Chapter 15: The Ferment of Reform and Culture
(1790-1860)
I. Reviving Religion
a.
Church
attendance were regular in 1850(3/4 pop)
b.
Many
relied on Deism (reason rather revelation); rejected original sin, denied Christ’s
divinity but believed in supreme being that created universe
c.
Puritans
of the past now-Unitarian faith New Eng.)
-god existed in only 1 person not
in orthodox trinity; stressed goodness of human nature
-belief n free will &
salvation through good work; pictured God as loving father
-appealed to intellectuals w/
rationalism & optimism
d.
liberalism
in religion started in 1800
-tidal wave of spiritual fervor
that result prison, church reform, temperance cause, women’s movement, abolish
slavery
-spread to mass through huge “camp
meetings”
-E went to W to Christianize
Indians
-Methodists
& Baptist stressed personal conversion, demo in church affairs,
emotionalism
-Peter
Cartwright-best known of “circuit riders”
-Charles
Grandison Finney were greatest of revival preachers
-led
massive revivals in Rochester & New York
II. Denominational
Diversity
a.
revival
furthered fragmentation of religious faith
-New York w/ Puritans preaching
“hellfire” known as “Burned-out District”
-Millerites
(Adventists)-Christ
return to earth on Oct 22,1844 (didn’t come)
b.
widen
lines bet. classes & region (like 1st)
-conservatives,
propertied-Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Congregationalists, Unitarians
-less learned of S &
E-Methodists, Baptists
c.
Religious
further split w/ issue on slavery (Methodist, Presbyterians split)
III. A Desert Zion
in Utah
a.
Joseph
Smith(1830) came up (NY) w. Mormon & Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints
-antagonism toward Mormons for
polygamy, drilling militia, voting as a unit
-Smith died but succeeded by
Brigham Young who led followers to Utah
-grew
quickly by 1850s by birth & immigration from Euro
-federal gov. marched to Utah when
Young became governor. But no bloodshed
-polygamy
prevented Utah entrance to US till 1896
IV. Free School for
a Free People
a.
Tax-supported
primary school was opposed because, relate to pauperism & used by poor
b.
Gradually
support becauseause. “brats” might grow up to be rabbles w. voting rights
c.
Free
pub education, triumphed in 1825 w/ vote power in Jackson elect
-ill taught & ill trained
teachers
-Horace
Mann fought for better school
-too
expensive for many community; blacks exempt from education.
d.
imp
people-Noah Webster dictionary); (Ohioan William H. McGuffey-Mcguffey’s
readers)
V. Higher Goals for
Higher Learning
a.
2nd
great awakening led to building of small schools in S & W (mainly for
pride)
-mainly on Latin, Greek, Math,
moral philosophy (boredom)
b.
1st
state supported university. in N. Carolina by Jefferson (dedication freedom from
religion., politics)
c.
women
thought to be bad if too educated
d.
Emma
Willard-established Tory Female Seminary (1821) &(Mount Holyoke Seminary (1837)
e.
Libraries,
public lectures, magazines flourished
VI. An Age of Reform
a.
reformers vs. tobacco, alcohol, profanity, transit of
mail on Sabbath, women’s rights, polygamy, medicines
b.
optimistic for a perfect society (women imp. in
reforms)
-naïve & ignored problems of
factory
-fought for no imprison for debt
(poor lock in jail for less than $1)-gradually abolished
-criminal codes soften &
reformatories added
-mentally insane treated badly (ex.
Dorothea Dix fought-classic petition of 1843)
-agitation for peace (American
Peace Society-1828)-William Ladd (had some impact till civil & Crimean war)
VII. Demon Rum-The
“Old Deluder”
a.
drunkenness
were widely spread
b.
American
Temperance Society formed at Boston (1826)-“Cold Water Army”(children), sign
pledges, pamphlets (anti-alcohol tract-10
nights in a Barroom and What I Saw There-Arthur)
c.
Vs.
Demon Drink adopt 2 major line attack
-stressed temperance (individual
will to resist)
-legislature-removed
temptation-Neal S Dow “Father of Prohibition”
-sponsored
Maine Law of 1851-prohibited make, sale liquor (follow by others)
VIII. Women in
Revolt
a.
women
stayed home, w/o voting rights, (19th century)-better than Euro
b.
many
women avoided marriage all together
c.
gender
diff sharply w/ raising eco role
-women weak physically. & emotionally
but fined for teaching
-men strong but crude if not
guided by women
d.
home
center of women (even in reformer Catharine Beecher) but many felt not enough
e.
joined
abolishing of slavery, touched by reform
f.
women’s
movement led by Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony (Suzy Bs), Elizabeth Candy
Stanton, Elizabeth Blackwell (1st female medical graduate), Margaret
Fuller, Grimke sisters (anti-slavery), Amelia bloomer (semi-short skirts)
g.
Women’s
Rights Convention (1848)-Seneca Falls-NY
-Declaration of Sentiments-spirit
of Declaration of Independence- “all Men & Women are created equal”
-demanded ballot for women
-launched modern women’s rights
movement
h.
temperately
eclipsed by slavery but conditions improved
IX. Wilderness
Utopias
a.
