Chapter 12

Antebellum Culture and Reform

Americans felt that Europeans ignored American culture and the arts

For the most part this was true until American writers and artists embraced ROMANTICISMAn artistic movement that stressed personal

emotion, free play of the imagination, and the freedoms from rules of form.

ANTEBELLUM—pre-Civil War America

Background

Landscape paintings became popularShowed the power of natureDifferent than European landscapes which

were calm and peaceful, American landscapes showed the power and hardships of nature

Hudson River SchoolNew York School of artPainted nature as a source of wisdom and

spirituality“Wild Nature”

Became the American representation of art in Europe

Nationalism and Romanticism in American Paintings

The Hudson School Paintings

Most Americans read British Adventure Novels

James Fennimore Cooper1st great American novelistWrote 30 novels in 30 yearsMost of them were about

adventure and suspenseMany included the harsh

American wildernessNovels were popular in the

U.S. and in EuropeLast of the Mohicans

Literature and the Quest for Liberation

Walt Whitman1st great American PoetWrote poetry celebrating democracy and the

liberation of the individualSemi-openly homosexual artist

Literature and the Quest for Liberation

Herman MelvilleWrote novels about man vs. natureMost of this characters experienced a “release

of emotion” in the story, something that was usually frowned upon in popular culture

Melville was convinced that the human spirit was self destructive

Literature and the Quest for Liberation

Literature and the Quest for LiberationEdgar Allen Poe

Poet of the MacabreWrote the first

detective storiesPeople were freaked

out by his subject matter and style

Sothern writers produced literature that romanticized the Plantation life style

They also defended slavery and did their best to discourage anti-slavery sentiment by vilifying and belittling African Americans

Literature and the Antebellum South

A philosophical outlook on life that put… Learning and intellectualism over instinct Emotional understanding over intellect

Came from New EnglandRalph Waldo Emerson

“Nature” Wrote about the communion with the natural world Was an ardent nationalist which was reflected in his writing

Henry David Thoreau “Walden” Stood against conforming to society Was a proponent of living simply Was an ardent abolitionist who partook in “civil disobedience”

when he refused to pay a poll tax to a government that supported slavery

The Transcendentalists

Brook FarmsAn experimental Community in Roxbury

Massachusetts Sought to fix the problems of common societyAll residents would share equally in the labor

and wealth and leisureThe project failed as people felt that equality of

work and wealth was too difficult to achieveSomeone always had to do more or received more.

Visions of Utopia

Gender roles of the time were in fluxOneida Community tried solving gender

issuesAll residents were “married” to all other

residentsChildren were raised communallyLiberated women from the demands of “Male

Lust”Shakers

Committed to celibacyNo one was born into ShakerismSought sexual equality“refuge from the perversions of marriage”

Redefining Gender Roles

Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints

Joseph Smith from New York publishes in 1830 The Book of Mormon

He claimed that he found a set of golden tablets he found in the hills of New York that were revealed to him by an Angel sent from GodThe Tablets told the story of a lost Israelite

tribe who found their way to the new world centuries before Columbus came to America

Jesus visited these people after his resurrection

The Mormons

People strayed from righteousness so God darkened their skin to show his disapproval—these people were the Native Americans

Smith moved his people around because they were persecuted finally arriving in Missouri where Smith was Jailed for treason when he tried to start his own country.

The townsfolk stormed the jail and shot SmithBringham Young took over and lead 12,000 to

Salt Lake City

The Mormons

The 1840-1850 saw a cultural movement towards reforming societies social policiesTemperanceEducationPeaceCare of the poorCare of the handicappedCare of the mentally illRights of womanTreatment of Criminals (Asylum Movement,

Prison Reform)

New Reform Movements

Temperance—the fight against alcoholMostly lead by womenAlcohol was a problem in America at this time

Average male in 1830’s drank 3 times the amount of alcohol as a modern man.

Why?Drinking was a social practice and many people had more time

to social activitiesFarmers produced too much grain so they turned it into whiskey

which drove down prices and made it cheapLots of legislative pressure to outlaw alcoholProtestants vs. Catholic immigrants

Catholics claimed alcohol was a may of life and religious practice

Created a negative view of the “Drunk Irishman”

The Temperance Crusade

PhrenologyA medical practice that measured

the shape of ones skull to indicate intelligence or character

Used to measure people’s “fitness” for careers or jobs

Discovery of Contagion1843 Oliver Wendell Holmes

publishes an article discussing the idea that disease is spread from person to person

Changes the way the sick and ill are treated

Medical Science

1830’s saw interest in Universal EducationPublic Education was born under state

controlState and communities started building new

schools, hiring more qualified teachers, and paying them more

Schools for the blind and deaf were established

By the start of the Civil War (1861) the United States had the highest literacy rate in the world

Reforming Education

North

South (white) South (white and black)

Literacy Rate 94% 83% 58%Students Enrolled in Public Education

72% 30% 19%

United States took a reform approach to the Indian problem in the 1840-1850’s

Policy changed from ‘relocation to where whites weren’t to avoid conflict’ TO ‘relocation to protected areas (reservations) to protect the Indians from white aggressors’

Reservation lands were given special privileges and lawsReservation lands were usually not very

desirable

Indian Reservations

Woman played a huge role in the Reform Movement

1830-1840’s a new idea spread that man and woman were created equal

Sarah and Angelina Grimke were abolitionists who men accused of participating in “inappropriate” acts because enacting social change and influencing government was “man’s work”

The Rise of Feminism

A group of female delegates from the US arrive in London at an antislavery conference and were turned away and not allowed to attend because they were women

Inspired by this outrage, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony organized a convention of their own at Seneca Falls New York to discuss women’s rights

They drafted the “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” asking for the right to vote, it was largely ignored.

Started the Woman’s Suffrage Movement

Seneca Falls

Early Opposition to SlaveryIn the early 1800’s most people with anti-

slavery feelings were genteel and quiet.The American Colonization Society proposed

the gradual freeing of slaves by “purchasing” their freedom from their masters using privately raised funds

Freed slaves would be transported back to Africa

Some were freed and moved back to Africa where they would form the nation of Liberia in 1830

Not greatly successful…why?

The Crusade Against Slavery

Garrison and AbolitionismWilliam Lloyd Garrison—reinvigorated

abolitionism in the 1830’s through his newspaper The Liberator

Garrison felt the only way to gain support was encourage white American’s to “put themselves in the shoes of the slaves”

Garrisons goal was to extend citizenship to the slaves

Founded the American Antislavery Society in 1833

By 1838 there were over 250,000 membersGeneral reform helped abolitionism become the

strongest it had been in the nation’s history

The Crusade Against Slavery

Black AbolitionistsFree blacks were often scared to be

open abolitionistsMany free black subscribed to The

Liberator and felt that the end of slavery would mean more freedoms for them

Frederick DouglasBorn a slave in Maryland and escaped to

Mass.Began speaking against slaver, toured

England, returned to the US and bought his freedom

Wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas in 1845

The Crusade Against Slavery

Anti-AbolitionismMany people fought against abolitionism in the North and

South because they felt it was dangerous…why?Northerners feared an influx of freed black to the North…

why?Violence against abolitionist spread in the 1830’s

Abolitionism DividedViolence split the movement, some abolitionists called for a

more moderate approachOn the other hand Garrison was now attacking the

government and the constitution for putting up with slavery

This scared many would-be abolitionistsGarrison at one point called for Northern succession from

the country

The Crusade Against Slavery