Chapter 13 - The Reform Impulse
Dorothea Dix
- ^^Reformed prisons + almshouses + asylums^^
- 1843 - Presented findings of bad conditions in asylums to Massachusetts legislature
- Improved conditions for mentally ill
- During the Civil War she was in charge of female nurses
Seneca Falls Convention
- Led by Lucretia Mott + Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- 1848 - Meeting in New York
- “The Declaration of Sentiments” declared grievances for women’s suffrage
- Worked with Susan B. Anthony
Lyman Beecher
- 1832 - President of Lane Theological Seminary
- ^^Believed that American citizens require education + Christian teachings^^
- Wrote sermons + pamphlets
- Formed societies dedicated to social reform
Common School Movement
- 1837 - Begins in Massachusetts
- Goal of educating + converting people to Christianity
- Immigrant populations were assimilated into American culture
- Preservation of American civilization
Horace Mann
- 1837 - Served on the Massachusetts State Board of Education
- ^^Increased funding for schools & teacher salaries + revised curriculums^^
- Founded the 1st teacher-training school
McGuffey Readers
- First published in 1836
- Textbooks for children focused on improving reading + literary taste + morals
- Emphasized white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant values
Oberlin College
- Founded by missionaries in 1833
- ^^Believed that educating teachers would led to better citizens to further develop the American frontier^^
- Women + minorities could enroll
Second Great Awakening
- 1830-1850
- Believed that reforming society would improve the lives of Americans
- Departed from Calvinist + Reformed doctrines
- Variety in churches + forms of worship
Charles G. Finney
- 1835 - Served as a professor at Oberlin College
- Departed from Calvinist doctrines
- During camp meetings he practiced fervent preaching and softened hearts
- Used New Light methods
- ^^Criticized by conservative Old Light leaders^^
Circuit-Riding Preachers
- Missionary preachers rode on horseback to a different church each week
- Very popular
- Less adherence to orthodoxy (sound doctrine)
Maine Law
- 1851 - Secured by Neal S. Dow
- ^^Prohibited the manufacture + sale of alcohol^^
- The beginning of the Prohibition movement
Temperance Movement
- 1826
- Believed that the consumption of alcohol would lead to problems
- Organizations included the Women’s Christian Temperance Union + Anti-Saloon League
- Stated that the Constitution outlawed the production + sale of alcohol
- Did this violate citizens’ freedom?
Lyceum Movement
- Belief that self-improvement would lead to widespread societal reform
- ^^Lyceums were popular public lecture halls for education + debates^^
- Frequented by transcendentalists + scientists
- Prevalence of optimism
Hudson River School
- Paintings of vast landscapes + wilderness
- Spread the idea that there were many possibilities of American life
Phrenology
- 1819 - Franz Joseph Gall publishes research
- ^^Science explained human behavior + personality^^
- The study of different regions in human brain
- Findings were demonstrated in lyceums
Brook Farm
- Utopian community
- 1841-1847 - Tried creating perfect society
- Unitarian + Transcendentalist
- Focused on the beliefs of quality + universal education
- Because of the difficulty of farm life and bank management, it eventually went bankrupt
New Harmony
- Founded by Robert Owen
- ^^A spiritual sanctuary that later became a haven for international scientists, scholars, and educators who sought equality in communal living^^
- Only lasted a few years
Shakers
- 1774 - Founded by Mother Ann Lee
- 1840 - Reached peak membership
- Ideas of work + worship + simple life
- Spread to New England + beyond
- Because they were celibate, it was hard to propagate the faith
Oneida Community
- ^^1848 - Founded by John Humphrey Noyes in New York^^
- Shared all property
- “Complex marriage”
- Eventually became a silverware company
Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Ideas of transcendentalism combined those of idealism + eastern mysticism
- 1841 - Publishes 1st essays
- Abolitionist
Henry David Thoreau
- Wrote Walden, which talked about higher laws to guide humans
- Opposed to Mexican War + slavery
- ^^The idea of “civil disobedience” was of passive resistance^^
Joseph Smith
- 1830 - Wrote Book of Mormon
- Founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement
- Leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
- Murdered in jail
Brigham Young
- 1847 - Served as the head of Mormons
- ^^Deseret^^ ^^was a colony in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake^^
- 1850 - This settlement was eventually recognized as the Utah Territory
Mormonism
- 1826 - Founded by Joseph Smith
- Sent missionaries to Europe
- Opened path for transcontinental railroad
- Irrigated soil
- Because of their polygamy + militaristic practices, they were eventually persecuted
BIG PICTURE
Age of Jackson - Humanitarian reforms + political advancement
Reforms - Prohibition, mentally ill, women, slavery
Religion + education - Common school movement + university
Religious reforms - Transcendentalism, Unitarianism, Lyceum
Utopia - Mormonism
Alexander Hamilton’s Financial Plan
- High protective tariff
- National bank
- Assumption of state debts + Continental Congress debts
- DID NOT TAX EXPORTS
Election of 1796
- John Adams + Thomas Pinckney vs. Thomas Jefferson + Aaron Burr
- President (1st place) + VP (2nd place)
- President + VP were from different political parties
- 12th Amendment - President + VP run on same ticket
Chisholm v. Georgia
- 1793
- Citizen of South Carolina sued Georgia
- 11th Amendment - State are sovereign + cannot be sued by citizens of other states
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