1. REFORMING AMERICAN SOCIETY
CHAPTER 8
REFORMING AMERICAN SOCIETY

2. Second Great Awakening
Reject Calvinism -Unitarianism: Individual responsibility for salvation
African American Church - AME Church
-also cultural, political and social center.
Developed strong political voice

3. TRANSCENDENTALISTS
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau

4. TRANSCENDENTALSIM
Emphasized simple life & truth in nature; not organized religion.
Humanitarian reforms -civil disobedience
Utopian societies begin to form.

5. Inside Thoreau’s Cabin at Walden Pond.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the
Essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach and
Not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Henry David Thoreau

6. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Concord, Massachusetts
Thoreau
Emerson

7. Women’s Rights Movement
Seneca Falls, NY 1848: Women publicly demand the right to vote for the first time.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal…” Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments July 20, 1848

8. Women’s Rights Movement, cont’d.
Voting rights
Education
Abolition
Temperance
Idea of Cult of Domesticity begins to fade.

9. SCHOOLS & PRISONS UNDERGO CHANGE
POINT TO PONDER: Is it me, or do you find it ironic that jails and schools are mentioned in the same section?

11. SLAVERY IN 1800s
Pro slavery beliefs: biologically inferior intellectually inferior barbarians heathens some actually thought they were doing Africans a service.

12. NAT TURNER’S REBELLION
August, Nearly 60 whites killed. -Turner executed
Resolve to control slaves strengthened.

13. FREDERICK DOUGLASS Became a leading abolitionist. Former slave
Educated illegally
Published newspapers: -The North Star
Became a leading abolitionist.
Believed nation never fully
understood deep hurt slavery afflicted on African people.

14. LADIES!
Are you sick and tired of sitting at home and never going anywhere?
Are you weary of your husband telling you what to do?
Do you have few or no marketable skills?
We have an opportunity for you!

15. THE LOWELL MILL! What’s not to like?
Cutting-edge mid-19th century technology at its finest! Behold the miracle of steam!
All brick construction is here to stay…and so are you!
Waterfront property (if you can call that sludge in what used to be a river water)
Amenities: non-existent (what do you think this is? You’re here to work!)
You don’t have to worry about your husband bossing you around because you’ll have an “understanding” manager who’ll do it for him!
Earn pennies upon the dollar…a week!
What’s not to like?
ACTUALLY: conditions were so bad that workers went on strike several times. 15% pay cuts, 12.5% board charges, illness, etc…it was that bad.

16. IRISH IMMIGRANTS Potato famine forced 1 million + Irish to America.
Eager to work for low wages and in horrible conditions.
Easy prey for employers looking to break a strike.

17. NATIONAL TRADES’ UNION
Artisans began to work together for better wages/conditions
Commonwealth v Hunt (1842): workers have right to strike.
Workers now have a weapon against unfair labor practices of employers.