Religion and Reform

1. Religion and Reform “I beseech you to treasure up in your hearts these my parting words: Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”—Horace Mann June 1859

2. Middle Class Reform

3. Overview • As the Republic grew, many new problems surfaced—poverty, alcoholism, illiteracy, poor housing, poor healthcare, declining moral values. • Reform movements, rooted in philosophy and religion, emerged to answer the problems.

4. Protestant Revivalists • Revival movements arose with a call to bring people back to God. • Key Figures • Charles Grandison Finney • Lyman Beecher (father of Harriet Beecher Stowe)

5. Charles Grandison Finney

6. Lyman Beecher

7. Transcendentalists (Transcend=to rise above) • Believed: • Spiritual discovery and insight would lead a person to truths more profound than could be reached through reason. • Humans are naturally good • In private inward searching • Self-reliance • One should act on their own beliefs • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Leader in the movement • Thought one could transcend the material world and become conscious of the spirit in nature

8. Ralph Waldo Emerson

9. Henry David Thoreau • Wrote: • Walden • Civil Disobedience

11. Temperance Movement • Pushed to end alcohol consumption • Reformers believed drinking was a threat to families and society • Effective movement b/c b/w the 1830s and 1860s consumption dropped dramatically.

12. Public Education • Horace Mann • Led reform movement in education • Pushed for free public education • Pushed for moral education ie-McGuffey’s Readers

13. Horace Mann

14. Prison Reform • Dorothea Dix—pushed to have separate institutions for the mentally ill.

15. Dorothea Dix

16. Abolition Movement

17. Roots of the Movement • Began in religious circles • By 1807 states north of Maryland had passed laws to abolish slavery.

18. Repatriation Movement • Some abolitionists favored freeing slaves and retuning them to Africa • 1816—The American Colonization Society established Liberia as a slave colony • Blacks opposed the movement and few went.

19. Radical Abolitionists • Pushed for immediate abolition • Favored radical action • William Lloyd Garrison—prominent leader

20. William Lloyd Garrison

21. Frederick Douglas • Former Slave • Published an abolitionist paper the North Star • Served as an advisor to Lincoln

22. Frederick Douglas

24. Underground Railroad • Network of escape routes that provided protection and transportation for fleeing slaves • Rescued b/w 40,000 and 100,000 • Most famous conductor—Harriet Tubman AKA “the Black Moses”

25. Harriet Tubman

26. Opposition to Abolitionism • The North • Merchants feared it would ruin the North / South trade. • Workers feared losing their jobs. • Whites viewed blacks as inferior. • The South • Southerners were outraged at the claims made by abolitionists and took steps to stop their movement.

27. Women’s Rights

28. Roles of Women • Home • Expected to be homemakers, hostesses, and practice community service • Work • Single were allowed to work, but expected to quit work when they got married. • Politics • Women could not vote. • Women were active in the reform movements, especial Temperance and Abolition • 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin

29. Movement for Rights • Seneca Falls Convention (NY July 1848) • First Women’s rights convention in the US • Organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. • Issued the “Declaration of Sentiments” which called for increased rights including suffrage.

30. Elizabeth Cady Stanton

31. Lucretia Mott

32. Growing Divisions

33. Immigration • With the industrial and transportation revolutions, the demand for cheap labor grew. • 1820s—129,000 immigrants came; 1830s—540,000; 1840s 2.8 million • Most came from Northern Europe: • Irish—Irish Potato Famine • Germans—came for political freedom

34. The Potato Famine

35. Immigrants became naturalized citizens. • Hostilities—many were hostile toward immigrants b/c: • Losing jobs • Religion—most immigrants were catholics

36. North vs. South • Reform movements created ill will and divisions b/w the North and the South. • Churches in the N and S became divided over the issue of slavery. (Southern Baptist Convention formed at this time) • Southerners saw reforms in slavery, education and women’s rights as a threat to their way of life.