Movement

Triggers Even Stronger Defense of SlaveryHistorical, Economic, Religious, Social & Racial arguments

from those who saw the “peculiar institution” not as a

“necessary evil”, but a “positive good”

Example:

John C. Calhoun

of South Carolina

becomes the

major

antebellum voice

in Congress for

slavery

& states rights

Religious Revivalism and a backlash

against industrialization spark the

creation of many unique American

utopian communities that separate from

society instead of trying to reform it.

Examples•Mormons

• Shakers

• Oneida

• Brook Farm

Map 12.2 The Mormon Trek, 1830-1848 (p. 350)

Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and Mormon Exodus to Utah

Short Lived Transcendentalist

Brook Farm Community in Mass.

“Simplistic”

Religious

Utopian

Community

The Shakers

John Humphry Noyes and the Oneida

“Free Love” Community in upstate NY

Chapter 11 HW: Antebellum Social & Intellectual Reformers Lyceum ActivityStarting on Friday this week we will simulate a lyceum in class. This activity will mimic the “teach-in” style

events popular in many parts of the United States during the later antebellum period. Before TV or the internet,

lyceums were a way for average citizens to learn about new ideas by listening to traveling lecturers who gave

talks and answered questions on various subjects. The format for the lyceum activity in our class will be

similar to that of a modern talk show. You will come up with questions and answers in the voice of a

significant intellectual or reformers from the antebellum period. You need to blend information from both

primary & secondary sources in your lyceum questions & answers.

Homework Assignment - DUE Friday 10/23

Read the primary source document posted on RHS website you are assigned, Chapter 11 and relevant

websites.

Write thought provoking questions for your reformer on their: Background (Context), Motivation (Point

of View), Goals (Purpose) and Actions (Audience). Your questions should help listeners understand the

reformers beliefs and impacts on American society during the 19th Century and beyond.

Write answers to the questions you create (a thoughtful paragraph each) in the first person. Include some

direct quotes from the primary source reading as well as appropriate outside information in your answers.

Historical Figure Reform or Intellectual Movement Primary SourceReading

Henry David Thoreau Transcendentalism Walden

Shakers Utopian Religious Community War & Peace – A Shaker Viewpoint

Frederick Douglass Abolitionism The Meaning of July 4th for the Negro

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Women’s Rights Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions

Dorothea Dix Institutional Reform Report to the Massachusetts Legislature

Dorthea Dix

Background (Context)

Motivation (Point of View)

Goals (Purpose)

Actions (Audience)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Background (Context)

Motivation (Point of View)

Goals (Purpose)

Actions (Audience)

Henry David Thoreau

Background (Context)

Motivation (Point of View)

Goals (Purpose)

Actions (Audience)

Frederick Douglass

Background (Context)

Motivation (Point of View)

Goals (Purpose)

Actions (Audience)

Shaker Community MemberBackground (Context) Motivation (Point of View)

Goals (Purpose) Actions (Audience)