Chapter 12 The Age of Reform

Chapter 12: The Age of Reform The Reform Impulse What were the major movements and goals of antebellum reform?     Goals of reformers: established voluntary organizations that worked to o Prevent the manufacture and sale of liquor o End public entertainments and the delivery of mail on Sunday o Improve conditions in prisons o Expand public education o Uplift the condition of wage laborers o Reorganize society on the basis of cooperation rather than competitive individualism Groups worked to convert public opinion to their cause o Sent speakers, gathered signatures on petitions, published pamphlets Flourishing movements: liquor bans, assisting blind and insane Weak movements: women’s rights, labor unionism, educational reform—associated with antislavery Utopian Communities        Utopian Communities: Ideal communities that offered innovative social and economic relationships to those who were interested in achieving salvation About 100 formed in decade before Civil War Named “utopian” after Thomas More’s book which outline perfected society Set out to restore social harmony in world of excessive individualism o Narrow gap between rich and poor “Socialism” and “Communism”: social organizations in which productive property is owned by the community rather than private individuals Changed gender relations and marriage patterns o Some—no sex at all o Others—changed partners at will Abolition of private property accompanied end to men’s “property” in women The Shakers      Shakers: Religious sect founded by Mother Ann Lee in England. The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing settled in Watervliet, New York, in 1774, and subsequently established 18 additional communes in the Northeast, Indiana and Kentucky Attracted those who sought retreat for society of sinners Believed God had a “dual” personality—male and female o Two sexes were spiritually equal Abandoned traditional family life o “Virgin purity”—no one had sex o Men and women lived in separate dormatories o Ate in communal dining rooms o Increased converts by adopting orphans (no sex) o Rejected private property Were successful economically o 1st to market vegetable and flower seeds 1 o o o Sold herbal medications commercially Bred cattle for profit Crafted furniture Oneida       Oneida: Utopian community founded in 1848 in upstate New York; the Perfectionist religious group practiced “complex marriage” under leader John Humphrey Noyes 1836, small community originally formed in Putney, Vermont “Complex marriage”: any man could propose sexual relations to any woman, who had the right to either reject or accept his invitation o Registered in a public record book “Exclusive affections”: dangerous and destroyed harmony of the community Indicted for adultery 1848, moved communities to Oneida—survived until 1881 Worldly Communities      Outsiders believed utopian communities to be cases of “voluntary slavery” Spirituality-oriented communities: achieved longevity die to member devotion to teachings and rules laid down by leaders Worldly-oriented communities: lasted shorter periods of time due to internal divisions Communitarianism: Social reform movement of the 19th century driven by the belief that by establishing small communities based on common ownership of property, a less competitive and individualistic society could developed o Communitarian secular: person who plans or lives in a cooperative community  Robert Owen = most important  Appalled at degradation of early industrial workers  Created model factory village at New Lanark, Scotland o Stick rules of work discipline + comfortable housing + free public education o 1815, 1,500 employees = largest cotton manufacturing center in world New Harmony: Community founded in Indiana by British industrialist Robert Owen in 1825; the short-lived New Harmony Community of Equality was one of the few 19th century communal experiments not based on religious ideology o Hoped to create a “new moral world” o Children removed from parents to be educated  Taught subordination to common good v. individual ambition o Defended women’s rights  Access to education + right to divorce  No longer “enslaved” to husbands  Abandoned “false notions” of innate differences between men and women o Residents fought over everything from community’s constitution to property distribution  Last only a few years o Strongly influenced labor movement, educational reforms, and women’s rights advocates  Community of equals was possible Religion and Reform   Most American’s didn’t join utopian societies o Would have to give up property (essential to freedom) or marriage (essential to social order) American’s moved to movements that either liberated them from: o External restraints: slavery, war 2    o Internal “servitude”: drinking, illiteracy, tendency toward criminality Many reforms inspired by Second Great Awakening o If God created man as a “free moral agent” sinners could reform themselves AND remake the world Perfectionism: The idea that social ills once considered incurable could in fact be eliminated, popularized by the religious revivalism of the 19th century o People and society could always improve  Temperance: moderate consumption of alcohol  Pacificism: the belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances, and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means  Total abolition: not gradual emancipation but