Samuel Slater
"the Father of the Factory System" and he started the idea of child labor in America's factories.
Eli Whitney
United States inventor of the mechanical cotton gin (1765-1825)
Elias Howe & Isaac Singer
invented the sewing machine
Samuel F. B. Morse
invented the telegraph
John Deere
Invented the steel plow
Cyrus McCormick
Invented the mechanical reaper
Robert Fulton
Invented the steamboat
DeWitt Clinton
New York governor who built the Erie Canal
Peter Cartwright
Best known of the Methodist "circuit riders" (traveling frontier preachers). Sinewy servant of the Lord ranged for half-century from Tennessee to Illinois, calling upon sinners to repent.
Charles G. Finney
the most famous revivalist of the Second Great Awakening. He did not merely lead revivals; he actively marketed, promoted and packaged them.
Catharine Beecher
she promoted education for women in such writings as An Essay on the Education of Female Teachers. She founded the first all-female academy.
Lucretia Mott
Quaker activist in both the abolitionist and women's movements; with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she was a principal organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
A prominent advocate of women's rights, Stanton organized the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention with Lucretia Mott
Susan B. Anthony
social reformer who campaigned for womens rights, the temperance, and was an abolitionist, helped form the National Woman Suffrage Assosiation
Lucy Stone
American suffragist who founded the American Women Suffrage Association.
Elizabeth Blackwell
an abolitionist, women's rights activist, and the first female doctor in the United States
Amelia Bloomer
publisher of The Lily who advocated for complete equality, including in dress; long pants worn under a skirt were nicknamed "Bloomers" in her honor
Emma Willard
Early supporter of women's education, in 1818. She published Plan for Improving Education, which became the basis for public education of women in New York. 1821, she opened her own girls' school, the Troy Female Seminary, designed to prepare women for college.
Margaret Fuller
was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement. She was the first American female war correspondent and full-time book reviewer in journalism
Joseph Smith
religious leader who founded the Mormon Church in 1830 (1805-1844)
Brigham Young
Successor to the Mormons after the death of Joseph Smith; responsible for the survival of the sect and its establishment in Salt Lake City, Utah
Carl Schurz
A German immigrant that arrived in 1860. He was a politician and journalist that fought against slavery and for good treatment of Native Americans.
Horace Mann
Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, he was a prominent proponent of public school reform, and set the standard for public schools throughout the nation.
William H. McGuffey
created the nations first and most widely used series of textbooks
Noah Webster
wrote the first major American dictionary
Dorothea Dix
Rights activist on behalf of mentally ill patients - created first wave of US mental asylums
Neal S. Dow
Nineteenth-century temperance activist, dubbed the "Father of Prohibition" for his sponsorship of the Maine Law of 1851 that prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the state.
James Fenimore Cooper
American novelist who is best remembered for his novels of frontier life, such as The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
Ralph Waldo Emerson
United States writer and leading exponent of transcendentalism (1803-1882)
Henry David Thoreau
Transcendentalist; civil disobedience; gov. that violates individual morality has no legit authority
Walt Whitman
American poet and transcendentalist who was famous for his beliefs on nature, as demonstrated in his book, Leaves of Grass. He was therefore an important part for the buildup of American literature and breaking the traditional rhyme method in writing poetry.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
American poet that was influenced somewhat by the transcendentalism occurring at the time. He was important in building the status of American literature.
Louisa May Alcott
American writer and reformer best known for her largely autobiographical novel Little Women (1868-1869).
Emily Dickinson
Reclusive New England poet who wrote about love, death, and immortality
Nathaniel Hawthorne
He was an American novelist and short story writer. He gained international fame for his novel The Scarlet Letter, a masterpiece of American literature.
Herman Melville
American writer whose experiences at sea provided the factual basis of Moby-Dick (1851), considered among the greatest American novels
Washington Irving
He was an American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is called "the Father of American Literature."
Edgar Allan Poe
American writer known especially for his macabre poems, such as "The Raven" (1845), and short stories, including "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839).
Francis Parkman
American historian noted for his classic seven-volume history of France and England in North America, covering the colonial period from the beginnings to 1763.
