Chapter 12

1. Chapter 12 An Age of Reform 1820-1860

2. Wednesday, May 14, 2014 • No Homework • Do Now: Open your textbooks to page 412-413. Review the map and timeline, what changes are happening in the US from 1820-1860?

3. Improving Society • The Reforming Spirit • Jacksonian Democracy • Expansion of democracy encouraged reform • Most states dropped the property requirement for voting • Political parties developed a more open way of nominating presidential candidates • Reformers wanted more • All men should be able to vote • Increased rights for women • Many were against slavery • No society that allowed one human to own another could be democratic

4. Improving Society • The Second Great Awakening • Religious ideas also sparked reform • New generation of ministers challenged traditional views • Predestination was challenged • Idea that God decided the fate of a person’s soul even before birth • 2nd Great Awakening leaders said that a person’s actions determined their salvation • Charles Finney – most important of the 2nd Awakening preachers • Held many revivals in 1826 • Huge outdoor religious meeting • Basic result of the 2nd Great Awakening was that people came to believe that they had the power to improve themselves and their society

5. Improving Society • Utopian Communities • Robert Owen • Founded a utopian community • Utopian refers to an ideal – perfect society • New Harmony • Community owned property • Everyone had jobs to do – all contributed for the good of the community • Food, wealth, land – all were shared equally • New Harmony was anything but harmonious • Community members constantly argued about goals and actions • The colony dissolved after about 2 years • Most utopian communities did not last long • Their downfall is because of one main problem People are GREEDY!

6. Improving Society • Social Reformers at Work • Temperance Movement • Organized effort to end alcohol abuse and the problems created by it • Whiskey was the drink of choice • Cheaper than beer or milk • Safer than water • Frequently the water supply was contaminated • Many women were drawn to the movement • They and children suffered abuse from fathers and husbands who drank too much • Most Reformers favored Temperance (moderation) in drinking • Others chose to push for prohibition • A total ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol • 9 states passed laws banning the use/sale • The movement was interrupted by the civil war but re-emerged later

7. Improving Society • Prison Reform • Prison system was very harsh • Poorly heated buildings, inadequate food, cramped conditions • They were designed so that people did not want to be there • Not all prisoners were criminals • Debtors were sent to prison • To pay a debt back – you had to work • You cannot work in prison • Many debtors spent years in jail • Dorothea Dix • Schoolteacher from Massachusetts who took up the cause of prison reform • Over time she convinced state legislatures to build new, sanitary and humane prisons • Also, debtors were no longer sent to jail

8. Improving Society • Reforms for the Mentally Ill • Also led by Dorothea Dix • She saw what happened to the mentally ill and was shocked • The Mentally Ill were kept in prisons • They received punishment rather than treatment and care • As if it was their fault for their illness • Their conditions were often worse than prisoners • Kept in cages • Never let outside • Chained together • Dix lobbied state legislatures to build separate facilities • Asylums • Institutions where mentally ill people could receive care and treatment rather than punishment

9. Improving Society • Education Reform • Need for better education • In the early 1800s many children received no education • Wealthy families hired private tutors • Poor children received no education outside the home • As a result, many Americans could not read or write • Reformers argued that education was important • Must make sure that voters were intelligently informed • Immigration was also on the rise • Better schools would help immigrants become part of American culture

10. Improving Society • Horace Mann • Took the lead for education reform • Said public financing of education was essential for democracy to work • Became head of the state board of education in Massachusetts • Convinced the legislature to improve schools • Created colleges to train teachers • Raised the salaries of teachers • Lengthened the school year • Other states soon followed this example • By the 1850s public schools were common in the NE • The west and south lagged behind • But eventually they developed their own

11. Improving Society • Education for African Americans • Public education did little for African Americans • Slave codes prohibited slaves from being taught to read and write • In the north, free black children were seldom permitted to enter the same schools as whites • Some reformers tried to improve • Prudence Crandall • Quaker teacher who opened a school for African American girls in Connecticut. • Hostile neighbors attacked and destroyed the school • Some opportunities did open up • African American teachers opened their own private schools • Harvard and Oberlin universities allowed African Americans to attend • In 1854 Ashmun Institute opened in Pennsylvania • First college for African American Men

