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Main > Teacher Resources > JCC Survey Course > Cyber Lectures > Survey 1-10
Society, Culture and Politics:
1820's - 1840's
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture
and should be reviewed.
Video Clips
In many of the cyberlectures, I
have added video clips from a variety of sources. I believe
that video often is very effective to bring a topic to life.
In some cases, especially the
History Channel, you will have to tolerate a 30 second
advertisement. I apologize for the inconvenience.
This phrase seems to be repetitive in United States
History, "this was a time period of significant social,
economic, political and technological change". Today we are
aware that "the only constant is change". As cited in the
Chapter Ten Summary, "New territories, the market
revolution, and the continued spread of plantation slavery
produced wave after wave of social change in America after
1815. New social patterns replaced or changed old ones,
often as a consequence of religious revival. Americans
remained primarily devoted to Protestantism, capitalism, and
republican values, but the emerging northern middle class
interpreted these matters differently than did the southern
plantation owners. Northern urban workers, farmers, and free
blacks defined these values differently both from their
southern counterparts and from one another. From these
differences there emerged an American range of subcultures
created by religion, region, class and race". From this time
period, until 1860, an enormous group of reformers addressed
the myriad of problems facing American society. Some of the
"reform impulses "
included: expanded free public education, improved
treatment of prisoners and the mentally ill, the need for an
evangelical movement, temperance/prohibition, women's
legal/political rights, abolitionism, utopianism and others.
Today, you live in a society which has been directly
impacted by these reformers and their successors. Often some
of these same issues must be revisited, while new issues
seem to occur daily. We should spend a few minutes
addressing the issues of the first half of the nineteenth
century.
Once again, America was ready for a
revival of religion and the
Second Great Awakening emerged from the
religious camp meetings of the west and permeated all
sections of the country. Another breed of "new lights"
preached a message of salvation for all, if sinners would
use their free will to choose it. This "awakening" also
caused new divisions in existing religious groups and the
development of new evangelical sects. "Fire and Brimstone",
similar to the message of Jonathan Edwards, combined with
the message that all could be saved through faith and hard
work, was preached throughout upstate New York by Charles G.
Finney. Baptist and Methodist preachers traveled throughout
the South and western frontier. Thousands attended outside
"camp meetings" and became church members. Many groups were
affected by the resurgence of religion. Southern whites
embraced religious conservatism blended with the political
and social beliefs vital to their culture--resulting in a
distinctly pro-slavery Christianity--"slaves obey thy
master". Many slaves accepted Christianity for its hopeful
message which might enable them to persevere in this life,
maintain their humanity under horrendous conditions and
achieve a better life in the hereafter. African Americans
throughout the United States and territories also were
significantly involved with the religious movements.
Women
constituted a large number of converts at the revivals
and played a crucial role in the movement west. Limited
employment opportunities, legal and political rights--
caused many women to embrace religion to cope with the
hardships of industrial or rural life. Among middle class
women, society expected them to center their efforts on the
home and family as the moral compass and educators of the
children--the ideal of domesticity. Many of these women,
confined by gender roles and expectations, utilized the
reform movement to find a community role that would enable
them to shape society (The
Lives of Women 1820-1840 ). From these efforts,
specifically the abolition movement, would evolve the first
women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.
The
Declaration of Sentiments declared that "all men
and women are created equal" and listed grievances against
the opposite sex. One hundred and fifty three years later,
reflect upon the success of the women's rights movement and
its affect on you and our country. This is truly a question
worth discussion--visit
Not For
Themselves Alone,
an excellent streaming video presentation.
Some new religious groups also had
an immediate and long term impact on American society. The
followers of William Miller believed that the end of the
world would occur on October 21, 1844 and prepared for the
"Second Coming". Millerites still exist today as the Seventh
day Adventists. Another new religious group, The
Church of
Latter-Day Saints was founded near Rochester by
Joseph
Smith. Smith and his followers followed the Book
of Mormon. After years of persecution, due to differences
with traditional religion and some non-traditional practices
(such as polygamy), established their religious community at
the Great Salt Lake in Utah and are one of the largest
growing religious groups today. Numerous religious groups
and humanistic/secular groups experimented in the creation
of an ideal community or utopia. Two groups you may wish to
analyze might be the
Shakers
and the utopian
communities at
Oneida
(THIS GROUP IS VERY
INTERESTING). Although these two groups failed, they were
very intriguing and demonstrated two diametrically opposed
techniques to achieve utopia. In addition, both left us with
a household legacy of furniture and silverware. Are you a
member of a group that helps you cope with society?
Many of the revivals and new
religious or
communitarian groups
fostered individuality, equality, moral resurgence and a
concern for a better society. Most were also disturbed and
appalled by the many social problems in America and the
emerging urban popular culture. Rather than isolating
oneself from society, some reformers turned to humanitarian
movements to save individuals and society by combating
specific social evils. Therefore, throughout the 1820's and
1830's, reform movements utilized religious sermons,
rational persuasion, pamphlets, newspaper articles and
ultimately political action to achieve their goals or to
replace old institutions with new enlightened programs. Some
of the specific issues included: Temperance, Mental
Hospitals, Prison to Rehabilitate, Schools for the Deaf and
Blind, Free Public Education, Moral Education in schools,
the founding of small denominational colleges (just drive
through western Pennsylvania), Women's Rights, World Peace,
and even Dietary Change (Kellogg and Graham--name the
products and how were they "healthy").