George Bancroft
Father of American History
William Wilberforce
British reformer who led the abolitionist movement that ended the British slave trade in 1807.
Denmark Vesey
a carpenter and formerly enslaved person, allegedly planned an enslaved insurrection to coincide with Bastille Day in Charleston, South Carolina in 1822. Vesey modeled his rebellion after the successful 1791 slave revolution in Haiti.
Nat Turner
Leader of a slave rebellion in 1831 in Virginia. Revolt led to the deaths of 20 whites and 40 blacks and led to the "gag rule' outlawing any discussion of slavery in the House of Representatives
Theodore Dwight Weld
Leader of the "Lane Rebels" who wrote the powerful antislavery work American Slavery As It Is
William Lloyd Garrison
Prominent American abolitionist, journalist and social reformer. Editor of radical abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator", and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
David Walker
Black abolitionist who called for the immediate emancipation of slaves; wrote the "Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World."- called for a bloody end to white supremacy; believed that the only way to end slavery was for slaves to physically revolt.
Sojourner Truth
United States abolitionist and feminist who was freed from slavery and became a leading advocate of the abolition of slavery and for the rights of women (1797-1883)
Martin Delany
Black abolitionist who visited West Africa in 1859 to examine sites where African Americans might relocate
Frederick Douglass
Escaped slave and great black abolitionist who fought to end slavery through political action
Harriet Beecher Stowe
(1811-1896) American author and daughter of Lyman Beecher, she was an abolitionist and author of the famous antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Elijah P. Lovejoy
American Presbyterian minister, journalist, and news paper editor who was murdered by a mob for his abolitionist views
John Quincy Adams
For 8 ½ hours, the 73-year-old passionately and eloquently defended the Africans' right to freedom on both legal and moral grounds, referring to treaties prohibiting the slave trade and to the Declaration of Independence (Amistad case)
Nativism
the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.
Old Stock Americans
Term used by the Census Bureau to describe people who were born in the United States
“Molly Maguires”
secret organization of Irish miners that campaigned against poor working conditions in the Pennsylvania mines.
Know Nothing Party
A party which pushed for political action against these newcomers. They displayed the feelings of America regarding newcomers that were different and therefore, the double standard of the country.
Market Revolution
the major change in the US economy produced by people's beginning to buy and sell goods rather than make them for themselves
Industrial Revolution
A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.
Cotton Gin
A machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793
Interchangeable Parts
made it possible to mass-produce goods more efficiently and at a lower cost
Patent Office
Federal government bureau that reviews patent applications. A patent is a legal recognition of a new invention, granting exclusive rights to the inventor for a period of years.
McCormick Reaper
Mechanized the harvest of grains, such as wheat, allowing farmers to cultivate larger plots; 1831; fueled the large-scale establishment of commercial agriculture in the Midwest
Limited Liability
A form of business ownership in which the owners are liable only up to the amount of their individual investments.
General Incorporation Law/Free Incorporation
allows corporations to be formed without a charter from the legislature. It also refers to a law enabling a certain type of corporation, such as a railroad, to exercise eminent domain and other special rights without a charter from the legislature.
Commonwealth v. Hunt 1842
Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that strengthened the labor movement by upholding the legality of unions.
Lowell Factory
factory in Lowell, Massachusetts that employed local farm girls; helped women get jobs and follow a different path besides farm work.
Cult of Domesticity
idealized view of women & home; women, self-less caregiver for children, refuge for husbands
“Godey’s Lady’s Book”
Women's magazine that focused on trivial subjects such as fashion, shopping, and homemaking advice. Things that a domestic wife would be interested in.
Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls
Gathering of feminist activists in Seneca Falls, New York, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton read her "Declaration of Sentiments," stating that "all men and women are created equal."
Declaration of Sentiments
Revision of the Declaration of Independence to include women and men (equal). It was the grand basis of attaining civil, social, political, and religious rights for women.
Transportation Revolution
A period of rapid growth in the speed and convenience of travel because of new methods of transportation.
