2nd great awakening

2nd Great Awakening

• Religious Reform– Methodists - religion is of the heart not the mind,

not based on memorizing bible verses• Revivals

– Gatherings to spread religion– To be “born again”– Charles Finney – popular preacher

Religious Groups

• Unitarians - Jesus was less than divine. Against revivals. Focus on character building, not emotional conversion.

• Mormons - Founded by Joseph Smith. New revelation of Christianity, very controversial.

More Groups• African-American Church

– Christian message spoke of freedom– Political, Cultural, and Social center of community

• Transcendentalists– Emphasized living a simple life– Emerson and Thoreau– Walden

• Shakers– Utopian community, men and women were equal,

shared their belongings, did not marry/have children

Utopian Communities

• People form communities to escape problems of society.

• Brook Farm is an example.

Other Reform Movements

• Temperance Movement = Anti-Alcohol– Consumption of alcohol had increased– Men spend money on drinking instead of their

family– Burden is placed on women and children– American Temperance Society

Public - School Reform• How do public schools operate today?• Horace Mann (Mass.) - grade the schools,

state pays for schools, standardized textbooks, compelling (forced) attendance, longer school year– Very structured, fosters competition between

students. Perfect for an industrializing society.– Think about your GPA.

Prison Reform

• Dorothea Dix– Jails housed the mentally ill.– She built hospitals for those who had mental

health problems.

Penitentiary System

• What does it mean?– Penance – open up to God, repent

• Sky light – God can watch you at all times• Individual exercise yard for each cell

• Solitary confinement– No contact with other prisoners– Caused mental illness

What does the attempt to improve prisons say about America? Is there any connection with the 2nd Great Awakening?

The Life of a Slave• Two types

– Rural and Urban• Rural

– Plantations, worked all day, controlled by a slave driver

• Urban– Worked as a skilled laborer, more freedom

compared to rural slaves

Plantation Life

• Eli Whitney – Cotton Gin– Machine that cleaned

cotton.– Increased cotton

production.– Easier to pick out the

seeds

Anti-Slavery Movement

• Abolition – the call to outlaw slavery

Abolitionists

• William Lloyd Garrison– The Liberator – His own paper, wanted

immediate emancipation• David Walker

– Wanted blacks to fight for freedom• Frederick Douglass

– An escaped slave– Taught to read– Abolition leader

In the very first issue of his anti-slavery newspaper, the Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison stated, "I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. . . . I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD."

Frederick Douglass

• “I appear before the immense assembly this evening as a thief and a robber, I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master, and ran off with them.”

The Life of a Slave• Two types

– Rural and Urban• Rural

– Plantations, worked all day, controlled by a slave driver

• Urban– Worked as a skilled laborer, more freedom

compared to rural slaves

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

• Religious motives• Led 80 followers• Killed almost 60 whites on

plantations• Captured and put to

death• Does this cause fear?

Slave Owners Defend Slavery

• Virginia debates emancipation– Efforts fail

• Backlash from revolts– New harsh laws put in place on enslaved and free

blacks• Proslavery defenses

– Brings them into a Christian civilization– Myth of a “happy slave”

Role of Women

• Cult of domesticity• Housework and child care were the only

proper activities for married women• Could not vote or be on a jury• When married her property and money

would be her husband’s• Most lacked guardianship rights to their

children

Compare and contrast the lives of women today with women in the 1830s.

Reform

• Sarah and Angelina Grimké– Fought for women’s rights– Also abolitionists– Faced opposition because they were women

• Temperance movement– Helped jump start women’s rights

Reform

• Women’s Education– Education usually stopped at elementary

school– Began to open new schools for higher

education– They were mocked “they will be educating

cows next”

How would a lack of education hurt women?

Seneca Falls Convention

• 300 men and women attended• Wrote a Declaration of Sentiments• Women should be able to participate in all

public issues

Changing Industry

• Cottage industry– Manufacturers sell raw goods– People buy the goods and make a product– They sell the product back to the manufacturer– The cycle then continues– Artisans – skilled workers, assisted by a journeyman

or an apprentice

Plantation Life

• Eli Whitney – Cotton Gin– Machine that cleaned

cotton.– Increased cotton

production.– Easier to pick out the

seeds

How would the cotton gin impact slaves and northern industry?

Early Factories

• Textile plants• Bring all aspects of production under one roof• Drops cost and speeds up production• Begins in Lowell, Massachusetts

• Watch a clip from Mill Times

Lowell Mill• Female workers

– Paid less than men– Housed in

dormitories• Conditions

– Long work day– 5 am to 7:30 pm– Only a lunch break– Hot, poor

ventilation

Lowell Mill

• Strikes over conditions and pay– 15% pay cut– 800 women strike, it was unsuccessful– Local press and clergy criticize the women– Two years later they strike again– Company fired the leaders, most returned to work

Workers Seek Better Conditions

• The first labor unions• Immigration

– Immigrants work for low wages in bad conditions– Leads to workers being taken advantage of– German, Irish (potato famine)

• National Trades’ Union– Standardize wages and conditions– Met opposition from owners and bankers

Court Backs Strikers

• Commonwealth v. Hunt• Court declares the journeymen boot makers

could strike to support their interests

Assignment – Six Panel Cartoon• Draw a cartoon strip about the daily lives of

women working at Lowell Mill.• Include the following.

– Events of their day (from waking up, going to work, lunch breaks, going home, going to sleep)

– Describe their long hours.– Depict a strike – in this scene you need to have

them explain what they dislike about their jobs