History- Unit 3 (Nationalism/Reform/Expansion)

5th POTUS = James Monroe

Democratic Republican From Virginia
Less sectionalism - received a warm welcome in Boston - northern city welcoming southern POTUS Era of Good Feelings 1816-1825 - Monroe’s presidency Rise in nationalism, decrease in sectionalism, General positive sentiments in the nation More bipartisanship in Congress (political parties getting along and passing laws together)

Sectionalism vs. Nationalism

Sectionalism Placing the interests of the region over the interests of the nation

North vs. South (and west)
Nationalism
Placing the nation’s interests ahead of regional interests or the interests of other countries

Accomplished by expanding the power of the federal government.

The SCOTUS Boosts National Power
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Maryland’s state government taxed the federal branch of the BUS in Baltimore, without taxing state run banks.

McCulloch, the head of the BUS in Baltimore, refused to pay the state tax saying it was unconstitutional for states to interfere with federal laws (a federal law created the BUS).

Maryland sued McCulloch - in state court, Maryland won

McCulloch appealed to the Supreme Court

Questions at hand…
Is the law that established the BUS constitutional?
Does Maryland have the ability to interfere with federal laws?

The SCOTUS Boosts National Power
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Chief Justice John Marshall (Federalist) delivered the SCOTUS’s opinion…
In favor of MCCULLOCH (head of the BUS)
Declared the BUS constitutional because of the “Necessary and Proper Clause” in the Constitution (the federal government can do all things that are necessary and proper to the survival of the nation)
Maryland cannot tax the BUS because federal laws are more powerful than state laws (the Supremacy Clause)
IMPORTANCE – Marshall re-emphasized that federal laws are greater than state laws → more power to federal government

Nationalism and Foreign Policy
John Quincy Adams
Secretary of State in Monroe’s cabinet
Belief in nationalism guided his foreign policies
Interested in the security of the nation by establishing and securing the nation’s borders
Wanted to expand US territory
1817 - Adams negotiated the Rush-Bagot Treaty with England
Agreement to reduce the number of US and British navy ships in the Great Lakes
Demilitarization (removal of troops) of the US-Canada border
Increased US security by decreasing nearby British troops

New Borders and Territory
Convention of 1818
Adams established the northern US border with Canada at the 49th parallel
US and England would jointly own the Oregon territory for 10 years
Start of expanding US territory

1819, treaty with Spain
US gained Florida
Spain gave up land claims in the Oregon Territory

Monroe Doctrine
Spain, Russia, and England wanted to establish colonies in North and South America
Scared Monroe – other nations’ colonies could be
threatening if too close to American borders
1823 – Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine
US would stay out of European affairs if European powers stayed out of the western hemisphere
Any European act in the western hemisphere would be deemed an act of aggression and “dangerous to our peace and safety.”

“We will stay out of your part of the world if you stay out of ours”
Guided US foreign policy for almost 100 years (until World War I)
Doctrine – a set of beliefs
Monroe’s Presidency

Nationalism Pushes West
Why move westward? → NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
Cheap and fertile land
Change occupations
Escape debts
Escape the law (fugitives)
Later, gold?

How did westward expansion contribute to NATIONALISM?
More land = bigger more powerful nation

How did westward expansion contribute to SECTIONALISM?
More land = more debates over slavery (north and south have VERY different ideas on slavery)

Election of 1824
No parties?

The Federalists are gone.

The Democratic- Republican Party is the largest, but has many “factions” (subgroups) and couldn’t agree on just 1 candidate… so 4 Dem. Reps. ran for POTUS.

Election of 1824
House of Representatives, under Henry Clay’s direction, voted for Adams.
Henry Clay (the Speaker of the House) had the power to sway the votes in the House of Representatives to his chosen candidate.
Clay ran for POTUS, but received the least electoral votes,so he couldn’t choose himself… but he chose a close ally…
J.Q. Adams = 6th POTUS!
Chose Henry Clay to be his Secretary of State… hmmm
“I cannot believe, that the killing of twenty-five hundred Englishmen at New Orleans qualifies him for the various difficult and complicated duties of the presidency.”

