A New Spirit of Change

1. A New Spirit of Change 1820 – 1860

2. Why People Migrated • Most made journey in steerage, the cheapest deck on the ship • Conditions were FILTHY • Illness and death common on journey

3. Why People Migrated • Push Factors: • Population growth • Agricultural changes • Crop failures • Industrial Revolution • Religious and political turmoil • Pull Factors: • Freedom • Economic opportunity • Abundant land

4. Where Did They Come From? • Scandinavians (Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway) left due to poverty. • Many settled in the Midwest, especially Minnesota and Wisconsin. • Many Germans settled in the Midwest as well. • Germans largest immigrant group of the 1800s and contributed most to American culture: kindergartens, the Christmas tree, gymnastics, and the hamburger, to name a few.

5. The Irish Flee Hunger • Irish Catholics were ruled by British Protestants for centuries. • Irish could not vote, hold office, own land, or go to school • British rule created extreme poverty.

6. The Irish Flee Hunger • Disease struck Ireland’s main food crop, the potato, in 1845. • Led to severe food shortage, or famine. • The Irish Potato Famine killed more than 1 million people.

7. The Irish Flee Hunger • Most Irish settled in port cities where their ships docked • By 1850, they made up one fourth of the populations of Boston, NYC, Philly, and Baltimore. • Lack of education and skills led to low paying jobs. • Many Irishmen built canals and railroads • Greatest competition for jobs were free blacks

8. Nativists and Know Nothings Many immigrants were discriminated by and harassed by nativists; native-born people who wanted to eliminate foreign influence. The Know-Nothing Party was founded by nativists who wanted to ban immigrants and Catholics from holding public office. They elected six governors but never a national office due to disagreements over slavery.

9. A Spirit of Revival Charles Finney Renewal of religious faith called the Second Great Awakening helped to awaken a spirit of reform, or change.

10. Temperance Societies • A church-led temperance movement began in America, which is a campaign to stop the consumption of alcohol

11. Fighting For Workers’ Rights • Girls in the Lowell Mills started a labor union, or a group of workers who band together to seek better working conditions. • In 1836, they went on strike, or stopping work to force owners to meet their demands • In 1835 and 1836, 140 strikes took place in the eastern United States • Panic of 1837 brought an end to the young labor movement.

12. Improving Education • Horrace Mann headed up the first state board of education in Massachusetts in 1837. • Boston opened the first public high school in 1821. • Churches and other groups began founding private colleges.

13. Improving Education Elizabeth Blackwell • Women not allowed to attend most colleges. Oberlin first to admit women and men. • Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to earn a medical degree. • College attendance for women overall was very rare until the late 1800s. • Free blacks were often barred from attending public schools. • Educating slaves in the South was illegal. • If slaves were caught with as much as a book, they were beaten. Scars from repeated beatings

14. Caring for the Needy • Boston reformer Dorthea Dix worked to establish fair treatment for the mentally ill • Thomas H. Gallaudet founded first school for deaf children in 1817 • Samuel G. Howe founded the Perkins School for the Blind in the 1830s • Reform also took place in prisons as well

15. Spreading Ideas Through Print • Cheaper newsprint and the invention of the steam-driven press lowered the price of a newspaper to a penny. • Publications aimed toward educating Americans on social reform became more widely read.

16. Creating Ideal Communities • Ann Lee founded the Shakers • Shakers vowed not to marry nor have children. • They believed in sharing goods with each other, men and women were equal, and they refused to fight for any reason