a complete stop to slavery immediately Temperance Movement: A widespread reform movement, led by militant Christians, focused on reducing the use of alcoholic beverages o The American Temperance Society (founded in 1826) directed efforts to redeeming habitual drunks as well as occasional drinkers  By 1830s, persuaded hundreds of thousands to stop drinking  By 1840, alcohol consumption per person had fallen by half within decade Critics of Reform    For many: reform impulse attacked freedom Taverns were meeting place for urban workingmen for drinking o Political discussions o Organizational meetings o Recreation o Festive celebrations o Militia gatherings Catholics on reform o Catholic numbers grew with Irish and German immigration o Sin was an inescapable burden on individuals and society o Perfectionist idea that evil could be banished from world = offensive to genuine religion o Believed Protestants were imposing their beliefs on them (most reformed were Protestant)  Reformers: man = free moral agent  Catholics: individual independence < family and church centered communities Reformers and Freedom   Reformers had to find way to create moral order while enhancing personal freedom Tension between liberation and control o Liberation:  Reformers insisted goal was to enable genuine liberty  Opportunity to compete for economic gain and individual self-improvement  Liberating Americans from “slavery” that made it impossible to succeed: drinking, poverty, sin o Control:  Reformers insisted that self-fulfillment came through self-discipline  Free individual = one who practiced self-control  Believed American society had excessive “Natural Liberty” (John Winthrop’s anarchic liberty that he warned against in Puritan times)  Eastern religious groups believed westerners and immigrants lacked self-control  Led lives of vice: drinking, violations of Sabbath, lack of Protestant devotion  Formed the American Tract Society, American Bible Society  Spread gospel and pamphlets promotion religious virtue 3 The Invention of the Asylum    Tensions between liberation and control evident in new institutions formed to make humans into free, morally upright citizens 1830s and 1840s—institution building o Jails for criminals (instead of whipping, fines, and banishment) o Poorhouses for the destitute o Asylums for the insane o Orphanages Institutions shared perfectionism idea that social ills were curable The Common School     Common Schools: Tax-supported state schools of the early 19th century open to all children o Largest effort at institution before Civil War Horace Mann—Massachusetts lawyer and Whig politician o Director of state’s board of education o Leading educational reformed o Hoped that universal public education could restore equality to fractured society by bringing children of all classes together to advance in social scale North: By 1860, every Northern state had established common schools o Supported by labor organizations, factory owners, middle-class reformers o First career opportunity for women—teachers South: Fell behind in public education o Literate blacks were a danger to society o Didn’t want to tax themselves to pay the education of poor white children The Crusade Against Slavery What were the different variants of abolitionism?  For many years, only Quakers, slaves, and free blacks challenged slavery Colonization   American Colonization Society: Organized in 1816 to encourage colonization of free blacks to Africa; West African nation Liberia founded in 1822 to serve as a homeland for them o Struck many as impractical o Numerous prominent political leaders of Jacksonian Era behind this: Henry Clay, John Marshall, Daniel Webster, Andrew Jackson o Believed slavery and racism too embedded = blacks could never achieve equality in America if freed Some blacks opposed idea of colonization—wanted to claim their rights as Americans o 1817, 3,000 blacks gathered in Philadelphia for the 1st national black convention  Insisted blacks were Americans and entitled to same freedom and rights as whites Militant Abolitionism  1830s abolitionist movement was different than earlier movement o Drew on religious conviction—slavery was a sin o Contradicted the values in the Declaration of Independence o Rejected gradual emancipation and demanded immediate abolition o Explosive language against slavery and slaveholders o Insisted that free blacks be incorporated as equal citizens of the republic in society—not deported 4   o Perfecting society = abolition and end to racism in all forms 1829, An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World by David Walker, a free black businessman o Called on black Americans to  Mobilize for abolition—by force if necessary  Take pride in ancient African achievements  Claim rights as Americans o Warned whites that  Nation faced divine punishment if it did not change sinful ways  God would get vengeance on United States for violation of justice  God would scorn ministers who defended slavery for violating golden rule (don’t do what you wouldn’t want done to you) 1831, The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison’s journal in Boston—most notable propagandist o Idea to repeal Constitution and dissolve Union to end its complicity of slavery—rejected by most o Call for immediate abolition o Thoughts on African Colonization: persuaded those against slavery that blacks must be recognized as American, not deported