Henry Clay speaking about Jackson

The Corrupt Bargain
Jacksonians (Jackson’s followers) believed that Adams made a “deal” with Clay and stole the presidency from Jackson → called the Election of 1824 “The Corrupt Bargain.”

Jacksonians formed a large faction in the Democratic- Republican Party.
Main goal – sabotage Adams’s presidency and oppose all of his policies.
Adams and Clay would eventually lead the Whig Party which would be devoted to opposing Jackson.
Clay
Sec. of State
J.Q. Adams
POTUS
X

SCOTUS Continues to Flex
Gibbons vs. Ogden

New York granted a steamboat company a monopoly to operate its boats on the state's waters
Included bodies of water that stretched between states.
Aaron Ogden held a license under this monopoly to operate steamboats between New Jersey and New York.
Thomas Gibbons, another steamboat operator, held a federal coasting license issued by an act of Congress.
Ogden filed a complaint in New York court to stop Gibbons from operating his boats

Gibbons v. Ogden
Ogden Claimed that the monopoly granted by New York was legal even though he operated on shared, interstate waters.
Gibbons disagreed arguing that the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the sole power over interstate commerce.

SCOTUS ruled in favor of Gibbons
Stated that the Commerce Clause of Constitution gives U.S. sole power over Interstate Commerce

Expanding Voting Rights
By 1828, many states decreased voting requirement → larger voting population
Most states dropped the property-ownership requirement → universal white male suffrage
1824 – 350,000 white males voted 1828 – over 1 million white males voted
Free blacks, slaves, and women = no voting rights
Expanded voter rights → more “average” and “common” people voting
That’s good for this guy!!

Election of 1828
Expanded voter rights → more “average” and “common” people voting
Election of 1828 – J.Q. Adams vs Jackson
Jackson’s 1828 POTUS Campaign
Wanted to appeal to the common man
Claimed man of humble origins (even though he was actually a wealthy plantation owner)
Called Adams an “intellectual elitist” who didn’t understand the troubles of the common American.
Jackson wins in a landslide!!!

The Spoils System
“To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.”
Jackson = victor → gets all the presidential power to change anything the Adams administration did

Spoils system – giving jobs and appointments to supporters and followers rather than to qualified people
Jackson fired nearly 10% of Adams’s federal workers
Gave the jobs to his own supporters and friends, even if they weren’t qualified for the jobs

Created the “kitchen cabinet” – Jackson’s close group of friends who gave him advice and acted like a cabinet
“snuck in to the White House through the kitchen”

Jackson
Pig = the “spoils”
“Fraud,” “Bribery,” “Plunder”
The White House
“To the Victor belong the Spoils”

Tariffs Increase
Refresher: A tariff is a tax on imported goods designed to encourage the sale of American goods.

Tariff of 1816 - right after War of 1812 to encourage US industrialization in the North and strengthen US economy (part of the American System)
1824 – Tariff rises (must pay even more for imported goods)

North – YAY more tariffs!
South – BOO more tariffs!

Tariff of 1828
Tariff of 1828 – the tariff increased even more! → South was furious!

John C. Calhoun
nicknamed it “The Tariff of Abominations”
Calhoun – South Carolinian, War Hawk before War of 1812, Jackson’s VP
Abomination – disgust, hatred, disgrace, outrage
The Tariff of 1828 is an ABOMINATION!

Tariff of 1828
Northern Point of View
Southern Point of View

Problems in South Carolina
Cotton prices low
Planters and slaves moving to cheaper and more fertile western land (ex: Alabama)
SC started to wonder if Calhoun (Jackson’s VP) even cared about SC anymore
Don’t you care about our problems?!
Do something about the Tariff of 1828!

