The Second Great Awakening: Foundation of Reform

“Spiritual Reform From Within”

[Religious Revivalism]

Social Reforms & Redefining the Ideal of Equality

Temperance

Asylum & Prison Reform

Education

Women’s Rights

Abolitionism

Labor Labor

1825 - 1846

The ranges of tents, the fires, reflecting light…; the candles and lamps illuminating the encampment; hundreds moving to and fro…;the preaching, praying, singing, and shouting,… like the sound of many waters, was enough to swallow up all the powers of contemplation.

Charles G. Charles G. FinneyFinney

(1792 – 1895)(1792 – 1895)

“soul-shaking”

conversionR1-2

He believed women should pray aloud in church; he was a supporter of

temperance and abolition.

Which 2 denominations experience the greatest growth? Why?

New Religious

Denominations also begin as a

result of the 2nd Great Awakening

The Mormons(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day

Saints)

Joseph Smith (1805-1844)

1830 --> Book of Mormon

The Mormon “Trek”

The Mormons(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day

Saints)

Desert community

Salt Lake City, UT

Brigham Young(1801-1877)

2. Temperance Movement

Frances WillardThe Beecher Family

1826 - American Temperance Society

“Demon Rum”!

R1-6

Annual Consumption of AlcoholAt the peak of

consumption, approximately how many gallons of alcohol per person (per capita) do Americans consume?

3. Penitentiary (Prison) Reform

Dorothea Dix(1802-1887)

1821 first penitentiary foundedin Auburn, NY

R1-5/7

What is a penitentiary? Why did these need to be reformed?

4. Abolitionist Movement

British Colonization Society symbol

William Lloyd Garrison (1801-1879)

Slavery undermined republican values.

Immediate emancipation with NO compensation.

Slavery was a moral, notan economic issue.

R2-4

The Liberator

Premiere issue January 1, 1831

R2-5

The Tree of Slavery—Loaded with the Sum of

All Villanies!

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895)

1845 The Narrative of the Life Of Frederick Douglass1847 “The North Star”

R2-12

Sojourner Truth (1787-1883)

or Isabella Baumfree

1850 --> The Narrative of Sojourner Truth R2-10

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)

Helped over 300 slaves to freedom. $40,000 bounty on her head. Served as a Union spy during the Civil

War.

“Moses”

The Underground Railroad

5. Women’s Rights A woman’s “sphere” was in the home

(it was arefuge from the cruel world outside).

Her role was to “civilize” her husband andfamily.

An 1830s MA minister:

“The power of woman is her dependence. A woman who gives up that dependence on man to become a reformer yields the power God has given her for her protection, and her character becomes unnatural!”

Early 19th century Women1. Couldn’t make wills, sign a

contract, or bring suit in court without her husband’s permission.

2. Unable to vote.3. Legal status of a minor.4. Single could own her own

property.5. Married no control over

herproperty or her children.

6. Could not initiate divorce.

What It Would Be Like If Ladies Had Their Own

Way!

R2-8

The 2nd Great Awakening inspired women to improve society.

Angelina Grimké Sarah Grimké

Southern Abolitionists

Lucy Stone

American Women’sSuffrage Assoc.

edited Woman’s Journal

R2-9

1840 --> split in the abolitionist movement over women’s role in it.

London --> World Anti-Slavery Convention

Lucretia Mott Elizabeth Cady Stanton

1848 --> Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments

R2-6/7

6. Transcendentalism(European Romanticism)

“Liberation from understanding and the cultivation of reasoning.”

“Transcend” the limits of intellect and allow the emotions, the SOUL,to create an original relationshipwith the Universe.

Transcendentalist Intellectuals/Writers

Concord, MA

Ralph WaldoEmerson

Ralph WaldoEmerson

Henry DavidThoreau

Henry DavidThoreau

Nature(1832) Walden

(1854)

Resistance to Civil

Disobedience(1849)

Self-Reliance (1841)

“The American Scholar”

(1837) R3-1/3/4/5

pursuit of the ideal led to a distorted view of human nature and possibilities: * The Blithedale Romance

The Anti-Transcendentalist:Nathaniel Hawthorne

(1804-1864)

accept the world as an imperfect place: * Scarlet Letter * House of the Seven Gables

7. Educational Reform MA always on the forefront of public

educational reform * 1st state to establish tax support for local public schools.

By 1860 every state offered free public education to whites. * US had one of the highest literacy rates.

“Father of American Education”

Horace Mann (1796-1859)

children were clay in the hands of teachers and school officials children should be “molded” into a state of perfection discouraged corporal punishment established state teacher- training programs

R3-6

Purpose of Education?

According to reformers, what was the purpose of education?

What is the purpose of education today?

What are some differences between 19th century schools and 21st century schools?

Factories continued to spread in the 1800sA wave of immigration in the 1840s

brought in new people willing to work for low pay.

Skilled workers faced low wages, long hours, and the fear of losing their jobs.

Many workers formed trade unions to improve pay and working conditions.

Sarah G. Bagley was one of the strongest voices in the union movement.

Founded the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association in 1844.

Fought for a 10-hour work day instead of 12-14 hours.

Legacy of Reform

•How did these reformers change America?

•What reforms (if any) do you see evidence of in America today?

•Are they similar or different from those in the 19th century?