However, the most dramatic and
potentially volatile reform movement of this time period was
abolitionism. In previous lectures and chapters
in the textbook, you have encountered the origin of slavery
in the colonial Americas, As long as there has been slavery,
there have been groups explaining the rationale for its
abolishment. In the nationalist fervor of the Revolutionary
War, many of the northern states prohibited slavery in their
new constitutions. Slavery became a "peculiar institution"
due to the South's dependence on cotton production generated
by the plantation system and slave labor. We are all aware
of the horrendous nature of slavery and the racism involved.
Opponents of slavery ranged from moderates who proposed
gradual abolition, to radicals who urged immediate
abolition. The Second Great Awakening encouraged many
northerners to view slavery as a sin. This view and the
opposing Southern perspective made compromise nearly
impossible. Prior to 1830,
The American Colonization Society promoted the
idea of transporting freed slaves to an African colony.
Although this was never a viable solution, this idea was
popular for many reasons, including the racist attitude that
blacks should be removed from United States' society. In
1822, the Society established an African-American settlement
in
Liberia.
Presently the United
States Government is assessing its role in bringing the
civil war in Liberia to an end--perhaps a colonial legacy.
In the 1830's,
William Lloyd Garrison
began publication of an abolitionist newspaper The
Liberator and was involved in the establishment of
the American Antislavery Society. This group fragmented the
abolitionist movement as they demanded an immediate end to
slavery and full civil/legal rights for blacks--thus,
disregarding the theories of gradual emancipation and
repatriation. Many African-Americans worked in various
ways to help end slavery.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was an
articulate individual who spoke about the brutality and
degradation of slavery. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and
others, utilized the
Underground Railroad to
help slaves escape from bondage. There were also violent
uprisings to free slaves. In 1831, Virginia slave Nat
Turner, led a revolt in which over fifty whites were killed.
In retaliation, hundreds of blacks were murdered in
Virginia. Radical abolition and violence, began to galvanize
anti-abolitionist attitudes in the South and many
southerners began to promote their perception that slavery
was beneficial to African-Americans. Race relations were
also deteriorating in the North, as free blacks had to deal
with general social attitudes of white superiority and
struggle to hold on to their tenuous social position-- as
waves of immigrants entered the urban areas and sought to
gain a social/economic foothold. The newest group of this
time period were the Irish escaping the
Potato Famine
. You may be able to visualize the life of many Irish in
America if you have seen the movie The Gangs of New York.
Race riots started to occur in Philadelphia and New York
City. Storm clouds were on the horizon and the "union of the
states" would soon be questioned.
Changes were also taking place in
American Philosophy, Arts, Literature and Architecture. The
transcendentalists
(example Emerson and Thoreau) promoted
discovering one's inner self and seeking the essence of God
in Nature. Related topics included self reliance,
independent thinking, and relating to nature. In addition to
the transcendentalist authors just mentioned, other writers
began to create literature that promoted nationalism or
presented varied aspects of American life. You may have read
some of the novels or seen recent Hollywood renditions of
The Last of the Mohicans, The Scarlet Letter or Moby Dick--to
mention a few. Painting the everyday lives of
ordinary people or capturing the beauty of the American
landscape became the prevalent styles. Democratic ideals
(ancient Athens) were reflected in the classical Greek
styles and column facades utilized by architects to design
public buildings, banks, hotels and private homes of the
wealthy. A brief tour of Washington D.C. will provide a
demonstration of these styles.
In various aspects of our culture,
America was seeking to hold on to the past, deal with the
present and improve the future. Sounds like today. Regarding
reform, think of the varied interest groups today and their
varied techniques to promote a perspective and achieve
desired goals. As you review some of the major issues
mentioned, consider if any are still significant today. What
volatile humanitarian issues face our country or our world?
Assess the resurgence of religion at the beginning of the
21st century--why is it happening now--is this the Third
Great Awakening?
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography
of America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
,
an exceptional video instructional
series for high school and college students produced by WGBH
Boston in cooperation with the Library of Congress and the
National Archives and Records Administration. These thirty
minute lectures incorporate first person narratives,
photographs, film footage and documents related to various
historical time periods. Combined with my introductory
comments, the required textbooks and our discussions, I
believe you will acquire a more in-depth and enjoyable
encounter with history. Please note the requirements and
possible download limitations—which is why this is not a
requirement. Please follow the directions below and give it
a try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs
of your choice online with a broadband connection whenever
you see this icon.
 There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program
and go to the individual program description listing and
click on the icon. Free sign up required for first-time
users. To hear the sound and view video, you should have
Windows Media Player, DSL, a cable modem, or a LAN
connection to a T1 line or greater, and have Javascript
enabled. For more information, please visit our broadband
FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and
access the presentation: The Reform Impulse.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview, numerous
Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents and my
favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites Related to the
Specific Topics
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
Folk Music of American History: Music and Lyrics
(highly recommended music before, during or after reading
cyberlectures!)
Additional
Folk Music and Lyrics
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