Robert
Owen founded New Harmony (1825)à
confusion
b.
Brook
Farm-Massa(1841)-20 intellectuals committed to Transcendentalism (lasted till
46)
c.
Oneida
Community-practiced free love, birth control, eugenic selection of parents to
produce superior offspring
d.
Shakers-communistic
community (led by Mother Ann Lee)-1770 (can’t marry so extinct)
X. The Dawn of
Scientific Achievement
a.
early
American interested in practical science than pure
-Jefferson & the plow
-Nathaniel Bowditch-practical
navigation & oceanographer
-Matthew Maury-ocean winds,
currents
b.
writers
concerned basic science
c.
most
influential US scientists
-Benjamin
Silliman(1779-1864)-pioneer in chemist, geologist (taught in Yale)
-Louis Agassiz(1807-1873)-served
at Harvard, insist on original research
-Asa Gray
(1810-1888)Harvard-Columbus of botany
-John Audubon(1785-1851)painted
birds
d.
medicine
in US primitive, bleeding used for cure; smallpox, yellow fever kill many
e.
life
expectancy low
f.
self-prescribed
patent medicine common (often harmful)
g.
surgery
tied people down
XI. Artistic
Achievement
a.
Us
imitated Euro on styles
b.
1820-50
was Greek revival (independence from turk)à
later gothic forms
c.
Thomas
Jefferson most ablest architect of generation (Montecello & Uni of Virginia)
d.
Artists
view because. no leisure time; suffered from Puritan prejudice of art as sinful
waste
e.
Gilbert
Stuart (1755-1828)-painted Washington & competed w/ Eng artists
Wilson Peale(1741-1827)painted 60
portraits of Washington
John Trumbull(1756-1843)-captured
rev. war in paint
f.
During
nationalism upsurge after war of 1812-US painters portrayed human landscapes
& romanticism
g.
Music
shaking off because. puritans frowned on non-relig singing
-“darky” tunes popular-Stephen
Foster-“Old Folk at Home”(most famous)
XII. The Blossoming
of a National Literature
a.
reading
plagiarized from Eng
b.
poured
literature to practical outlet (ex. Federalist,
Common Sense(Paine),Ben
Franklin’s autobiography)
c.
literature
revived after war of independencee & esp after war of 1812
d.
Knickerbocker
group in NY
-Washington
Irving(1783-1859)-1st US int’l recog- The Sketch Book)
-James
Fenimore Cooper(1789-1851)-1st US novelist-leatherstocking tales (pop in Euro)
-William
Cullen Bryant(1794-1878)-Thanatopsis(1st
highly quality poems in US)
XIII. Trumpeters of
Transcendentalism
a.
literature
dawn in 2nd quarter of 19th century w/ transcendentalist
movement (1830)
-vs. Locke (knowledge from
reason); truth not by observation alone but w/ inner light
-individualism, black or white
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)-popular because. ideal reflected US
-lectured Phi
Beta Kappa Address “The American Scholar”
-urged US writers
throw off Euro tradition
-most influential
as practical philosopher (stressed self-gov, reliance, etc.)
-Henry
David Thoreau(1817-1862)-condemned slavery : Walden: Or life in the Woods
-On the Duty of Civil Disobedience-further
idealistic thought
-Walt
Whitman(1819-1892)-Leaves of Grass
(poems)
“Poet Laureate of Demo”
XIV. Glowing
Literary Lights (not associated w/ transcendentalism)
a.
Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow(1807-1882)-wrote poems popular in Euro “Evangeline”
b.
John
Greenleaf Whittier(1807-1892)-poem cried vs. injustice, intolerance, inhumanity
(social influence
c.
James
Russell Lowell (1819-1891)-political satirist-Biglow Papers
d.
Oliver
Wendell Holmes(1809-1894)-The last Leaf
e.
Women
writers
-Louisa May
Alcott(1832-1888)-massa(w/ transcendentalism)-Little Women
-Emily Dickinson-theme of nature
in poems
f.
Southern
literary figure-William Gillmore Simms (1806-1870)-“the cooper of the
south”(many books-life in frontier, south in rev war)
XV. Literary
Individualists and Dissenters
a.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)-“The Raven”
-invented
modern detective novel
-fascinated
by ghosts-reflect morbid sensibility (more prized by Euro)
b.
reflection
Calvinist obsession on original sin & struggle bet. good & evil
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804-1864)-The Scarlet Letter (psychological effect on sin)
-Herman Melville (1819-1891)-Moby
Dick-bet. good & evil told in whale captain
XVI. Portrayers of
the Past (historians)
a.
George
Bancroft(1800-1891)-found naval academy-published US history book
“Father of American History”
b.
William H. Prescott-pub conquest of Mexico,
Peru
c.
Francis
Parkman-pub struggle bet. France & Eng in colonial of N. America
d.
Historians
All from New Eng because. had most books (anti-south bias; antipathy w. slavery)
