This week has covered much of what was happening socially, politically, and culturally in Antebellum America. There were many factors involved in increasing sectional tensions in the United States during this period

Jackson's Presidency: 1828-1836

Jacksonian Democracy expressed itself in many ways. One way was through reform movements. The years 1830 to 1850 are sometimes called the Age of American Reform. In this lecture we will seek to understand why so many people involved themselves with intentional reform movements over societal problems such as drinking, prostitution, and slavery). We will also consider what overall impact those reforms had on American history. It is not a stretch to purport that the shape of our modern institutions—schools, hospitals for the mentally ill, prisons, etc.—is a legacy of this period. Granted, the later Progressive movement of the early 20th century refined and brought government intervention into these movements, but they had their beginning during this time period.

American Reform - Why Now?

First, why? Why at this particular time in history? Why didn’t this reforming impulse come earlier? One answer might be that the era of Jackson (he was president from 1828 to 1836) brought on a greater participatory democracy than the country had ever seen. It is true that with the emergence of universal manhood suffrage a sense of greater participation in national life followed. Many even saw this greater egalitarianism as a natural continuation of the gains of the Revolution.

 

· Participatory Democracy

· Universal Manhood Suffrage

· Maturing Enlightenment Philosophy

Some have argued that the maturing of Enlightenment Philosophy during this time called for the rejection of things like the inevitability of poverty and other social ills. And since Enlightenment thought does not stress man’s sinfulness per se one can see how thoughtful reflection within the parameters of this philosophical system would tend to focus on man’s ability to improve more and more.

Religious Impulse: Unitarianism (Liberalism) and Revivalism (Evangelicalism)

A major impulse that drove American Reform was religious. Two particular expressions of faith informed these 19th century movements. One was liberalism, more specifically Unitarianism—a movement especially in New England that, among other things, denied the Trinity and man’s sinfulness. The other was Evangelicalism - more specifically Revivalism born of what is called the 2nd Great Awakening—which had its own departures from orthodoxy.

 

First let’s look at Unitarianism. A New England minister named William Ellery Channing (1780-1742) was the leading Unitarian of his day. He stressed in his preaching (and this is a common tenet of Unitarianism) man is innately good. He said that the purpose of Christianity was “the perfection of human nature.” Central to this view is a denial of original sin. If man is not a sinner and he is naturally good, then if follows that he is perfectible. Many Unitarians, especially in New England, got involved in reform movement based on this premise of man’s perfectibility.

Unitarianism (a form of liberalism)

· New England

· Denial of Trinity

· William Ellery Channing (1780-1842)

· Denial of imputation of original sin

· Man is basically good and perfectible

· "perfection of human nature"

Evangelical Revivalism, especially as it manifested itself within certain movements of the 2nd Great Awakening, had a powerful impact on American reform—possibly the most powerful. The 2nd Great Awakening was not confined to one place. It was as varied in geography as it was in class. Awakenings broke out at Yale University in the early part of the century under the preaching of that institutions president, Timothy Dwight but also in the Cane Ridge backcountry of Kentucky under men like Peter Cartwright and James McGreedy.

· Evangelical Revivalism

· 2nd Great Awakening

· Wide geographic and class appeal

· Timothy Dwight - Yale

· Peter Cartwright and James McGready - Cane Ridge, KY

Charles Finney and the "New Measures'

· Father of Modern Revivalism

· Height of Preaching Career

· Oberlin College

· Lectures on Revivals (1835)

· New Measures: Alter Call / Anxious Bench

But the most important figure of the 2nd Great Awakening was Charles Finney (1792-1875). He has been called the “Father of Modern Revivalism.” After studying law from 1818 to 1821, experienced a sudden conversion. By 1824 the Presbyterian denomination issued him a license to preach. The height of Finney’s revivalist career was between 1824 and 1835. Finney was later a professor and President of Oberlin College. In 1835 he published his famous Lectures on Revivals in which he sets forth a prescription for having a revival--a sort of “how to” book on revivalism. This work is still widely read and used today.

