Chapter 15

1. Chapter 15 New Movements in America (1815-1850)

2. Chapter 15New Movements in America (1815-1850) Section 1 America’s Spiritual Awakening

3. The Second Great Awakening • Started in mid-1790s • Spread through upstate New York and frontier regions of Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and South Carolina • In 1820s and 1830s it spread to New England, the Appalachians, and the South • Charles Grandison Finney – one of the most important leaders • Challenged some traditional Protestant beliefs • Each individual responsible for own salvation; sin = avoidable • Angered some traditional ministers

4. The Second Great Awakening • Church membership grew a great deal • Many new members = women • Some African Americans became Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian ministers • African Methodist Episcopal Church (founded by Richard Allen of Philadelphia) spread across mid-Atlantic states

5. Transcendentalism and Utopian Communities • Transcendentalism – belief that people could transcend, or rise above, the material things in life, such as money and personal belongings • People should depend on themselves instead of outside authority • Ralph Waldo Emerson wanted people to follow personal beliefs and use own judgment – “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think” (in “Self-Reliance”)

6. Transcendentalism and Utopian Communities • Margaret Fuller said that women had the right to choose their own paths in life • Henry David Thoreau believed in self-reliance and did not trust institutions • Some transcendentalists experimented with utopian communities • Brook Farm, Massachusetts (1840s) • Tried to form a perfect society on Earth • Some formed as places to practice their religious beliefs • Ann Lee – community of Shakers (named because their bodies would shake during worship) • Did not believe in private ownership of property, lived very plain lifestyle

7. The American Romantics • Ideas about spirituality, the simple life, and nature also shaped painters and writers • Drew upon the idea that each individual brings a unique perspective to the world • Thomas Cole painted American landscape

8. The American Romantics • Example of romantic literature – Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter andHerman Melville– former sailor, wrote tales of the sea, ex. Moby-Dick • Edgar Allan Poe – best known for his short stories and poetry (ex. “The Raven”) • Gifted American poets – Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Walt Whitman • Longfellow – best known American poet of mid-1800s • Dickinson published only two poems during her lifetime

9. Chapter 15New Movements in America (1815-1850) Section 2 Immigrants and Cities

10. Waves of Immigrants • More than 4 million immigrants settled in U.S. between 1840 and 1860 • More than 3 million of these were Irish or German • Irish came to U.S. during potato famine – approx. 1 million died of starvation and disease • Catholic, very poor • Settled in towns and cities in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania • Those who did not live in cities worked on building canals and railroads • Irish women worked as domestic servants for wealthy families; men could usually only find unskilled work

11. Waves of Immigrants • Germans came to U.S. to escape persecution under harsh ruler and for new economic opportunity • Protestants, Catholics and Jews • Many arrived with money • More likely to become farmers and live in rural areas • Moved to Midwestern states such as Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin • Often had to take low-paying jobs despite their skill

12. The Nativist Response • American labor force changed by industrialization and waves of people from Europe • Industrial jobs in northeast drew many immigrants who filled need for cheap labor • Fueled local economies, led to the creation of new jobs for clerks, merchants, supervisors, and professional workers

13. The Nativist Response • Nativists – Americans who opposed immigration • Native-born citizens feared losing jobs to immigrants who might work for lower wages • Also felt threatened by different cultures and religions • Before Catholic immigrants arrived, most people in U.S. were Protestant • American Protestants did not always trust Catholic immigrants because of long-standing conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Europe

14. The Nativist Response • Know-Nothing Party founded by nativists in 1849 • Called this because if asked questions by outsiders, members usually answered “I know nothing” • Wanted to keep Catholics and immigrants out of public office • Wanted immigrants to live in U.S. 21 years before becoming citizens • Won several state elections during 1850s

15. The Growth of Cities • U.S. cities grew rapidly during the mid-1800s • Industrial Revolution – drew immigrants as well as migrants from rural areas • Transportation Revolution – connected cities, made it easier for people to move to them • Rise of industry and growth of cities changed American life • Business owners and skilled workers benefited the most • Middle class emerged – merchants, manufacturers, professionals, and master craftspeople

16. The Growth of Cities • People found entertainment and enriched cultural life in cities • Libraries, clubs, theaters • Cities = compact and crowded • Most walked to work • Streets paved with stones

