Final Exam Readings #2: The Second Great Awakening, Industrialization, Tocqueville, FDR

The Second Great Awakening

• “My Call to Preach the Gospel”

  • Jarena Lee, 1849

  • Lee felt called to preach the gospel but faced a lot of backlash because she is an African American woman

  • Lee prayed and became very sure that God had called her to preach, so she eventually received permission to preach from the AME, and many people either really loved her or really hated her

  • She preached far and wide, and focused primarily on evangelism, while also supporting women’s rights and African Americans’ rights

• John Gough, “Autobiography”

  • John Gough, 1845

  • Gough was one of the faces of the temperance movement

  • He tells the story of how he became sober, and how he signed a temperance pledge. This is a very dramatic retelling, in which Gough describes the despair and depression he experienced as an alcoholic, and the joy he felt when the temperance community accepted him

Industrialization

• “Gospel of Wealth” 

  • Andrew Carnegie, 1889

  • There is a gap between the wealthy and the poor, caused by industrialization, but it can be a good thing when managed wisely 

  • It is the duty of the wealthy to use their money to benefit society 

  • The wealthy have a moral responsibility to help others but not out of charity, instead trying to help through things like education and public improvement.

• Henry George, “Poverty and Progress” 

  • Henry George, 1879

  • Industrial progress leads to concentration of wealth rather than prosperity for all

  • Private ownership of land leads to poverty

  • Proposes the “single tax” on land value which would replace all other taxes of any type and help redistribute wealth

  • George’s argument is both economic and moral, saying that since land is a communal resource it belongs to society as a whole

Tocqueville

• Democracy in America

  • Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835 & 1840

  •  Equality of conditions is what differentiates American society from French society

  • Americans value equality as much as liberty, so there is a social norm of expecting each other to be treated equally 

  • To gain equality, people will have to centralize the government more, which could lead to less freedom 

  • America will yield less great successes or people who are super skilled at things, but also will produce less “idiots” 

  • American Spirit of Equality also decreases the likelihood of rebellion 

  • Tyranny of the majority can occur when the majority becomes too powerful that nothing can stop it, and unchecked majority can become oppressive

  • The majority is checked by institutions and decentralization of the government 

  • Newspapers and associations are crucial to democracy because newspapers inform the public and form communities, bridging the gap between people and larger societal issues

  • Newspapers give people a larger voice and combat the individualism that can take over democratic societies

  • America is designed based on the existence of associations, and Americans desire to be a part of associations

  • Newspapers and associations work together to give the public a voice

FDR

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “Four Freedoms Speech” 

  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt, January 6, 1941

  • Part of the State of the Union address, FDR is talking about the core values he thinks are important to defend and promote. He talks about the dangers of authoritarian regimes and strengthening the economy to fight against those regimes. FDR names 4 specific freedoms that he thinks are essential to human life: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom of want, and freedom from fear.