Star-Spangled Banner Party
was an oath-bound secret society in New York City. It was created in 1849 by Charles B. Allen to protest the rise of Irish and German Catholic immigration into the United States.
Turnpike
road on which tolls are collected
Erie Canal
A canal between the New York cities of Albany and Buffalo, completed in 1825. The canal, considered a marvel of the modern world at the time, allowed western farmers to ship surplus crops to sell in the North and allowed northern manufacturers to ship finished goods to sell in the West.
Pony Express
A Mail carrying service; ran from 1860-1861; was established to carry mail speedily along the 2000 miles from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California; they could make the trek in 10 days.
The Clermont
Fulton's steamboat in 1807 which powered on/by a newly designed engine. It took the Clermont 32 hours to go 150 miles from New York to Albany.
Deism
A popular Enlightenment era belief that there is a God, but that God isn't involved in people's lives or in revealing truths to prophets.
Unitarianism
A religious cult constructed in New England at the end of the eighteenth century and believed God existed in only one person and not in the holy trinity. Believed that humans have free will, and that God is not a stern creator, he is a loving father.
Second Great Awakening
A series of religious revivals starting in 1801, based on Methodism and Baptism. Stressed a religious philosophy of salvation through good deeds and tolerance for all Protestant sects. The revivals attracted women, Blacks, and Native Americans.
Mormons
Church founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, religious group that emphasized moderation, saving, hard work, and risk-taking; moved from IL to UT
New Harmony, IN
Utopian Community; recognized for culture and science; site of first kindergarden and first free public school
Brook Farm
Transcendentalist commune founded by a group of intellectuals, who emphasized living plainly while pursuing the life of the mind. The community fell into debt and dissolved when their communal home burned to the ground in 1846.
Oneida Community
One of the more radical utopian communities established in the nineteenth century, it advocated "free love," birth control, and eugenics. Utopian communities reflected the reformist spirit of the age.
Shakers
1770's by "Mother" Ann Lee; Utopian group that splintered from the Quakers; believed that they & all other churches had grown too interested in this world & neglectful of their afterlives; prohibited marriage and sexual relationships; practiced celibacy
American Temperance Society
An organization group in which reformers are trying to help the ever present drink problem. This group was formed in Boston in 1826, and it was the first well-organized group created to deal with the problems drunkards had on societies well being, and the possible well-being of the individuals that are heavily influenced by alcohol.
Maine Law 1851
first statewide attempt to restrict the consumption of alcohol; the law prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol except for medical reasons.
Hudson River school
American artistic movement that produced romantic renditions of local landscapes.
Minstrel show
stage entertainment consisting of songs, dances, and comic scenes performed by white actors in blackface makeup; originated in the nineteenth century
Transcendentalism
a form of American philosophy that emerged in the early 19th century, emphasizing the importance of intuition and spiritual connection to the divine.
Rugged Individualism
Herbert Hoover's belief that people must be self-reliant and not depend upon the federal government for assistance.
Self Reliance
is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The American Scholar”
Ralph Waldo Emerson's address at Harvard College, in which he declared an intellectual independence from Europe, urging American scholars to develop their own traditions.
“Walden”
written by Henry David Thoreau; a personal account of his life spent in a cabin on the edge of Walden Pond, where he lived simply and found truth
“On Civil Disobedience”
inspired social and political reformers because he had refused to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican-American War, and had spent a night in jail
Abolitionism
Movement to end slavery
West Africa Squadron
British Royal Navy force formed to enforce the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. It intercepted hundreds of slave ships and freed thousands of Africans.
American Colonization Society
Reflecting the focus of early abolitionists on transporting freed blacks back to Africa, the organization established Liberia, a West-African settlement intended as a haven for emancipated slaves.
Liberia
A West African nation founded in 1822 by the American Colonization Society to serve as a homeland for free blacks to settle
The Liberator
An anti-slavery newspaper written by William Lloyd Garrison. It drew attention to abolition, both positive and negative, causing a war of words between supporters of slavery and those opposed.
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
one of the largest slave rebellions ever to take place in the United States, and it played an important role in the development of antebellum slave society.