Religious Awakening Chapter 4, Section 1

Second Great Awakening The revival of religious feeling in the U.S. during the 1800s was known as the Second Great Awakening. Many preachers believed that industrialization had caused immorality and wanted to correct this problem for the country’s future. These preachers were known as revivalists, because they wanted to revive religion in the U.S. The more emotional form of worship (evangelical) included preachers such as Charles Grandison Finney and Lyman Beecher.

New Religious Groups Form Two major religious groups formed during this time period. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, led by Joseph Smith, started in 1830. They are known as Mormons. Some Puritans in New England believed that instead of a Trinity, God should be seen as a single entity. This group was called the Unitarians.

Discrimination Against Non-Protestants The Second Great Awakening was Protestant- dominated. Those that weren’t faced discrimination. Mormons lived in their own communities and had many practices that others frowned upon. They owned land as a group and voted as a group, giving them both economic and political power. Mormons were pushed westward until they reached Utah. Catholics and Jews were also discriminated against. Americans feared Catholics’ loyalty to the Pope; Their willingness to work for low wages threatened other workers; Jews were prevented from holding public office in many states.

Utopias and Transcendentalism Two new religious groups were more concerned with creating a more perfect society. Utopian communities separated themselves from the rest of society and aspired to be perfect societies. Shaker communities separated men and women and relied on crafts for money. Transcendentalists developed a new way to look at God, humanity and nature. They believed people should go beyond, or transcend, their senses to learn about the world. Listen to nature and own consciences rather than religious doctrines. Famous transcendentalist: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Early Reform Chapter 4 Section 2

Reforming Education Goals: Major Leaders: Create a tax-supported system of schools– public schools where all children could attend; Expanding education would help make decisions in a democracy; Promote economic growth by creating knowledgeable workers. Major Leaders: Horace Mann– Massachusetts senator; creator of the first state board of education. Catharine Beecher and Emma Willard established schools for women.

Helping the Ill and Imprisoned Mentally ill Goal: Build hospitals that separated the mentally ill from prisoners. Prisons Goal: Reform prisons to make prisoners feel sorrow for their crimes. Both reform movements were led by Dorothea Dix.

Alcohol Industrialization brought about negative changes to society such as increased crime, sickness and poverty. Alcohol was seen as the root of these problems. The temperance movement was meant to end alcohol abuse and the problems it caused. Temperance= drinking in moderation. Leader Neal Dow The temperance movement was mildly successful during the 1800s, passing some state laws to limit the sale of alcohol.

Reformation Part 2 Chapter 4, Sections 3 and 4

Slave Resistance By 1830, there were 2 million slaves within the United States, primarily in the South. Slaves often took comfort in their religion, finding hope during their difficult lives. Some slaves resisted their oppression by running away or by fighting. One of the most violent slave uprisings was by Nat Turner in 1831. He and his group of slaves killed over 60 people before being captured.

The Abolition Movement During the 1800s, a growing number of Americans wanted to end slavery on moral grounds. This began the abolition movement. Methods: Antislavery publications, abolitionist societies, gave speeches. Leaders: William Lloyd Garrison; publisher of The Liberator; Frederick Douglass; former slave

Free African Americans Once African Americans gained their freedom, they were still discriminated against. Slaveholders, especially, were troubled by the presence of freedmen. They believed the large population of freedmen encouraged those still enslaved to escape. A group of slaveholders formed the American Colonization Society (ACS) , whose goal was to encourage migration of freedmen back to Africa. This led to the establishment of Liberia, a colony for freed slaves.

Working Against Abolition Many Americans (not just in the South) resisted abolition for various reasons. Slavery’s economic impact in both the South and to northern industry; Desire to avoid competition for low-skilled jobs with free African Americans; Belief to some that African Americans are naturally inferior to whites.

The Women’s Movement Chapter 4, Section 4

The Women’s Movement In the early 1800s, women had very few rights. Upon marriage, the property a woman owned became her husband’s. Goal: achieve greater rights and opportunities for women. Leaders: Sojourner Truth, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass Women, who gained strength by working for other causes, realized they had very little rights themselves.

Seneca Falls Convention In 1848, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. A Declaration of Sentiments, outlining the aims of the convention was read during the convention. The language was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. The convention inspired many women, including Amelia Bloomer, who published a newspaper called The Lily. Susan B. Anthony became a leader in the fight for women’s suffrage– the right to vote.