Finney was known for introducing what were called “New Measures” in his revivals. For example, he is credited by some with institutionalizing the now common alter call. Prior to Finney, it was very rare to have a segment of the service specifically set aside to call people forward for spiritual counsel. He placed what was called an “anxious bench” at the front where those who needed prayer or simply needed to meditate on their spiritual need would come. Finney was heavily criticized for his new measures. One reason behind these criticisms was the belief by some that Finney placed too much emphasis on human ability in salvation.

Perfectibility

· Utopianism

· John Noyes and the Oneida Community

The influence of both the Unitarians and the Finney Evangelicals played a key role in initiating and carrying out all sorts or reform in the 19th century. The Unitarians believed that man was perfectible because he was basically good. The Finney evangelicals certainly did not take it that far, but in the main they also believed in a theoretical perfectibility. Man’s perfectibility or at least his great potential for positive change, was the principal impulse toward reform in America.

Finney’s revivals seemed to influence some in this direction. One example of this is the Oneida community in New York State. John Noyes was converted in a Finney Revival and in his subsequent study of Scripture he concluded that Christ had already returned and that in order for Christ to set up his earthly kingdom, people had to stop sinning. He decided that he would contribute his part to the effort by setting up a community where sinless perfection would be the ultimate goal. The problem was that he began to redefine sin. He believed that private ownership of property was wrong and should be avoided. Thus, their community was communal in nature. Real-estate was not the only thing they shared. Noyes instituted what was called “complex marriage.” This meant that every man was married to every woman in the community. Exclusive relationships were prohibited.

Women and Reform

· Prostitution

· Magdalene Societies

· New York Moral Reform Society

Most of the people influenced by Liberalism or this new Evangelicalism found service reform more rewarding than inwardly focused communal living. Women were especially prominent leaders of reform. Women found a new freedom of expression in the newer evangelical methods (women were very active in the Finney crusades, for example) and this involvement would work its way into various areas of social and moral reforms.

Women were the primary reformers involved in trying to stem the disturbing tide of prostitution. Magdalene societies were formed beginning in the 1830s for this purpose. The New York Moral Reform society had 15,000 members by 1837. One way this organization combated prostitution was that they would post members outside houses of ill repute and take the names of men who frequented them. They would then take the names to the local newspaper for publication. Needless to say, this could be an effective deterrent.

Women and Reform: Temperance

· American Society for the Promotion of Temperance (1826)

· 1820: 7 gallons of pure alcohol

· 1840: 2 gallons of pure alcohol

Women were especially involved also in Temperance reform. The first formal organization was called the American society for the Promotion of Temperance formed in 1826. By 1835 memberships in the various temperance organizations stood at around 1.5 million. In a day when liquor was a common as coffee, the social ramifications of drinking were evident. On the frontier one evangelist noted that “a house could not be raised, a field of wheat cut down, nor could there be a log rolling, a husking, a quilting, a wedding, or a funeral without the aid of alcohol.” By 1820 American adults consumed more than 7 gallons of absolute pure alcohol a year. By 1840 that number went to 2 gallons. Today it is around 2.6. So, you can see the effectiveness the Temperance movement had.

Crime and Punishment

· Criminal Rehabilitation

· Prison Reform

· Mentally Ill

· Dorothea Dix

Criminal rehabilitation was another focus of the Reform movement. During this time the penal institutions began to move from punishment to correction. Prisons should help correct the problem, not just react to it. You will note that most state penal institutions are called Departments of Correction. That came largely from this time period. Some very interesting spin-off problems surfaced when greater investigation was made of prisons. Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), who had begun to teach bible lessons in a women’s penitentiary soon discovered that many in the prison were mentally ill. This led her to start and lead a crusade for the mentally ill in America.