Hayne-Webster Debates – January 1830
Senator Robert Hayne (SC)
Anti-tariff
The federal government will cause the economic ruin of the South!
The federal government is violating the rights of people and the states!
Senator Daniel Webster (MA)
Pro-tariff
The states cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will and will not obey.

Jackson (POTUS) vs. Calhoun (VP)
“Our Union: It must be preserved!”
“The Union, next to our liberty, the most dear.
May we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the States and distributing equally the benefit and burden of the United States.”
Election of 1832 – Calhoun resigned as VP, Jackson ran for POTUS with Martin Van Buren as new VP

South Carolina Nullification Crisis
‘South Carolina Exposition’
1828 - Written anonymously (but really by Calhoun)
Described the “nullification theory”

1832 – Congress passed ANOTHER tariff
SC – ENRAGED!
Declared the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 unconstitutional, thus “null and void” in SC
Threatened to secede from (leave) the Union if tax collectors tried to collect the extra taxes

South Carolina Nullification Crisis
Jackson – FURIOUS
Declared SC’s actions as TREASON - deliberately against the wellbeing of the country

Threatened to HANG Calhoun

Signed the Force Bill in 1833 – allowed for the POTUS to order navy or military force against SC if the state refused to pay taxes

Threatened to send federal troops to SC to collect taxes

Henry Clay Saves the Day
Henry Clay helped Congress pass a bill that would lower tariffs over 10 years
Temporary fix concerning states’ rights and sectionalism

Henry Clay - “The Great Compromiser”
American System
The Missouri Compromise
Calmed the South Carolina Nullification Crisis

Jackson & Bank of U.S. (the Nat’l. Bank)
Strict constructionist
Saw it as:
Abuse of federal power
Helped only rich businesses in NE U.S.
Unfair to farmers in west & south

State & local banks saw it as competition & hated it too

Jackson vetoed renewal of charter for the Bank of U.S.
Placed the money in state banks (“pet banks”)
Issued “Specie Circular” which stated all fed lands must be purchased with Gold or Silver
Set the stage for Crisis of 1837, which the Democrats and Pres. Van Buren were blamed for.

The Age of Jackson 1824-1840…Ends
Martin Van Buren
Elected (1836) after Jackson left office
First president to be born an American citizen

Jackson’s bank policies led to Panic of 1837
High unemployment, inflation, etc.

Whig Party (new political party) became popular
Whigs = Anti-Jackson
Henry Clay-One of Founders
They were a lot like the old Federalist Party

Jackson and Native Americans
After War of 1812, some Native American tribes assimilated into American culture.
Learned English, wore American fashion but still retained some NA customs
“5 Civilized Tribes”
Lived in the southeast US

Indian Removal Act of 1830
Jackson did not like Native American assimilation.
Didn’t think it was “right.”
Believed protecting the original tribal areas from American settlers would require too many federal troops and money
Indian Removal Act of 1830 - forced movement of Native Americans to western areas with government funded treaties
Some tribes quickly agreed to the treaties and moved west voluntarily
Some tribes resisted and were forcibly moved by US troops

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
Following the Indian Removal Act, Georgia passed its own state laws forcing the removal of Native tribes within the state borders.

Cherokee members refused to move and claimed that they were a “nation” that could not be removed without their consent.

Instead of fighting back violently, the Cherokee decided to fight back using the American legal system.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
The Cherokee tribe teamed up with Samuel Worcester, a teacher who had been jailed for teaching Natives English without a state issued license.

Worcester = a US citizen → the legal system would HAVE to honor the rights of a citizen to be heard in court.
Worcester sued Georgia on behalf of the Cherokee.

Worcester v. Georgia Result
Chief Justice John Marshall and the SCOTUS ruled in favor of WORCESTER and the Cherokee.
Cherokee = a distinct and independent nation that is NOT subject to Georgia’s OR the US’s laws.

