ch 8.1 cultural change
TRANSCRIPT
LIFE IN THE NEW NATION
Cultural Changes• American scholars & artists contribute
to culture– Noah Webster- dictionary & spelling
book– Mercy Otis Warren-patriotic plays
like History of the American Revolution
– Benjamin Rush-books on chemistry & medicine, belief that mental disease was not demonic affliction
– Benjamin Banneker-surveyor of Washington D.C., mathmatics, inventor, writer, astronomer
– Charles Willson Peale-artist, founds 1st museum in US
Cultural Changes
– Phyllis Wheatley-poetry Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral
• Republican virtues promoted– Self-reliance, hard work,
frugality, harmony, sacrificing individual needs for society
• Education- schools add departments to help girls become “republican women”
Social Changes• Population growth– 1780- 13 states, 2.7 million
people– 1830-24 states, 12 million people– Population doubles every 20
years–Not due to immigration of
Europeans or Africans– 90% of growth due to increase in
birth– 1800-1850 average woman has 5
children–Median age in 1820 is 17 years
old (1/2 population was under age 17)
Social Changes• Mobility– Population increase leads
to overcrowding in East– People move West– Unlike Europeans, not
tied to land-free to move– Effects:
• 1. Equal chance to get ahead in the West
• 2. Learn new social skills and new social rules
Social Changes
• Dating and Marriage– Choice of husband is one of few
choices women have– Women gain ideas about
marriage partners form books and novels• Charlotte Temple by Susanna
Haswell Rowson– Idea of ‘courtship’ or extended
dating, versus old arranged marriages
– Important decision, women had limited options
Religious Changes• 2nd Great Awakening– Starts in Kentucky & Tennessee– Evangelical movement—revival
campmeetings– Women have active role
• Some preach & have leadership roles
– Denominations emerge• Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians,
Mormons, Millennialists
– African Americans join Protestants• Eventually form their own churches
Other changes• Rise of improvements in travel &
trade encourages free enterprise– More people having their own
businesses– Working outside the home– Increases the need for
specialization– RISE OF SHOPPING!
• Rise of banks– Bank lending, money flowing,
businesses growing