Education Reform

Calvin Stowe - "unless we educate our immigrants they will be our ruin. It is no longer a mere question of benevolence, of duty, or of enlightened self inters," he said, "we are prompted to it by the instinct of self-preservation."

Another very important area of reform was in education. Greater stress began to be placed on the need for an enlightened citizenry. Education, for example, can help keep children from becoming criminals. Northeastern cities had begun to see an alarming rise in juvenile gangs and preventative measures needed to be taken. Much of the concern came from the rise in immigration. Calvin Stowe (husband of the more famous Harriet Beecher Stowe) said that “unless we educate our immigrants they will be our ruin. It is no longer a mere question of benevolence, of duty, or of enlightened self interest,” he said, “we are prompted to it by the instinct of self-preservation.” One man who led the way in educational reform was Horace Mann (1796-1859) lawyer, legislator, and educator from Massachusetts. Mann helped to establish and served at the head of America’s first state board of education. Be sure to listen the video presentation for more information on Horace Mann.

Abolitionism: Colonialism

· Growth of Slavery

· Cotton Kingdom

· Colonization

One area of reform that spoke as much about the transition America was going through was that of Abolitionism. The abolitionist movement dealt with the existing problem of slavery in America. By 1804 nine state north of Maryland and Delaware had either emancipated their slaves or adopted gradual emancipation plans. England emancipated its slaves in 1833 and France in 1848. But slavery was not dying. It was the dominant labor force throughout South America and also the American South. The 1830s saw a surge of international cotton sales, a reality that created what we call the “Cotton Kingdom.”

The most widely held idea in the north for slavery reform came in the form of Colonization—the belief that the best way to end slavery was to colonize slaves, preferably on a foreign shore. The principal idea behind colonization was the belief that blacks and whites could not co-exist.

Abolitionism: Immediate Emancipation

· William Lloyd Garrison

· The Liberator: " I am in earnest - I will not equivocate - I will not excuse - I will not retreat a single inch - and I will be heard."

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The more radical expression of Abolitionism was not the norm, but it was the loudest. William Lloyd Garrison was the most prominent of this movement. One can get a taste of Garrison’s style by reading a statement he made in the first issue (1831) of his militant magazine The Liberator. On the front page he wrote, “I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch---And I will be heard.” Sometimes he would open meetings by burning a copy of the Constitution calling it “a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell.” Garrison believed in immediate and unconditional emancipation. One reason this type of reform was not appealing to the average northerner was due in part to the fear of a mass immigration of former slaves to the North. Garrison was greatly despised by many in the north. In fact, he was almost hanged on Boston Common for his agitations in 1835. Several of the more Garrisonian type abolitionists faced severe resistance. Northern mobs attacked the homes and businesses of abolitionist merchants, destroyed abolitionist printing presses, and—in their retaliatory fervor—sometimes attacked northern black neighborhoods. During anti-abolitionist rioting in Philadelphia in October of 1834, white mobs destroyed 45 homes in the city’s black community.

Southern Response

· State of Georgia offered $5000 reward for Garrison's arrest

· Vast promulgation of abolitionist literature

· Gag Rule 1836-1844

If radical abolitionism was disliked by the common northerner, it was doubly despised and feared in the South. Upon publication of the first issue of Garrison’s Liberator the state of Georgia offered a $5,000 dollar reward for his arrest. By 1835 there were about 200 anti-slavery societies in the North. Of the 1 million pieces of literature published in the mid 1830s, some 20,000 made their way in the South. The issue became so controversial that the U.S. Postal Service for a time refused to deliver abolitionist literature. Between the years 1836 and 1844 the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a Gag Rule that disallowed the discussion of abolition on the House floor.