Jackson REFUSED to obey the SCOTUS’s decision.
“ John Marshall has made his decision,
now let him enforce it.”

Jackson on the Worcester v. Georgia ruling

Seminole Wars
First Seminole War (1817-18)
Florida still controlled by Spain
Encouraged natives to attack U.S.
Gen. Andrew Jackson led attacks pushing natives deeper into FL
Second Seminole War (1835-1842)
Fiercest battle of the Wars-Natives being forced out due to Indian Removal Act
1500 U.S. soldiers killed, Many more natives killed
Third Seminole War (1855-1858)
Smaller conflict resulting in only 200 Seminole Indians left in FL

The Trail of Tears
A small group of Cherokee stopped resisting the relocation and signed a treaty with Jackson, agreeing to move for money.
The small group was not at all representative
of the entire Cherokee population.
Jackson (and later Van Buren, 8th POTUS) forced the rest of the Cherokee from their land.

Oct-Nov 1838 (winter), Jackson no longer POTUS
Groups of Cherokee natives forced to relocate to western land
800 miles – mostly by foot
Harassed and abused by US troops and outlaws
¼ died along the way

Cash crop – grown to return a profit - Staple crop – grown for food purposes
More labor was needed to keep up with demand
Started with indentured servants – Eventually, Africans arrived in 1619 to work as indentured servants, however soon no African laborer received freedom.

How Did They Get Here?
Triangle Trade

Three way trading system in which:
Americas→ Europe
Sugar, Tobacco, Cotton
Europe → Africa
Textiles, Rum,
Manufactured goods (guns)
Africa → Americas
Slaves

Middle Passage
Voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to North America, many Africans died during the journey
Africa → Americas leg of the Triangular Trade
20% of Africans died on each journey
Branded with hot irons, Packed into dark cargo areas of large ships, Whippings, Beatings, Diseases - Unsanitary – vomit and waste

African-Americans During Revolution
Black slaves – fight for physical freedom from slave owners
Fought for whichever side they thought would offer this freedom
Thousands escaped to freedom
Northern cities to live as freedmen
Frontier to start a new life, some joined Native American tribes
5,000 served in the Continental Army, hundreds more in the Navy
Faced discrimination in respect and pay
Many fought with the British
British troops actively recruited slaves, especially those with Patriot masters
Possibly freedom from masters if colonists lose – punishment of colonists

After Freedom from Britain - Now What?
Slaves – how to count in population for representation? Should the slave population continue to grow?

North
South
Slave population should NOT count when determining # of representatives in Congress

Slaves SHOULD count when levying federal taxes on slave owners
Slave population SHOULD count when determining # of representatives in Congress

Slaves should NOT count when levying federal taxes
The Three-Fifths Compromise
Slaves will count as 3/5 of a citizen when determining representation in Congress and when levying federal taxes

5 slaves = 3 citizens

Slavery Debate Continues
North Free States
South Slave States
There should be federal regulations on the slave trade.

The economy is too reliant on slave labor.
The federal government shouldn’t meddle at all with the slave trade.
The Slave-Trade Compromise
The international slave trade will remain unregulated for 20 years, then Congress can abolish the international slave trade (not slavery itself).

Slaves – should the slave population continue to grow?

Agriculture in the South
Farms in the North were smaller, less labor intensive, and dying out… no need for slaves
Nearly all northern states had voluntarily abolished slavery by 1804.
In the South, the plantation system ruled – “King” cotton
Cotton crops were made very profitable by Eli Whitney’s cotton gin – simple machine that separated the seeds from cotton

Eli Whitney

Agriculture in the South Demand for cotton thread in the north made slavery seem a “necessary evil.” Even though northern states had abolished slavery, they recognized slavery was essential in cotton production that they needed. Even if some southerners were against slavery from a moral standpoint, they needed slave labor to make money.

