Revivalism

1. Revivalism 1800-1860

2. Second Great Awakening • At the start of the 18th century many people wanted to improve the character of the American people • Most Americans still attended Church, but it was not the Puritan religion • Many leading figures – Jefferson – were Deists • Helped create Unitarianism – God existed in only one person, not the Trinity • They stressed the goodness of human nature and saw God as loving and kind

3. Unitarians tended to be intellectuals like Ralph Waldo Emerson, who were rational and optimistic • Slowly a new emphasis on religion started to develop • It was a “tidal wave of spiritual fervor” • It destroyed old churches and created new sects • It also influenced prison reform, temperance, woman’s movement and the abolition of slavery • At “camp meeting” thousands would meet to hear evangelical speakers • Most new believers became Baptists or Methodists

4. Preachers like Peter Cartwright and Charles Goodison Finney appealed to thousands who wanted to be saved – especially appealing to women • Methodists and Baptists tended to come from the less wealthier segments of society • In 1844 the Methodists and Baptists both split from their northern churches over the issue of slavery • In 1857 the Presbyterians also split over the issue

5. Mormons • In 1830 Joseph Smith claimed he had been given golden plates by an angel • The plates became the Book of Mormon and launched the Church of Latter-Day Saints • Smith was forced to move, first from Ohio then from Missouri, by other religious sects • Accusations of polygamy led to continued hostility • In 1844 Smith and his brother were murdered in Illinois – the movement seemed in danger

6. Brigham Young took over and in 1846-7 he led his people to Utah to avoid persecution • The barren land of Utah was soon made to flourish by the Mormons and the community grew • It was a frontier theocracy • But problems occurred when Washington tried to control Young who had made himself governor • Issues of polygamy prevented the territory from becoming a state until 1896

7. Education • Most wealthy Americans opposed free education • But fear of an uneducated mob with the power to vote forced many to consider public education • The image of the school house became a common feature in many small towns • Students in mixed grades usually learned the “three Rs” • It was prohibited to teach blacks in the South

8. Horace Mann campaigned for better schools, more pay for teachers, and more time in school • Noah Webster the “Schoolmaster of the republic” created lessons that promoted patriotism • The Second Great Awakening led to the opening of many small liberal arts colleges especially in the South and West • In 1795 the state-run University of North Carolina opened • In 1819 the University of Virginia was founded by Thomas Jefferson • Women’s education was frowned upon

9. Reforms • The Second Great Awakening caused people to seek the creation of a morally-correct society • Some of the most significant reforms were in the field of prison reform – especially for debt • By the 1830s hundreds of people were in prison for owing less than one dollar • With the power of the ballot the poor people were able to remove the threat of debtors’ prison • The Enlightenment led to a softening of harsh punishments

10. The insane were locked up as animals • Dorothy Dix wrote a report on insanity and asylums which revealed the true extent of the cruelty • Because of her work the conditions did improve • In 1828 the American Peace Society was formed • The other big problem in America was alcoholism • 1826 American Temperance Society formed in Boston • They stressed temperance as opposed to “teetotalism” • Neal S. Dow became known as the “Father of Prohibition” sponsored the Maine Law in 1851, prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol

11. Cult of Domesticity • The 19th century was man’s world • Like slaves – women were subordinate, could be legally beaten, and could not vote • (Treated better than in Europe) • Women were expected to create a cult of domesticity for the home • Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton became prominent in the women’s rights movement • The most conspicuous advocate was Susan B. Anthony

12. Feminists met at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 at the Women’s Rights Convention • Stanton read the “Declaration of Sentiments” – that all men and women are created equal • The Seneca Falls Convention was the start of the modern women’s rights movement – even though the call for the ballot was jeered • Before the Civil War the movement closely tied itself to the antislavery campaign. Women say the treatment of slaves and women as being parallel • After the war there was a great sense of disappointment over the lack of success for women

13. Literature • Before 1820 much of the literature was British and few people actually had the time to read • After the War of 1812 and the development of a national spirit, literature became important • The Knickerbocker Group of New York encouraged American authors to write about American themes • Washington Irving was the first American author to gain international recognition. He wrote Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

14. James Fenimore Cooper, was the first American novelist – his greatest achievement was the Leatherstocking Tales which included The Last of the Mohicans • One of the effects of the flowering of literature was the transcendental movement • They rejected the traditional philosophies that knowledge comes from the senses and stressed that truth transcends the senses, not just through observations • The theories of the transcendentalists were vague but they all agreed upon the necessity for self-discipline, self-reliance, and value of the individual – which conflicted with authorities

15. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the most famous transcendentalist • Henry David Thoreau criticized the government for slavery and refused to pay his taxes • In 1854 he wrote Walden: Or Life in the Woods but more influential was his essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience which later encouraged Gandhi and King • The most famous poet was Walt Whitman who wrote Leaves of Grass and earned him the title “Poet Laureate of Democracy”