Chapter 12

1. Chapter 12 The Pursuit of Perfection

2. Phrenology • “Science” could be bent for profit and sheer nonsense could become big business. • Phrenology was the idea the brain was divided into different sections. The brain could be measured to see which worked best, and exercise could improve them. Restrained if they become to large. • It helped with the idea that the idea could be improved, but it also led to the dangerous in that it said a person could be labeled by these areas as well.

3. The Rise of Evangelism • The Second Great Awakening: Camp meetings provided emotional religion for the frontier. Rural people had tedious and lonely lifestyles. Religion grew through social gatherings. • The Second Great Awakening in the North: New England( Timothy Dwight, Lyman Beecher) the doctrine of “free agency”. New York ( Charles Finney) ignore theology and go with free will. Led to more organized churches. • Revivalism to Reform: Appealed to the middle class. Revivals led to a different way of thinking on issues in a changing world. Brought about “ the benevolent empire” which led to movements like the temperance movement which was headed by women to stop the use of alcohol.

4. Domesticity and Changes in the American Family. • Marriage for love: Women of this time period began to marry for love as opposed to forced marriages. Women took less off of their husbands and demanded more equality, and expressed love. • The Cult of Domesticity: “ The Cult of True Womanhood” led to more upper and middle class women to focus on the home. It became their sanctuary from the outside world, got them out of mindless outdoor chores, and became a place of happiness. Met other wives, started crusades, and became better mothers. • The Discovery of Childhood: The child was placed at the center of the family. Treated as valued objects instead of broken to be controlled. Child was taught self-discipline.

5. Institutional Reform • The Extension of Education: Public education expands, especially in the North. Middle-class reformers saw it as a chance to instill the ideas of hard work and responsibility. It wasn’t just for the rich anymore, and Horace Mann pushed it through on the idea that educated children would cost tax payers less. Especially immigrants and the poor. • Discovering the Asylum: Reformers hoped that harsh measures would lead to rehabilitation for those who lacked self discipline. Prisons became harsh and forced inmates to conform. However, in New York, public support was low and prisons and asylums became warehouses for the unwanted. Dorothea Dix worked tirelessly to help those who could not help themselves in these institutions.

6. Reform Turns Radical • Radical perfectionists get tired of waiting for moderate reformers to pull the trigger on things. This leads to societies that wanted to change the way things were and start fresh. • The Abolitionist Enterprise: Wanted to due away with slavery, either gradually or immediately. Theodore Dwight Weld held revivals to try and convert small town farmers to agree with the idea of no slavery. Found trouble with the working class because they feared losing jobs. In fighting would weaken the movement. William Lloyd Garrison forms the American Anti-Slavery Movement in 1833, wants immediate emancipation. White southerners try to weaken the movement, but only fuel its success. Slavery is now on the table. • Black Abolitionists: African Americans in this movement had to fight for the leadership positions. William Douglass and Sojourner Truth become known and the Negro Convention gave them the independent organization. Newspapers, the “ underground railroad”. • Women’s Rights: Women fighting for equality for blacks realize their own inequalities. Leads to reform in women’s rights with the form of the Seneca Falls Convention led by Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott. • Radical Ideas and Experiments: The attempt to create the perfect individual and the perfect society. Utopian communities spring up and are short lived that believed that intense religious experience through dance for example could lead to a better life. Transcendentalism leads to new and weird ideas.