Slavery Continues
Growing

Connection of Northern
and Southern Economies

Slavery in the West?
Once a territory’s population = 60,000 → apply for statehood
New states – Free (no slavery) or Slave (slavery)?
1818 – 2 states added - Illinois – 11th free state, Alabama – 11th slave state

1819 - Missouri Territory wants to become a state - Free or Slave?

History of slavery and presidents – it’s a tricky issue

Debates over slavery in Missouri were SO intense that Congressmen from Northern and Southern states threatened WAR against each other… foreshadowing events in the future?

Liberia
In 1817, Robert Finley, Henry Clay, Francis Scott Key and Bushrod Washington (nephew of George) helped form the American Colonization Society (ACS)
The mission was to find a place in Africa to allow freed slaves and free blacks to emigrate to
The idea was to allow blacks to have a place to live freely without danger
The place in West Africa became known as Liberia
ACS eventually sent over 12,000 blacks there
Liberia eventually became an independent nation in 1847 - Capital City: Monrovia (named for James Monroe)

The Missouri Compromise
1820, proposed by Henry Clay
Maine = 12th free state
Missouri = 12th slave state
Louisiana Territory split into 2 parts along the 36°30’N latitude - Missouri Compromise Line
Above line – slavery banned
Below line – slavery allowed

The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a TEMPORARY fix to a major problem: What will be the future of slavery in the US?

“This momentous question, like a fireball in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence.”

Thomas Jefferson, 1820

African Methodist Episcopal Church
Began in Philadelphia
African Americans formed their own churches in the North and supported the anti-slavery cause (abolition)
The black church becomes the #1 institution in the lives of free blacks
Richard Allen - Founder

William Lloyd Garrison (1801-1879)
Immediate emancipation with NO compensation.
Slavery was a moral, not an economic issue.
Favored non-violent movement
R2-4
The Liberator-Anti-Slavery Newspaper founded by Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
Video
Abolitionist Movement Leaders
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Frederick Douglass - (1817-1895)
Douglass escaped to freedom in NY from Maryland and became a lecturer for the Anti-Slavery Society
He was later sponsored by Garrison

R2-12
1847 he began publishing “The North Star” – a newspaper he wrote named after the star that guided runaway slaves.
He also (like Garrison) favored non-violence
Abolitionist Movement Leaders
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David Walker (1785(?)-1830)
From Wilmington!!

Wrote a pamphlet called “Appeal…to the Colored Citizens of the World”

Encouraged blacks to Fight and take their freedom by force rather than wait to be set free by whites.

Led a rebellion of 50 followers in 1831 in Virginia
Killed 70 white people
Turner was captured and hanged
The rebellion made people in the south fight even harder to keep slavery

Neither free nor enslaved blacks could preach about God
Took away right to vote
Could not own guns, purchase alcohol, assemble in public, testify in court
Could not
Own private property
Learn to read or write

Others opposed to slavery
Angela Grimke-one of few white southern women who opposed slavery

‘I appeal to you, my friends, as mothers: are you willing to enslave your children? You start back with horror at such a question. But why, if slavery is no wrong, to those upon whom it is imposed?

Elijah Lovejoy
Killed in 1837 when pro slavery mob attacked his newspaper in Alton, IL

Pro-Slavery
Arguments to support slavery…
Bible
Slaves benefited from slavery
“Happy Slave”

White Southerners on Slavery
“Be it good or bad, it has grown up with our society and institutions and is so interwoven with them that to destroy it would be to destroy us as a people.”
John C. Calhoun, Feb. 1837

James Henry Hammond
Pro-Slavery Senator from SC
Speaking about what he considers the difference between blacks in the south and white workers in the north
Did not believe the races were equal
“our slaves are hired for life and well compensated; there is no starvation, no begging, no want of employment among our people, and not too much employment either. Yours are hired by the day, not cared for, and scantily compensated…”

Washington’s Reaction?
What did Congress do?
Absolutely Nothing

Gag rule – were not even allowed to discuss petitions to end slavery

Wilmot Proviso
In 1846 David Wilmot proposes adding language (a proviso) to a bill in Congress proposing that: “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” in any territory the US might get in a war with Mexico

That means NO SLAVERY in California, Utah and New Mexico
Proviso Fails!

