Unit 4 Vocab Pt. 2

Transcendentalists

those who followed transcendentalism, which was a literary and intellectual movement that emphasized individualism and self-reliance, predicated upon a belief that each person possesses an “inner light” that can point the way to truth and direct contact with God

Ralph Waldo Emerson

American transcendentalist who was against slavery and stressed self-reliance, optimism, self-improvement, self-confidence, and freedom

Henry David Thoreau

American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. His significance was his use of metaphors in his writing to advocate social nonconformity and civil disobedience against unjust laws

Antebellum

derived from Latin that means "before war", "antebellum" is commonly used, in lieu of "pre-Civil War," in reference to the period of increasing sectionalism that led up to the American Civil War

Shakers

Emphasized simple, communal living and were all expected to practice celibacy. First transplanted to America from England by Mother Ann Lee, the Shakers counted 6000 members by 1840, through by the 1940’s the movement had largely died out

New Harmony

Communal society of around 1000 members, established in New Harmony, Indiana, by Robert Owen. The community attracted a hodgepodge of individuals, from scholars to crooks, and fell apart due to infighting and confusion after just two years

Oneida Community

One of the more radical utopian communities established in the 19th century, which advocated for “free love,” birth control, and eugenics. Utopian communities reflected the reformist spirit of the age

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival characterized by emotional mass “camp meetings” and widespread conversion. Brought about a democratization of religion as a multiplicity of denominations vied for members

Brigham Young

American religious leader who headed the Mormon Church after the murder of Joseph Smith, he moved the community to Utah, leading thousands along what came to be known as the Mormon Trail to the main settlement at Salt Lake City

Mormons- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Religious followers of Joseph Smith, who founded a communal, oligarchic religious order in the 1830’s, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mormons, facing deep hostility from their non-Mormon neighbors, eventually migrated west and established a flourishing settlement in the Utah desert

Charles Finney

known as the "father of modern revivalism," he was a pioneer of cooperation among Protestant denominations. He believed that conversions were human creations instead of the divine works of God, and that people's destinies were in their own hands. His "Social Gospel" offered salvation to all

American Temperance Society

Founded in Boston in 1826 as part of a growing effort of 19th century reformers to limit alcohol consumption

Dorothea Dix

A reformer and pioneer in the movement to treat the insane as mentally ill, beginning in the 1820's, she was responsible for improving conditions in jails, poorhouses and insane asylums throughout the U.S. and Canada. She served as the Superintendent of Nurses for the Union Army during the Civil War

asylum movement

The creation of "asylums" for criminals and for the mentally ill. The movement advocated prison and hospital reform

Horace Mann

advocated for universal public education and reform of the educational system. Mann believed that education was a right for all children and essential for a democratic society

McGuffey Reader

created a series of elementary textbooks that became widely accepted as the basis of reading and moral instruction in hundreds of schools

cult of domesticity

Persuasive 19th century cultural creed that venerated the domestic role of women. It gave married women greater authority to shape home life but limited opportunities outside the domestic sphere

Seneca Falls Convention

Took place in upper state New York in 1848. Women of all ages and even some men went to discuss the rights and conditions of women. There, they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which among other things, tried to get women the right to vote

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

William Lloyd Garrison- The Liberator

A prominent American abolitionist and journalist. He was the creator of The Liberator, and a founder of the American Anti-slavery society

Frederick Douglass

an escaped slave, who became a powerful abolitionist orator. He captured his audiences with descriptions of his life as a slave. He also published a newspaper, the North Star, in the early 1830s

David Walker

a black abolitionist who called for the immediate emancipation of slaves. He wrote the "Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World." It called for a bloody end to white supremacy. He believed that the only way to end slavery was for slaves to physically revolt

peculiar institution

Widely used term for the institution of American slavery in the South. Its use in the first half of the nineteenth century reflected a growing division between the North, where slavery was gradually abolished, and the South, where slavery became increasingly entrenched

slave codes

set of laws beginning in 1662 defining racial slavery. They established the hereditary nature of slavery and limited the rights and education of slaves

planter aristocracy

The South governed by a select few rich people, was the head of the southern society. They determined the political, economic, and even the social life of their region

poor whites “hillbillies”

Derisive term for poor white subsistence farmers, they often lived in the hills and farmed less productive land