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Chapter 9. Religion and Reform. Section 1. Middle-Class Reform. Transcendentalism. It taught that the process of spiritual discovery and insight would lead a person to truths more profound that he or she could reach through reason.
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Chapter 9 Religion and Reform
Section 1 Middle-Class Reform
Transcendentalism • It taught that the process of spiritual discovery and insight would lead a person to truths more profound that he or she could reach through reason. • It urged people to be self-reliant and to have the courage to act on their own beliefs. • Two famous followers of this teaching was Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
The Temperance Movement • It was an organized campaign to eliminate alcohol consumption. • They taught abstinence from alcohol. • Women reformers in particular saw drinking as a threat to family life. • This movement had a dramatic impact on the amount of alcohol consumed between the 1830s and the 1860s.
Section 2 The Antislavery Movement
The Abolitionist Movement • This is the movement to end slavery. • It was started by a group of free African Americans and whites in the 1830s. • The movement steadily increased the tensions between the North and the South.
The Beginnings • From 1777 to 1807, every state north of Maryland passed laws abolishing slavery. • The importing of slaves ended in 1808. • By the end of the 1820s, nearly 50 African American antislavery groups had formed throughout the nation.
Colonization • Some abolitionists favored sending free African Americans and freed slaves back to Africa. • The nation of Liberia was created for this purpose. • Most African Americans viewed themselves as American and did not want to return to Africa. • Colonization was thereby doomed to failure.
Frederick Douglas • He was born a slave in Maryland. • At the age of 21, he escaped to Massachusetts. • He then began his career as one of the greatest abolitionists in the history of the U.S. • After the Civil War, he became a proponent of women’s rights and civil rights for the freed slaves.
Divisions Among Abolitionists • Divisions over women’s participation. • Many people of this time felt that women should not be involved in political gatherings. • Divisions over race. • For African Americans the movement had a personal dimension and urgency that many white people could never understand. • Some black reformers felt that white abolitionists regarded them as inferior. • Divisions over tactics. • Some felt that legislation should be used to end slavery. • Other felt that a more aggressive action should be taken.
The Underground Railroad • A network of escape routes that provided protection and transportation for slaves fleeing north to freedom. • Estimates vary on the number of slaves rescued, from about 40,000 to 100,000. • A majority of the conductors were African American.
Resistance to Abolitionism • The movement as a whole did not receive widespread support. • It created intense opposition in both the North and the South. • Most white Americans viewed abolitionism as a radical idea.
Opposition in the North • White workers and labor leaders feared competition from escaped slaves willing to work for lower wages. • They also viewed blacks as socially inferior to whites.
Opposition in the South • In 1836, southerners in Congress succeeded in passing the gag rule. • It prohibited antislavery petitions from being read or acted upon in the House.
Section 3 The Movement for Women’s Rights
Cultural and Legal Limits on Women • Most people believed that women should remain in the home. • The law denied women the right to vote. • As women began to work outside of the home, they generally could not keep the money they earned.
Fighting for Reform • Women played a prominent role in nearly every avenue of reform, from temperance to abolition.
Fighting for Abolition • The battle to end slavery was the primary means by which women entered into the public world of politics. • Many women saw parallels between the plight of enslaved African Americans and the status of women. • Women writers had an enormous influence on public opinion about slavery.
The Seneca Falls Convention • It was the first women’s rights convention in U.S. history. • It called for suffrage. • The convention lead to considerable public criticism.