Spreading the Abolitionist Message   Abolitionist movement spread quickly in North o Rapid development of print technology o Expansion of literacy thanks to common-school education o Used steam printing press to produce millions of pamphlets, newspapers, petitions, novels, and broadsides o Between formation of American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833-1840, 100,000 Northerners joined local abolition groups  Ordinary citizens: farmers, shopkeepers, craftsmen, laborers + some prominent businesses men and merchants o American Anti-Slavery Society: Founded in 1833, the organization that sought an immediate end to slavery and the establishment of equality for free black Americans. It split in 1840 after disputes about the role of women within the organization and other issues. Theodore Weld—movements most notable orator who helped to create mass constituency o Trained speakers to spread abolitionist message o Simple message: slavery was a sin o Methods similar to revivalists: fervent preaching, lengthy meetings, calls for people to renounce immoral ways Slavery and Moral Suasion   Moral Suasion: The abolitionist strategy that sought to end slavery by persuading both slaveowners and complicit northerners that the institution was evil o Many abolitionists were pacifists or “non-resistants”: coercion should be eliminated from all human relationships and institutions o Strategy: moral suasion + Arena: public sphere Abolitionists o Focused efforts on awakening the nation to the moral evil of slavery—not on infiltrating parties  Deliberate provocative language to get public’s attention o Argued that abolition required fundamental changed in BOTH North and south o Insisted natural right to personal liberty, regardless of race, took precedence over all other freedoms 5 A New Vision of America      Antislavery movement sought to reinvigorate idea that freedom as a universal right—not a white right o An American people unbounded by race 1833, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans by Lydia Maria Child o Viewed slaves and free blacks as members of a national community o Idea that birthplace, not race, determined who was American Angelina Grimke: the crusade against slavery was nations “school in which human rights are investigated” Abolitionists debated slavery in Constitution o William Lloyd Garrison: covenant with devil o Frederick Douglass: it offered no national protection to the institution o Abolitionists: developed a “rights-oriented” view  Universal understanding of liberty  Invented concept of “equality before the law”, regardless of race (define core rights to which all Americans were entitled) o Abolitionists: also expanded definition of cruelty  Graphic descriptions of beating, brandings, and other physical suffering popularized idea of bodily integrity as a basic right slavery violated Abolitionists used Declaration’s preamble to condemned slavery o Liberty bell was used later as a symbol of abolition—used as liberty tree was to founding fathers Black and White Abolitionism How did abolitionism challenge barriers to racial equality and free speech? Black Abolitionists      Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 anti-slavery novel that popularized the abolitionist position o Sold more than 1,000,000 copies in 1854 o Inspired stage versions o Portrayed slaves as sympathetic men and women and Christians at mercy of slaveholders who split up families 1840s, black abolitionists regularly held own conventions Free black communities in North devised an alternative calendar of “freedom celebrations” o January 1 (1808)—slavery became illegal o August 1—anniversary of West Indian emancipation Ideal color-blind citizenship 1852, Frederick Douglass speech o “What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?”  4th festivities revealed hypocrisy of a nation that proclaimed belief in liberty but committed “practices more shocking and bloody” that any country on earth  Revolution gave justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence but generations since strayed  Abolishing slavery and ending racism would recapture original mission Gentlemen of Property and Standing  “Gentlemen of property and standing”: Well-to-do merchants who often had commercial ties to the South and resisted abolitionism, occasionally inciting violence against its adherents o Feared abolitionism would  Disrupt the union  Interfere with profits wrested from slave labor  Overturn white supremacy 6      o Often merchants with close commercial ties to South o Mobs disrupted abolitionist meetings in Northern cities 1837, Elijah P. Lovejoy became 1st martyr (a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs) o Killed by mob in Alton, IL while defending his press 1838, mob burned Pennsylvania Hall—abolitionist built to hold meetings Southerners burned abolitionist literature from mail o Unspoken approval from Amos Kendall, Jackson’s postmaster general Gag Rule: Rule adopted by House of Representatives in 1836 prohibiting consideration of abolitionist petitions; opposition, led by former president John Quincy Adams, succeeded in having it repealed in 1844 Abolition movement broadened appeal to win support of northerners who didn’t care about slaves but cared about their own freedom o Inspired by Gag Rule  If government discriminates against one movement, then it can discriminate against all The Origins of Feminism