17. Urban Problems • Public and private transportation was limited, most people lived a short distance from workplace • Poor wage workers, rising middle class, and wealthy often lived near each other • Disagreements between social classes often led to conflict, sometimes riots • Lack of safe housing and public services • Tenements – dirty, overcrowded buildings where many (especially immigrants) lived

18. Urban Problems • No clean water, public health regulations, or clean ways to get rid of garbage and human waste, diseases spread rapidly • Centers of criminal activity • No permanent police force to fight crime, used volunteer night watches • Fire protection often poor as well

19. Chapter 15New Movements in America (1815-1850) Section 3 Reforming Society

20. Introduction • Teachings of 2nd Great Awakening inspired many to improve society • Growth of cities caused problems that many wanted to correct • Growing middle class, especially women led reform movements – they had free time

21. Prison Reform • Dorothea Dix visited prisons throughout Massachusetts and reported terrible conditions • Gave speech to legislature about how mentally ill often jailed with criminals • Government of Massachusetts created special, separate facilities for mentally ill people • Influence spread around country, more than 100 state hospitals were built for mentally ill people to receive professional care

22. Prison Reform • Some reformers protested treatment of young offenders • Children arrested for begging or stealing often treated as adults • 1820s, several state and local governments founded reform schools for children who were once housed in prison • Efforts to end overcrowding and cruel conditions in prisons resulted in houses of correction – used punishment and tried to change prisoners’ behavior through education

23. Campaigning Against Alcohol Abuse • Many believed Americans were drinking liquor at an alarming rate • During 1830s, average alcohol consumption per person was seven gallons a year • Believed alcohol abuse caused social problems such as family violence, poverty and criminal behavior • Temperance movement – social reform effort urging people to stop drinking hard liquor and limit drinking of beer and wine to small amounts • American Temperance Society and American Temperance Union • Some did not believe temperance was sufficient – wanted to see ban of the sale of alcohol

24. Education in America • Poor public education • Reformers believed that education would help Americans become good workers and citizens (fueled by immigration) • Many families believed education was important but did not expect children to receive a lot of formal education • Generally wanted children to be able to read Bible, write and do simple math • Availability of education varied a great deal throughout the U.S. • New England had the most schoolhouses • South and West had fewest • School-teachers – untrained young men

25. Education in America (continued) • Textbooks most often used = McGuffey’s Readers – put together by William McGuffey an educator and Presbyterian minister • Made up mostly of British and American literature • Teach students about moral and social values as well as literature and reading • People of different backgrounds received different educations • Rich could send their children to private schools or hire private tutors • Poor children could only attend public school

26. The Common-School Movement • Common-school movement wanted all children educated in a common place, regardless of class or background • Horace Mann = leading voice for education reform • Became first Secretary of Education for Massachusetts in 1837 • Doubled the state school budget and helped teachers earn better salaries • Made the school year longer and founded first school for teacher training • His work set the standard for education reform throughout the country

27. Women’s Education • Catherine Beecher became one of the most effective reformers of women’s education in the early 1800s • Believed women were better at teaching moral lessons that made good citizens • Started an all-female academy in Hartford, Connecticut • Emma Willard founded college-level institution for women in New York • Troy Female Seminary = first school of its kind in U.S. • Studied subjects ranging from math to philosophy • Several women’s colleges opened in the 1830s • Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts founded by Mary Lyon • Oberlin College in Ohio was the first co-ed college in the U.S. (both women and men)

28. African American Schools • Free African Americans also enjoyed some benefits of education reform • Almost always went to separate schools from white students • New York African Free School – opened in NYC in 1787 • Philadelphia supported development of African American education • By 1800, 7 schools for black students • In Boston (1855) African Americans were allowed to attend white schools • African Americans rarely attended college because only a few institutions of higher education would accept them • Oberlin the first to do so in 1835; Harvard later • In the South, fewer free African Americans were able to obtain an education • Laws in South prevented most slaves from receiving education (due to southern whites’ fears of potential slave rebellions)

