The Second Great Awakening

Religion: The Second Great Awakening   Transition away from the Puritan teachings to a more liberal and forgiving doctrines such as those of the Unitarian Church. Puritans began a counter attack aginst liberal views, spearheaded by Reverend Timothy Dwight and other educated personnel. These sermons drew mass attention even from the uneducated. Revivalism in New York Charles G. Finney started a series of revivals in New York, and Finney appealed to people's fears of damnation, leading to many to declare their revived faith. o Finney's ideas strongly appealed to the rising middle class. o Baptists and Methodists In the South, Baptist and Methodist preachers such as Peter Cartwright traveled to one location to another preaching, leading to a mass audience. o Baptist and Methodist circuit preachers led to Baptists and Methodists to become the largest Protestant denominations in the country. o Millennialism A widespread belief that Jesus was about to end with the second coming of Christ leading Millennialism preachers such as William Miller to gain tens of thousands of fallowing. o Eventually, the Millerites continued as a new Christian denomination, the Seventh-Day Adventists. o Mormons o Joseph Smith founded Mormonism, eventually Brigham Young led the Mormons to the western frontier after being persecuted, where they estblashed New Zion. Culture: Ideas, the Arts, and Literature The Transcendentalists o    Transcendentalists such as Thoreau and Emerson argued for a personal introspection and finding god within nature. Further, they found organized religion unimportant and supported the abolition reform. Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson inspired Americans to deviate form Europe and create a distinct American identity. Emerson became a leading critic of slavery and a supporter of the Union during the Civil War. Henry David Thoreau Thoreau lived in the woods for two years and wrote a book, Walden, for which he is remembered as a pioneer ecologist and conservationist.     Thoreau belived in nonviolent and civil disobedience, he belived unjust laws should be disobeyed. As a critic of the Mexican-American war he refused to pay taxes for which he was jailed. Brook Farm George Ripley, a Protestant minister launched a communal experiment, Brook Farm, which was an atmosphere of artistic creativity and innovative schools. Brook Farms was joined by leading intellectuals, Emmerson, Margret Fuller, Theodore Parker, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. A bad fire and heavy debt forced the end of the experiment. Communal Experiments o       The ideas of creating an ideal community inspired many to create a communal experiments, such as the Mormons in New Zion and the Brook Farm experiment. Shakers A religious communal movement which had about 6,000 members in various communities. The Shakers kept men and women separate, and the lack of new recruits forced the communities to die out. The Amana Colonies A religious communal movement which was founded by Germans in Iowa fallowing the religious reform Pietism, unlike the Shakers they allowed marriage. New Harmony A nonreligious experiment created by the Welsh industrialist and Robert Owen. Owen hoped to find the solution to class inequality after the Industrial Revolution. New Harmony failed due to financial problems. Oneida Community John Humphrey Noyes started a colony in Oneida New York, they were dedicated to economic equality, shared property, and marriage, for which they received criticism. (Oneida system of planned children was a sinful experiment in "free love.") Fourier Phalanxes French socialist Charles Fourier idea of a shared work and housing in communities known as Fourier Phalanxes became popular with Americans. Although, this movement died quickly. Arts and Literature o  The democratic and reforming impulses of the Age of Jackson expressed themselves in painting, architecture, and literature. Painting Genre painting which portrayed the everyday live of ordinary people became very popular among artists.  George Caleb Bingham depicted common people doing domestic chores.  William S. Mount was popular for his rural compositions. Thomas Cole and Fredrick Church were famous for their rendition of the American landscape along the Hudson River the genre of which became known as the Hudson River school. Architecture Americans adopted Greek styles to glorify the democratic nature of the Greek republic. Literature A new American nationalist literature developed partly due to America "winning" the War of 1812.  Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper wrote fictions using American setÝngs such as Leatherstocking Tales.  The Scarlet Letter written by Hawthorne.  Herman Melville wrote Moby-Dick reflection the theological and cultural conflicts of the era.    Reforming Society Temperance The high rate of alcohol consumption led reformers to target alcohol. The temperance movement started with moral education from Protestant ministers leading to the creation of the American Temperance society.  The American Temperance Society urged drinkers to take a vow of total assistance.  Temperance societies like the American Temperance Society and Washingtonians gained more than a million members. o The Washingtonians was created by recovering alcoholics who belived alcoholism was a disease that needed practical helpful treatment. o Maine became the first state to prohibit the manufacture and sale of liquors eventually 12 other states fallowed after the Civil War. o o Movement for Public Asylums o    After seeing the poor treatments of criminals, poop people, and mentally disabled people, reformers advocated for public institutions to help those people. Mental Hospitals Dorothea Dix advocated for mental hospitals by traveling the country and describing the poor conditions in existing facilities. Eventually, state legislatures started building mental hospitals and improved existing hospitals. Thomas Gallaudet opened a school for the deaf and Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe created a school for the blind. Prisons Pennsylvania led the prison reforms, by placing inmate in a solitary cell to reflect upon their actions to become better. These ultimately failed, and the solitary system was retired due to prisoner suicide. Public Education Free Common Schools     Horace Mann was the leading advocate of the common school movement, Mann advocated for compulsory attendance and increased teacher preparation. The free public school quickly spread to other states. Moral Education Education reformers wanted children to learn morals. Thus William Holmes McGuffey created a series of textbooks used to teach reading and morality. Higher Education Religious enthusiasm inspired people to create new colleges mostly in the new western states. Further, colleges such as Mount Holyoke and Oberlin College began to admit women. Changes in Families and Roles for Women o     As cities began to grow, industrialization reduced the value of children leading middleclass families to practice birth control. Cult of Domesticity Industrialization pushed men from farms to factories leading women to stary behind and take charge of the household and children, this was internalized by the phrase cult of domesticity. Women's Rights Sarah and Angelina Grimke were two leading feminist leaders fallowed by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Each of these women began campaigning for women's rights. Seneca Falls Convention Leading feminist leaders met at Seneca Falls to hold the first women's rights convention in American history. At the meeting they created the "Declaration of Sentiments" which declared all men and women to be equal and listed their greviences against laws and customs that excluded women. Antislavery Movement o     The Second Great Awakening led many Christians to view slavery as a sin. Not to mention, slavery led to controversy between moderates and radical abolitionists. American Colonization Society The group wanted to ship freed slaves back to Africa, particularly Liberia, this was supported by racist whites who rejected to freed blacks living in U.S society. American Antislavery Society A radical abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison created an abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, Garrison called for immediate abolition of slavery in every state. Garrison and other abolitionists created the American Antislavery Society to further spread abolitionist messages. Liberty Party Believing political power was more important than Garrison's moral attack, northerners formed the Liberty Party, the party sole goal was to end slavery.     Black Abolitionists Fredrick Douglas, a freed slaves, went on a moral crusade aginst slavery by starting an antislavery journal The North Star which described his experiences as a slave. Harriet Tubman, David Ruggles, Sojourner Truth, and William Stills organized efforts to help fugitive slaves escape. Violent Abolitionism David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet, two northern blacks advocated slaves should arm themselves to take action aginst their owners. Nat Turner led a rebellion in which he killed 55 whites his rebellion, in retaliation whites killed hundred of slaves, and ended antislavery talk in the South. Other Reforms The American Peace Society focused on abolishing war and were very critical of the Mexican-American war. o Dietary reforms to promote good digestion. o Dress reforms for women, transition form long skirts to pantalettes. o Phrenology, a pseudoscience that examined bumps on peoples head to asses the person's character and ability. o Southern Reaction to Reform o Reforms occurred in the northern and western states, and the south vied reform as a northern threat aginst the southern way of life.