12. Wednesday, October 9, 2013 • No Homework  • Do Now: have out homework from last night (reforms)

13. The Fight Against Slavery • Roots of the Anti-Slavery Movement • Slavery Ends in the North • 1780 – Pennsylvania became the first state to pass a law eliminating slavery gradually • In 1803 Ohio entered the union as a free state • By 1804 – every northern state pledged to end slavery • The Colonization Movement • Anti-slavery organization established in 1817 • They had a novel idea… • Free slaves, and transport them to a colony established in Africa • Liberia

14. Thursday, October 10, 2013 • Homework: page 426 1-3 • Do Now: Take out notes from yesterday and be ready to continue

15. The Fight Against Slavery • Growing Opposition to Slavery • Inspired by the 2nd Great Awakening • Abolitionists • Reformers who wanted to abolish, or end, slavery • They rejected a gradual end – wanted it stopped ASAP • William Lloyd Garrison • Quaker abolitionists • Did not want violence used • Was more radical than others – wanted full political rights for all African Americans • Began a newspaper in 1831 – The Liberator • Co-founded the Anti-Slavery Society • Members included Theodore Weld • Sarah and Angelina Grimke

16. The Fight Against Slavery • African American Abolitionists • 1829 – David Walker – Appeal: To the Coloured Citizens of the World • pamphlet that encouraged enslaved people to rebel, if necessary, to regain their freedom • Frederick Douglas • Most influential of African American Abolitionists • Had been born into slavery • Broke the law by learning how to read and write • Escaped to freedom in the North • Risked being sent back to slavery by speaking out in public • Began his own newspaper for Abolition The North Star

17. The Fight Against Slavery • A Former President Takes a Stand • John Quincy Adams • Now a member of congress • Read anti-slavery petitions from the floor of the house • Proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban slavery in any new states • Amendment was not passed • Argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court for the freedom of the captive African Americans aboard the Amistad

18. The Fight Against Slavery • The Underground Railroad • A Network of People • Black and white, northerner and southerner • All helped slaves reach freedom • Working for the ‘railroad’ was illegal • ‘conductors’ led slaves from one ‘station’ to another • Supporters helped by donating food, money, and clothing • Levi Coffin – an Indiana Quaker – assisted more than 3,000 slaves • Harriet Tubman • Escaped from slavery and helped 300 others to freedom • Nicknamed the ‘Black Moses’ • Southern slave owners offered $40,000 for her capture

19. The Fight Against Slavery • Opposing Abolition • Profits • Many northerners profited from the existence of slavery • Textile mills and merchants counted on the cotton produced in the south • Northern workers feared freed slaves would take their jobs • These fears prompted violence • William Lloyd Garrison was dragged through the streets with a rope around his neck in Boston • Georgia offered a $50,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of Garrison for libel • Gag Rule • Won in congress by southerners – it blocked discussion of anti-slavery petitions • J.Q. Adams fought the rule, but lost

21. A Call for Women’s Rights • The Struggle Begins • In 1820 – Women’s rights were limited • They could not: • Serve on juries • Vote • Attend college • Become doctors or lawyers • Married women couldn’t own property • Some women stood up against this • Sojourner Truth • Born into slavery – she was illiterate • Her words inspired crowds that heard her • She became a powerful voice for freedom and equality

22. Monday, October 14, 2013 • Christopher Columbus, Villain or Hero? Essay due Friday (typed, double spaced!) • Do Now: What happened when Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton tried to attend the anti-slavery convention?

23. A Call for Women’s Rights • Lucretia Mott • Anti-Slavery Quaker • Because Quakers allowed women to take public roles, she had experience in organization and public speaking most other women did not • Went to London to attend an international anti-slavery convention • Elizabeth Cady Stanton • Another abolitionist • Was in London with her husband – a delegate to the Anti-Slavery Convention • The Two Meet • Mott and Stanton tried to attend the convention • They were told “No Women Allowed” • This infuriated them

24. A Call for Women’s Rights • Declaration of Sentiments • Mott and Stanton agreed on the need for a convention to advance women’s rights • Summer of 1848 – Seneca Falls, NY • Met to discuss the social, civil, and religious rights of women • More than 300 men and women attended • Stanton wrote a declaration of sentiments modeled on the declaration of independence • “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal” • The declaration then listed the injustices society placed upon women

