“fires of perfection”

REFORM MOVEMENTS1820-1860

“Fires of Perfection”

Usher in the Kingdom of God

Reform emerges in response to great amount of social, economic, & political change

Market revolution & Jacksonian Democracy created

Voluntary associations to take action “moral suasion” – educate – public

opinion – Missionary ImpulsePerfection of individual Perfection of societyBoth tied to salvation

Essential Questions:

How does Finney change the religious beliefs and practices?

Which reform movements sought social control and to reinforce the existing social and value structure?

Which reform movements sought to challenge the existing structures?

How do they reveal the paradox of the individual with in the community? How are they a response to economic and social changes of the period?

What is the impact of each movement – degree of success????

The ParadoxRadical

Seeks to change or challenge social institutions, values, norms, relationships

Seeks to free or liberate the individual

Conservative Seeks social

control and conformity in values, norms and relationships

Seeks to incorporate groups into the social order and to preserve it

Characteristics Individualism and free will Self reliance Perfectionism – society can fulfill its

potential Optimism – can create change and a

perfect society Social activism and social

responsibility-missionary impulse Equality and democratization Hard work, moderation, thrift, self

control, temperance emphasizedMillenialism

Demands of Society v. Freedom of the Individual

Helps to deal with the anxieties of the period

Impact/emphasis differed N and SVision of society “individual within

community”Romanticism and reform

Catalyst: Second Great Awakening

Finney – salvation due to free will – a choice – free moral agency

Methods – emotionalism, Camp meetings, “the anxious bench”

Appeal – frontier, small town, middle class

Cane Ridge ------Rochester “Burned out” district

Second Great Awakening

Charles Finney

Lyman Beecher – Lane Seminary

Concerned – Finney too emotional and too much emphasis on perfection

The Benevolent Empire

NY: “Burned Over” district

Religious Growth - American Bible Society

Itinerant Preachers & Camp Meetings

African Methodist Episcopal Church

Richard Allen – autonomy & equality

Impact:

Ties religion to the market economyIndividualism and OpportunityMiddle class values dominateEvangelical Protestantism =

dominant religion in America

Cult of Domesticity

Doctrine of two spheres Men – outer world Women – home, religious and moral values

MC women – the home, the church, reform movements, sisterhood

C. Beecher – education for women

Middle Class Family Values

Decrease in birth rates Children as investmentRomantic love and affection in

marriage New norms of behaviorChildren as individuals

Childhood: Homer – Snap the Whip

Homer: The Berry Boy

Transcendentalism/Romantics

Truth through emotion; knowledge through nature – go beyond intellect

Importance of the individual Emerson – the Oversoul; self relianceThoreau – Walden; Civil DisobedienceDark and light romantics

Emerson and Thoreau

Hawthorne, Melville, Poe

Dickinson and Whitman

I am nobody Leaves of GrassWho are you?

Hudson River School

Utopian Movements

Separate from society Often more radical, challenging to

society Communitarian – “socialism”

“communism” – no private propertyRedefinition of traditional gender

rolesSome religious, some secular

Examples:Shakers- Ann Lee

Egalitarian, separate, celibateOneida – Noyes, complex marriageMormons – Smith – Book of Mormon

Polygamy, rigid social organization, kinship

New Harmony – Owens, socialist, no marriage

Fourier - socialists Brook Farm – transcendentalists,

salon

Mother Ann Lee & Shakers

Oneida Community

Joseph Smith - Mormons

Social Activism/Reform

Meets need of the market economy Emphasis on social controlMiddle class norms and valuesImportance of environment

Temperance

Most popular and successful (women)

Drunkeness = social burden Concern for familiesNeed for a sober work force Alcohol associated with immigrants Moderation v abstinence – political

prohibitionMaine Law 1851

Education - Mann

Goal = public funding, tax supportOpportunity (women, immigrants) Moral teachings and middle class

values Teacher training Required educationDivided N/S Divided immigrant & WC from MC

Asylum/Prison Reform: Dix

Rehabilitation and control Schools for blind and deaf Limited success

Abolition

Gradual v immediate emancipation Emancipation with or without

colonization American colonization society -----

American Anti-Slavery SocietyIdeas of freedom – not property

ownership – rather “freedom of oneself” and the ideals of the Declaration

Equality before the law (14th am) Citizenship – birthplace not race

Abolitionist Leaders

Weld and Tappen – Lane Seminary – preach – create larger public support

Garrison – The Liberator anti-government position

African American Abolitionists –powerful spokesmen Douglass – The North Star - Voice Walker – The Appeal – rebellion Tubman – URR; Truth Often faced internal racism for leadership

and decision-making input

Frederick Douglass July 5, 1852

“What, to the American slave is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on earth more guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. “

Impact

Support – medium sized towns of N Opposition – S, urban areas, WC –

fears of job competitionIncrease division N/SPolitical impact – Gag rulePulls the party system Uncle Tom’s Cabin – morality

Schism of 1840

Role of women Position on government and

constitution

Women’s Rights

Empowered through reform activityDeclaration of Sentiment – Seneca

Falls 1848Social freedomStanton, Grimke Mott, Anthony

“We hold these truths to be self evident – that all men and women are created equal; they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights..”

Challenges of Reform

Reform as a necessary part of democracy – plays a stabilizing function – permits adjustment to changing conditions OR

Reform as a disruptive event – caused by malcontents

What factors cause reform periodsDoes it serve the interests of some

classes at the expense of othersWhat tactics are available to

reformers in a democratic society?

Significance:Antebellum Reformers -Walters

Highlights areas of tensions – show the fault lines of society -- the disconnect between values and behaviors

Presents alternatives to consider – what’s possible

Process of adjustment to change – a democracy may need groups of private citizens who care deeply about certain issues – and who argue them loudly, persistently – even abrasively!