A PUSH FOR REFORM chapter 8

The Second Great Awakening 1820’s-1850’s revival of religious feelings. many were Protestant “destiny is in own hands” Reform/reshape American life by doing God’s work on earth Launch Reform Era in American history from

Temperance movement reduce use of alcoholic beverages wrote books, plays, and songs about evils of alcohol led to 13 states outlawing alcohol

Education Reform Common-School – want children to be educated b/c they make better citizens –Extend and improve public schools Horace Mann – st secretary of Education in MA –Laid groundwork for education today –Highly organized approach to education required attendance states fund normal schools – teachers receive training 1839 MA country’s 1st normal school 1852 MA first required attendance law in US /10 white children in school –Native Americans lived with tribes –African American children – mostly slaves William McGuffey – wrote books teaching moral and intellectual values

Reforming Prisons Dorothea Dix – wants humane treatment for prisoners and mentally ill –1841 went to teach Sunday School to prisoners Mentally ill people & nonviolent criminals confided with violent criminals Crowded, unsanitary conditions, abused by jailers MA legislature created state-supported institutions for the mentally ill

Transcendentalism – New England belief that knowledge is found by observation, reason, intuition, and personal spiritual experiences people gain deeper understanding of world by going beyond observation Ralph Waldo Emerson – leading transcendentalist. People should be self-reliant and trust intuition Henry David Thoreau – power of self-reliance and individual thought began living alone on shore of Walden Pond. Did not pay taxes & spent night in jail –Wrote essay “Civil Disobedience” – “government is best which governs least” – inspire Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi

Utopianism communities free of social ills Robert Owen – New Harmony 1825 Indiana –Failed after 3 years Shakers – Christian sect – exception to rule

Early Immigration and Urban Reform Irish Immigration – Potato Famine –By million dead – million fled to US German Immigration –Economic depression –Overpopulation –No jobs –Religious persecution –High taxes –Military service requirement –Go to US for jobs & business opportunities

PUSH-PULL MODEL OF IMMIGRATION Factors cause people to leave homeland are PUSHES Factors that cause people to move to a particular country are PULLS About 3 million Irish & German immigrants by 1860

Hostility Towards Irish So many immigrants from Ireland led Americans to see them as threat to way of life Irish immigrants work for low wages, so threat to American workers Roman Catholic – at odds with democratic principles: does not recognize right of people to govern, rule by divine right, no freedom of opinion or conscience (Morse)

Nativism Opposition to immigration Know-Nothings – secret organization. –Members respond “I know nothing” –American Party = their political party –40 + Congressional seats –Party ceased to exist by Civil War due to disagreements over slavery

German Immigrants Most were middle class and Protestant rather than poor & Catholic like Irish Spread across the country – could afford travel inland Worked in several occupations

Growing City Populations Irish immigrants account for ¼ of population in NY and Boston by 1850 –Not enough money to travel far from where landed

Urbanization and Reform Richest 1% population control ½ wealth in cities not uncommon Most urban = very poor Tenements – crowded, unsanitary, poorly constructed apartment buildings Serious efforts at reform would not begin until late 1800s early 1900s

Industrialization & Reform 25% more people working in manufacturing by 1860 Previously most Americans farmed –Worked for themselves –Kept profits made –Made much of what needed Wage Earners – those Americans working in factories –Paid set amount by business owner –Had to buy things needed rather than make them Limited wages Restricted by location Urban Working Class = new social class Labor Movement – low wages, long hours, unsafe conditions led groups to organize and demand change

American Labor Movement Began in 1820s Skilled workers (carpenters, masons, etc) formed organizations to regulate pay 1834 attempt to create national labor organization –Face fierce opposition by factory owners –Ten Hour Movement limited success –Decades before substantial progress

Women & Reform Limits on Women’s Lives –Denied rights of basic citizenship No vote No hold public office No legal contracts aside from marriage –Economic Limits No own property Low wages – property of husbands so had to give $ to man of house –Cultural Women inferior to men Household and family duties only Cult of domesticity = movement to keep women at home during IR

Women in Reform Era Reform Societies –Groups organized to promote social reforms Moral reform Established homes for orphaned girls or homeless girls Education Reform –Many women became teachers during era giving them role in shaping American life –Education for women

Other Reforms Many women in workforce by 1850 Worked to reform their working conditions Temperance movement –Victims of men’s excessive alcohol consumption so advocated for temperance

Seneca Falls Convention July 1848 Seneca Falls, NY First women’s rights convention in America Mark as beginning of modern American women’s movement

Desire for Political Power Wanted to obtain political power to advance reforms Others though fair and reasonable for women to have political power Fought for abolition and short leap between equality of sexes and racial equality

The Convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Lucretia Mott organized convention Both prominent abolitionists About 300 people attended Produced Declaration of Sentiments –Signed by 68 women and 32 men –“all men and women are created equal”

FIGHTING AGAINST SLAVERY Lives of Slaves –4million slaves by 1860 –Work: field hands, construction, clearing land, household servant, some more skilled labor (blacksmith & carpenter) –Want: no rights under law, viewed as property –Fear: ill treatment, separation from loved ones –Hope: religion, story telling

The Antislavery Movement in the South Free blacks = former slaves who had been emancipated

NAT TURNER’S REBELLION 1830 VA –5 accomplices & 75 followers Killed many whites in area Captured and executed by militia Whites suspicious killed several other slaves –Policing stepped up to prevent more

Underground Railroad Informal, constantly changing network of escape routes Harriet Tubman – ex-slave who helped many escape to freedom

Abolition Movement Campaign to end slavery Quaker roots – said slavery = evil William Lloyd Garrison – The Liberator = abolitionist newspaper. Founded American Anti-Slavery Society Frederick Douglas – ex-slave. Wrote autobiography. Good speaker.

Opposition to Abolition Majority whites not own slaves View movement as attack on way of life Some northerners support of slavery

Table Rally Review With a partner you will try to fill in a table rally chart. You cannot talk during this exercise