Move Toward Political Action

· Disagreement over method

· Frederick Douglas

· The North Star

Garrison did not believe in resorting to politics to promulgate his message. He was about writing, speaking, persuading—general agitation. Some who otherwise were in agreement with Garrison believed that political action should be a part of the movement. There was an eventual division within the movement—especially between those who believed in political action and those who did not. Frederick Douglass, the most famous of the black abolitionists, broke with Garrison over this very issue. He eventually published his own magazine, The North Star and placed a more political action spin on the movement.

The Politics of Abolition

· Liberty Party

· Anti-Slavery Democrats (Barnburners)

· Anti-Slavery Whigs (Conscience Whigs)

· All of the above combined to form the Free Soil Party in 1848

Those of a more political bent formed the Liberty Party and ran presidential candidates both in 1840 and 1844. In 1848 a combination of the Anti-slavery Democrats (barnburners—called that because they were willing to burn down the Democratic barn over the slavery issue), Anti-slavery Whigs (called ‘Conscience Whigs), and people from the Liberty Party formed the Free Soil Party.

The Mexican War

· New Territories

· Expansion of Slavery

This mix did have the result that Garrison had feared, it lessened the radical-ness of much of the abolitionist movement. The Mexican War had a lot to do with this change of emphasis as well. Once vast territories were opened up in the West, the focus on slavery in the South shifted a great deal to the question of whether or not slavery would be allowed to expand. In other words, Political Abolitionism took on more defensive posture so as to prevent the spread of slavery in the territories. At best, this was a surrender to Garrison.

The Reform Movement's True Beliver

· John Brown

· Another Joshua

But there was a true believer left, and he was not a writer or speaker. John Brown of Connecticut saw no hope in political action. In his younger days he raised his hand and swore in a church meeting that he would dedicate his life to the absolute and unequivocal abolition of slavery. He was good to his word. Brown, it is said, was an avid reader of the Old Testament and saw himself as a sort of reincarnated Joshua placed on earth to lead the slaves to the promise land.

Radicalism in Action

· Bleeding Kansas

· Harper's Ferry

· Ralph Waldo Emerson - "He made the gallows glorious like the cross."

During the time of Bleeding Kansas (1856)—a localized civil war over the very issue of the expansion of slavery there—John Brown and a small band went to Kansas and cold bloodily killed five people for one reason, they were pro-slavery. He went back to New England, for financial reinforcement, and returned in 1857 to continue his campaign. Finding the controversy subsided; he looked elsewhere for a cause. Eventually he received more funding from a group of northern businessmen and settled upon the idea of starting a slave revolt in Virginia hoping that it would develop in critical mass throughout the South leading eventually to the freedom of all slaves.

Although Brown’s 1859 attack was not successful (he was thwarted by Robert E. Lee and a detachment of U.S. Marines) and he was eventually hanged, the fear that there might be other John Browns seemed to grip the South. The response of northern radicals over John Brown’s death no doubt intensified the fear in the South. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that Brown made “the gallows glorious like the cross.” Henry David Thoreau compared Brown to Jesus as well. This type of response, even if it was a minority in the North, could well have caused some in the South just how far northerners would go in justifying such an act.

Southern Reaction

· Secession: "Perceived Resistance to an American Utopian" Vision?

Prior to Brown’s raid most southerners were probably not in favor of disunion. But Brown’s raid did help to change that. Listen to this statement in the Richmond Whig (a newspaper in Virginia) concerning Brown’s raid: “…Recent events have wrought almost a complete revolution in the sentiments, the thoughts, the hopes, of the oldest and steadiest conservatives n all the southern states…. There are thousands upon…thousands of men in our midst who, a month ago, scoffed at the idea of a dissolution of the Union as a madman’s dream, but who now hold the opinion that its days are numbered, its glory perished.” If this statement is anywhere close to reality, one can well see the sea change in thinking that took place with people who otherwise were not bent toward secession.