29. Teaching People with Disabilities • Samuel Gridley Howe worked to improve education of visually impaired Americans • Also worked for education reform, prison reform and care for mentally ill people • Perkins Institution – Massachusetts – for people with visual impairments • Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet worked to improve education of hearing impaired • Founded first free American school for people with hearing impairments in Hartford, CT

30. Chapter 15New Movements in America (1815-1850) Section 4 The Movement to End Slavery

31. Abolition • Abolition = complete end to slavery in U.S. • Emancipation – all African Americans freed from slavery • Abolitionists were a minority but very vocal • Quakers – first group to challenge slavery on religious grounds; started during colonial times • Abolitionists disagreed about what ending slavery would mean for African Americans • Treated same as white Americans • Opposed full social and political equality • Send freed African Americans to Africa to start new colonies there • Robert Finley started the American Colonization Society in 1817 • Founded Liberia on west coast of Africa • Approx. 12000 eventually settled there

32. Spreading the Abolitionist Message • Went on speaking tours, wrote newspaper articles and pamphlets • Horace Greeley (editor) – strong voice for movement in the New York Tribune • William Lloyd Garrison published The Liberator, an abolition newspaper • Outspoken, controversial • Helped found American Anti-Slavery Society – wanted immediate emancipation and racial equality for African Americans • Amer. Anti-Slavery Society split in 1840 • Two groups disagreed over role of women in the abolition movement • Angelina and Sarah Grimké – members of slaveholding family in SC, but they did not support slavery • Moved to Philadelphia and joined the abolitionist movement

33. African Americans Fight against Slavery • Frederick Douglass escaped slavery at age 20 and became one of the most important African American leaders of 1800s • Secretly learned to read and write when he was younger • Went on many speaking tours in U.S. and Europe (supported by AASS) • Published North Star – pro-abolition newspaper • Sojourner Truth – famous for dramatic speeches; former slave; later fought for women’s rights

34. The Underground Railroad • Created by free African Americans (former slaves) and a few white abolitionists • Network of people arranged transportation and hiding places for fugitives and escaped slaves • “stations” or stops along the “railroad” were homes of abolitionists (“conductors”) • Most famous conductor – Harriet Tubman • She escaped in 1849, returned 19 times; led 300 plus her family to freedom • Historians estimate 40,000 slaves used Underground Railroad to reach freedom (1810-1850)

35. Opposition to Abolition • Many white northerners did not believe in equal treatment for African Americans • Warned free slaves would move north and take jobs from white workers • U.S. House of Representatives used Gag Rule to prevent discussion of thousands of antislavery petitions received • Violated 1st Amendment, but Southern delegates did not want to discuss, Northern delegates wanted to avoid • Southerners argued slavery was a vital part of southern economy and culture

36. Chapter 15New Movements in America (1815-1850) Section 5 Women’s Rights

37. The Influence of Abolition • Female abolitionists became part of women’s rights movements of mid-1800s • Women had to defend right to speak in public • Critics believed women should not give public speeches, did not want women to leave traditional roles • Sarah Grimké argued for equal rights, equal educational opportunities

38. Women’s Rights • Reform and abolition efforts led to the rise of the women’s rights movement • Took advantage of better educational opportunities • Organized more effectively by working together in reform groups • Many activists upset because women could not vote • Married women had little or no control over their own property • Many people (men and women) did not agree with some goals • Did not need new rights • Not unequal to men, just different • Work for change at home within families, not in public • Some did not believe that women had physical or mental strength to survive without men’s protection

39. The Seneca Falls Convention • Elizabeth Cady Stanton attended World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London with her husband • Women had to sit separately from men, could not participate • William Lloyd Garrison broke rules by sitting with women – wanted equal participation for all • Seneca Falls Convention – organized by Stanton and Lucretia Mott • Began July 19, 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York • Launched women’s rights movement • Wrote Declaration of Sentiments (based on Declaration of Independence) outlining beliefs about social injustice toward women • Frederick Douglass attended • First time women organized as a group to promote rights

40. The Continuing Struggle • Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, and Stanton became the most important leaders of the women’s rights movement • Anthony brought strong organizational skills • Largely responsible for turning it into a political movement • Argued women should receive equal pay and be allowed to enter traditionally male professions • Led campaign to change laws regarding women’s property rights • New York finally gave married women ownership of their wages and property