What were the diverse sources of the antebellum women’s rights movement and its significance? The Rise of the Public Women    Grassroot strength of abolition movement came from women o Most were evangelical Protestants, New England Congregationalists, or Quakers Public sphere open to women (unlike politics) o Circulated petitions o Attended mass meetings o Marched in political parades o Delivered lectures o Raised money for political cause Dorothea Dix: An important figure in increasing the public’s awareness of the plight of the mentally ill. After a 2 year investigation of the treatment of the mentally ill in Massachusetts, she presented her findings and won the support of leading reformers. She eventually convinced 20 states to reform their treatment of the mentally ill. Women and Free Speech   Women fighting for abolition developed a new understanding of their own subordinate social and legal status Angelina and Sarah Grimke o 1830s, delivered popular lectures that condemned slavery o Massachusetts clergymen denounced sisters for not being modest or delicate o Sisters defended the rights of women to debate in politics o Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, 1838, Sarah Grimke  Called for equal rights of women and critiqued men’s higher wages for same work as women Women’s Rights   Grimke sisters were first to apply abolitionist doctrine of universal freedom and equality to women o Sparked movement for women’s rights in 1840s Seneca Falls Convention is 1848 (Upstate New York) o Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott o Raised issue of women’s suffrage for the 1st time o Stanton authored the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments on the Declaration of Independence (modeled after Jefferson’s) 7   Added “women” to “all men are created equal”  Condemned the injuries to women by men in place of list of grievances by George III  Freedom = right to vote, if women couldn’t vote, they were not free like men  Democratic government is a false theory unless women can vote Declaration of Sentiments also condemned other inequalities o Access to education and employment o Husbands control over property and wages of wives + custody of children if divorced o No independent legal status after they married o Restricted to home Feminism and Freedom   Feminism: Team that entered the lexicon in the early 20th century to describe the movement for full equality for women, in political, social, and personal life Margaret Fuller o Became part of transcendentalist circle o 1840-1842, edited The Dial—transcendentalist magazine o 1844, literary editor of the New York Tribune—1st woman to achieve important journalism position o 1845, Women in the Nineteenth Century—sought to apply transcendentalist idea that freedom meant a quest for personal development to women Women and Work    Women demanded right to participate in market revolution 1851, black abolitionist Sojourner Truth insisted movement devote attention to poor and working-class women o Denied women were too delicate to work outside of home o She was once a slave and did hard labor—flexed her muscles and showed women could work Amelia Bloomer popularized women wearing loose-fitting tunics and trousers o Wanted to point out that long dresses, corsets, and petticoats made it almost impossible for women to work outside home The Slavery of Sex      Concept of “slavery of sex” empowered women’s movements to encompass critique of male authority and female subordination Law of marriage described as “private” was nonsense Marriage and slavery became linked ideas o Married women did not enjoy the fruits of her own labor—central element of freedom 1839, states enacted property laws that protected property brought into a marriage from husband’s creditors 1860s, New York enacted laws allowing married women to sign contracts, buy and sell property, keep wages o In most states, property accumulated after marriage and wages earned by wife belonged to husband “Social Freedom”     Self-ownership—control over one’s self—influence by abolitionist movement Law of domestic relations: o Husband’s right to sexual access to his wife o Husband’s right to inflict corporal punishment on wife  Courts reluctant to intervene in physical abuse as long as it was not “extreme” 1859, “women’s rights include freedom and equal rights in the family”—women should be able to: o Consent to sex o Control procreation o Be protected by law from physical abuse Fall in birthrate in 19th century suggested women were exercising “personal freedom” at home (saying no to sex) 8 The Abolitionist Schism     1840, Organized abolitionism split into 2 wings over dispute over proper role of women in antislavery work Abby Kelly’s election to the business committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society sparked formation of rival abolitionist organization, the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society which believed it was wrong for a woman to hold such a prominent position o Fear that Garrison’s radicalism on issues like women’s rights, refusal to support abolitionists voting or running for public office, impeded movements growth Liberty Party: Abolitionist political party that nominated James G. Birney for president in 1840 and 1844: merged with the Free Soil Party in 1848 Abolitionist greatest achievement was getting slavery into public debate and being openly talked about 9