California Statehood Controversy
Oct 1849 California applies for statehood
Did NOT want slavery
But did not give African Americans rights because did not want free Blacks either
Currently 15/15 free & slave states

South felt California should be admitted as a slave state because most of it was below the Missouri Compromise line

Free or Slave?
President Zachary Taylor (a southerner)

Supported CA’s admission as a free state
Felt that whether a state was free or slave should be up to them -

Popular Sovereignty - the people decide

Congress begins to debate
Issues:
California statehood – slave or free
Border dispute between Texas (slave) and New Mexico (undecided)

Other Concerns:
North demands slavery be abolished in DC
South Accuses North of not enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act

It looks like there might be
another……Compromise!!
Did someone call??

Path to Compromise
Initial plan rejected by the Senate
Henry Clay (73 at the time – dies 1852) leaves Washington and Stephen Douglas takes up the fight

Compromise of 1850
Douglas introduces each piece
of the bill one at a time

President Taylor dies and is
replaced by Millard Fillmore who
supports the compromise

John Calhoun dies and southern
leaders support the compromise

Compromise is voted into law in September 1850

Compromise of 1850

Fugitive Slave Act
Required that private citizens help apprehend runaway slaves
Judges who ruled in favor of slave owners earned $10, those who ruled for captive to be set free $5
Enraged northerners: passed personal liberty laws
Allowed states to arrest slave catchers for kidnapping

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896)
“So this is the lady who started the Civil War.”-- Abraham Lincoln
Sold 300,000 copies inthe first year.
2 million in a decade!
Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852

Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Book about slavery; portrayed slave owners as horrible and violent and slaves as brave and nice
Northern Response: slavery is evil; increased support for abolitionSouthern Response:
Unfair depiction; she’s uniformed; banned book

Underground Railroad

Begun in the late 1700s by Quakers in PA

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)
Most famous “Conductor”
Known as “Moses”
Led over 300 slaves to freedom

Other well-known “Conductors” included:
Isaac Hopper - original quaker conductor
Frederick Douglass
John Brown
Thaddeus Stevens-Congressman

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Scott claims that he is free since he had lived in free territory with his master
Supreme Court (Chief Justice Roger B. Taney) ruled that slaves do not have the rights of citizens (couldn’t sue)
Stated that MO Compromise was unconstitutional because it restricted property rights
Result→ Supreme Court clears the way for extension of slavery (territories can’t restrict slavery before statehood)

The Enlightenment
Immanuel Kant-Sapere aude! [Dare to know!] "Have courage to use your own reason!"- that is the motto of enlightenment.
It all started with the Enlightenment in Europe!
Enlightenment- an expansion of the worldliness and secularism of the Renaissance
The methods of natural science should be used to understand all aspects of life - through the use of REASON
B. Discover the natural laws of human society as well as the natural world (“social science”)
C. The idea of progress - The confidence in human power, human reason to improve society
D. Rejection of superstition and tradition
E. Tolerance and equality

Central Concepts of the Enlightenment

Enlightenment Thinkers
Locke-”Life, Liberty, Property”
Hobbes-”Man needs Government”
Montesquieu-”Balance of Power”
Rousseau-”Consent of the governed”
Voltaire-”Freedom of speech/religion”
Smith-”Government hands off economy”
Wollstonecraft-”equal rights for women”
Diderot-”Knowledge (Encyclopedia)”

The Great Awakenings
First Great Awakening-direct response to the
Enlightenment
In the 1730’s ministers concerned that people were
becoming too concerned with wealth and worldly
matters began to preach that being truly religious
meant trusting the heart (listening to the church)
rather than the head (Enlightenment ideas)
Second Great Awakening
focus on religion shifts to individuals. The idea
is that people determined their own salvation
(repent to be forgiven of sin).
There was extreme faith in what an individual
can do