25. A Call for Women’s Rights • Call for Suffrage • Begun by Stanton with her argument for rights • Suffrage is the right to vote • Some women were divided on the issue • Lucretia Mott argued that the issue was so controversial that trying to gain the right would hurt their other causes • New Opportunities for Women • The Seneca Falls Convention launched the women’s rights movement • An organized effort to improve the political, legal, and economic status of women in American Society

26. A Call for Women’s Rights • Political Victories • Susan B. Anthony • Became a close ally of Stanton • Fought for women’s suffrage • Anthony was unmarried • Unlike Stanton she could travel across the country • Stanton wrote speeches from her home while taking care of her growing family • Together they founded the Women’s Suffrage Association • Susan was arrested in 1872 for voting in the Presidential Election

27. A Call for Women’s Rights • Education for Women • More opportunities for women • Girls were rarely taught math and science, those were reserved for boys who would grow up to be voters, citizens, and professionals • Emma Willard • Began an academy for girls in Troy, NY • Soon became the model for girls’ schools • Mary Lyon • Opened Mount Holyoke Female Seminary • First college for women • Showed that women could indeed learn subjects like geometry, chemistry, and Latin

28. A Call for Women’s Rights • New Careers • Gradually society began to accept that women could be educated and do other professions • Margaret Fuller • Began a career as a journalist, scholar, and literary critic • Elizabeth Blackwell • First woman to graduate from an American Medical College • Maria Mitchell • Astronomer, first professor hired at Vassar College

29. Tuesday, October 15, 2013 • Homework: • Columbus essay due Friday • Page 431 Key terms and people for tomorrow • Do Now: page 430 # 1,2,5

31. American Literature and Arts • An American Culture Develops • American Themes • Art and literature reflected optimism and energy • Their works were about things uniquely American • Two Early Writers • Washington Irving • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow • Rip Van Winkle • James Fenimore Cooper • The Deerslayer • The Last of the Mohicans

32. Thursday, October 17, 2013 • Homework: Essay due tomorrow! Chapter 12 test Tuesday! • DO Now: have out homework, compare with a partner

33. American Literature and Arts • Transcendentalism • Movement that looked to explore the relationship between humans and nature through emotions rather than reason • They urged people to seek goodness and truth within their own souls • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Leading transcendentalist • Asked people to question the value of material goods in his speeches and essays • Stressed individualism • The unique importance of each individual • Henry David Thoreau • Urged people to live simply • Encouraged civil disobedience • Idea that people should peacefully disobey unjust laws if their consciences demand it • This inspired civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.

34. American Literature and Arts • Flowering of American Literature • Herman Melville • Moby Dick (1851) • Tale of a captain who is obsessed with pursuing a white whale. In the end, the captain destroys himself, his ship, and his crew • Nathaniel Hawthorne • The Scarlet Letter (1850) • A young minister is destroyed by secret guilt. • Hawthorne explored the dark side of the mind. • Louisa May Alcott • Little Women (1868) • Novel based on her own experiences growing up with three sisters.

35. American Literature and Arts • Poets of Democracy • Poets helped create a new national voice • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Based poems on American History • Paul Revere’s Ride • Song of Hiawatha • Walt Whitman • Leaves of Grass • Book of poems • John Greenleaf Whittier • Frances Watkins Harper • Both wrote poems that condemned slavery

36. American Literature and Arts • Art and Music • Painting America • Some painters sought to stir emotions by reproducing the beauty of nature – others painted everyday life • Thomas Cole • Painted scenes of the Hudson River • George Caleb Bingham • Timeless picture of life on the great rivers • George Catlin • Captured the ways and dignity of Native Americans

37. American Literature and Arts • Popular Songs • Most early American songs had roots in English, Irish, or Scottish tunes • Over time a wider variety emerged • Working songs hummed by sailors or workers • Spiritual songs sung by slaves • Stephen Collins Foster • Father of American Music • “Camptown Races” • “Old Folks at Home” • “Oh! Susanna!”