A major importance of the American Reform movement is the eventual role it played in the nation going to war, especially in so far as Abolitionism was a catalyst toward that conflict. Of the many and varied reasons the Civil War took place, radical reform born of religious fervor certainly was part of the equation. Fear of slave revolts had been ubiquitous since colonial days in the south and few winked at the possibility of the destruction that another John Brown might bring. As one considers the role of American Reform on the eventual Civil War, one cannot help but wonder just how much that awful conflict was in reality, at least in the minds of some, a struggle over the last obstacle to an elusive American utopia.

 

Horace Mann

Prior to Mann, churches and families educated the youth. Control of school was

Mann created state beuocracies and state standards for education

Mann created the idea of civic education

Mann attended Browne University

He was elected as Senate President

1836-1848 Secretary of the State Board of Education

Established taxes for funding of schools

He was first public official to create schools for teachers

He served two terms in Congress as a radical abolitionist

President of Antioch College: first to admit blacks, whites, women and men on equal standing.

Chapter 11: Slaves and Masters 1793-1861

Key Events

1793 Eli Whitney invests the contain gin, p 312

1800 Gabriel Prosser leads abortive slave rebellion in Virginia, p 297

1822 Denmark Vesey conspiracy uncovered in Charleston, SC, p 297

1829 David Walker publishes Appeal, calling for blacks to take up arms against slavery, p 291

1831 Slaves under Nat Turner rebel in Virginia, killing almost 60 whites, p 297

1832 Virginia legislature votes against gradual emancipation, p 307

1835-1842 Blacks fight alongside Indians in the Second Seminole War, p 297

1849 Cotton prices rise, and a sustained boom commences, p 312

1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin becomes a best-seller, p 304

1857 Hinton R. Helper attacks slavery on economic grounds in The Impending Crisis of the South;

the book is suppressed in the southern states, p 309

1860 Cotton prices and production reach all-time peak, p 312

Key Terms

Vesey conspiracy: p 297 A plot to burn Charleston, SC and thereby initiate a general slave revolt, let by a free African America, Denmark Vesey, in 1922. The conspirators were betrayed before the plan was carried out, and Vesey and 34 others were hanged.

Underground Railroad: p 297 A network of safe houses organized by abolitionists (usually blacks) to aid slaves in their attempts to escape slavery by traveling North to Canada

Yeoman: p 305 A southern small landholder who owned no slaves, and who lived primarily in the foothills of the Appalachian and Ozark mountains. These farmers were self-reliant and grew mixed crops, although they usually did not pro due a substantial amount to be sold on the market.

American Colonization Society: p 307 Founded in 1817 this abolitionist organization hoped to provide a mechanism by which slavery could gradually be eliminated. The society advocated the relocation of free blacks (followed by freed slaves) to the African colony of Monrovia, present day Liberia.

Cotton gin: p 312 Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, this device for separating the seeds from the fiber of short-staple cotton enabled a slave to clean fifty times more cotton than by hand, which reduced production costs and gave new life to slavery in the South.

What factors made living conditions for southern blacks more or less difficult? p 292

Living conditions were difficult because southern black slaves performed many types of labor. Some worked from sunup to sundown in gangs; others maintained more work control through the "task system"; and urban slaves and free blacks had even more autonomy. The bonds of family and community helped ease slave life, while some slaves resisted oppression through running away, sabotage, and even occasional armed rebellion.

What were the division and unities in white southern society? p 300

While great planters, those owning hundreds of slaves, were a tiny minority of the population, they set the tone for white southern society, propagating the ideology of "paternalism" that slaves were children who required a stern but loving parent. Most whites owned few or no slaves, but a political system of "white man's democracy" and the ideology of white supremacy united them with large slaveholders.

What was the relationship between slavery and economic success in the South? p 309

The economy of the South was dominated by slavery: Tobacco gave way to the internal slave trade itself as the biggest business in the upper South, while the cotton gin made it possible for large-scale staple agriculture to become a booming economic machine in the Deep South, fueling the growth of a world textile industry and making the planter class very wealthy.