The Second Great Awakening
Late 1700’s to early 1800’s
“Spiritual Reform From Within”[Religious Revivalism]
Social Reforms & Redefining the Ideal of Equality
Temperance
Asylum &Penal Reform
Education
Women’s Rights
Abolitionism
5

Revivalism
Revival – An awakening
Focused on emotional preaching and instant conversion
Preachers were easily understood by the uneducated
“The ranges of tents, the fires, reflecting light…; the candles and lamps illuminating the encampment; hundreds moving to and fro…;the preaching, praying, singing, and shouting,… like the sound of many waters, was enough to swallow up all the powers of contemplation.”
-The Methodist Magazine, January 1819, On Revivals

The “Burned-Over” District Upstate New York
Refers to the western and central regions of New York in the early 19th century, where religious revivals and the formation of new religious movements of the Second Great Awakening took place
Term coined by Charles G. Finney
Felt that the area had been so heavily evangelized as to have no "fuel" (unconverted population) left over to "burn" (convert).
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Unitarians
Appealed to reason and conscience NOT emotion

Believed religious conversion was a gradual process not immediate

Most well known leader
Ellery Channing

Transcendentalism
A literary and philosophical movement
Value nature and what it can teach you
Stressed having a Personal relationship with God, individuality and personal improvement
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
9

Utopian Communities
Groups trying to create a “utopian”(perfect) place
No utopian communities were very successful – members could not agree on operating methods or philosophies (Not so Perfect!!)

George Ripley-Founder of Brook Farm

Divinity of Labor
Letter to Thoreau

Public Education
MA → always on the forefront of public educational reform * 1st state to establish tax support for local public schools.
By 1860 every state offered free public education to whites. * US had one of the highest literacy rates
Schools began to require mandatory attendance, a standard curriculum, tax support for public schools, and teacher training.
2

“Father of
American Education”
Horace Mann (1796-1859)
Discouraged corporal punishment

Established state teacher training programs

R3-6
“Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of the conditions of men, -the balance-wheel of the social machinery”
3

Prison and Asylum Reform
Dorothea Dix
(1802-1887)
1821 → first penitentiary founded in Auburn, NY
R1-5/7
4

Dix raised awareness of cruel treatment of the mentally ill
She helped establish 9 hospitals in the south
Including one in Raleigh opened in 1856; closed in 2012

Dorothea Dix (1802-1887)

Women’s Movement
Led by
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
1815-1902
Author, Lecturer, Philosopher, Abolitionist
Lucretia Mott
1793-1880
Quaker, Reformer, Abolitionist

Women wanted to move away from the “cult of domesticity”

Seneca Falls Convention
A meeting was held in Seneca Falls NY in 1848 (called the Seneca Falls Convention) to discuss women’s access to rights such as voting, education, health care
Declaration of Sentiments
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men AND women are created equal”
Women deserve a voice and a VOTE!

Seneca Falls Convention
Others who attended and spoke at the Convention
Mary M’Clintock
Quaker, Abolitionist, Temperance Movement Leader
Martha Coffin Wright
Abolitionist-ran station in Underground RR
Frederick Douglass
Leading Abolitionist but also supporter of women’s rights

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883)
African American abolitionist and women's rights activist
Truth was born into slavery but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826.
Also involved in prison reform
Best-known for her speech on racial inequalities, "Ain't I a Woman?", delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention.

Women and Temperance
Women were the leaders in the fight against alcohol use - Women’s Christian Temperance Union
Frances Willard
Early leader and reformer
Added Women’s rights and education reform to her agenda (but…for whites only)
Anti-Saloon League
Had early success mainly in the South but too associated with KKK to stay successful
Carry Nation
Radical Temperance leader who would charge into saloons with a hatchet to destroy as much alcohol as possible