Give Me Liberty Chapter 12.

The Reform Impulse

Abolitionism was only one of many efforts to improve American society. Americans political and social activities were organized through voluntary associations. Many people wanted to precent the manufacture and sale of liquor, improve conditions in prisons, expand public education, improve the condition of wage laborers, and reorganize society on the bassi of cooperation rather than individualism. All groups wanted the publics support for their cause. They gave speeches, created petitions, and published pamphlets. Some causes flourished throughout the country, but others like women's rights did not have a strong following in the south.

Fear of Change

At first, abolitionism aroused violent hostility in the north who feared that the movement threatened to disrupt the Union. People were scared of throwing off the balance in the United States and did not want to create problems so they were willing to let slavery pass. Printing presses were burned down. Eventually the abolitionist movement broadened its appeal to gain the support of northerners who cared little about the rights of blacks, but sympathized with them.

Mormons

Created and run by Joseph Smith, who rules with an iron fist, and he refused to separate church and state. Also, the practice of polygamy was questionable to neighbors.

Owenites

Created by Robert Owen in Scotland, it combined strict rules of work discipline with comfortable housing and free public education. He was appalled by the conditions of works in the early industrial revolution, that is why he created this utopia. His factory village became a massive producer of cotton. Owen wanted children to be removed from their parents at a early age and put into school to rid the child of individual ambition. This community did not survive long, but had great affects on the industrial revolution.

Slavery and Moral Suasion

Despite the militant language of Garrison, he and many other abolitionists were pacifists. They wanted to convince slave holders that their ways were sinful. They wanted to awaken the nation to the moral evil of slavery.

Institution Building

During the 1830s and 40s Americans embarked on a program of institution building, such as jails, poorhouses, asylums, and orphanages. They wanted to help diseased people. The largest effort before the Civil War was the movement to establish common schools, open to all children. The leader of this movement was Horace Mann, he hoped that this communal learning could bring the broken society back together.

Oneida

Founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848. They abandoned private property and traditional marriage. He wanted to create a society that was a "holy family" of equals. Any man could propose sex to a woman who could decline or accept, and it would be registered in the public record book. To become a member of the community one had to accept Noyes's teachings, and follow his rules. It was a strict system, regulating things like child birth, and sex. Seemed like voluntary slavery.

William Lloyd Garrison

In his newspaper, The Liberator, he called for immediate abolition of slavery, and his calls echoed throughout antislavery circles. He believed that blacks must be recognized as American citizens.

Spread of the Abolitionist Movement

It spread rapidly throughout the North with the help of pamphlets, speeches, and petitions. Pamphlets and newspapers were extremely important in the spread of the movement, and helped spread the word easily. Brilliant orators were also essential in the spread, and gave very long speeches about why slavery must be abolished. Abolitionists believed that freedom meant a persons ownership of themselves, and their ability to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Critics of Reform

Many Americans saw the reform impulse as an attack on their freedom. For example, they did not think that it was legal to have their alcohol taken away, because it was used in many celebrations.

Race and Abolitionism

Many blacks grouped together to oppose Colonization, and also held powerful roles in the American Anti-Slavery Society. Frederick Douglass was only one among many former slaves who published accounts of their lives. His genuine stories invoked more pity from readers then if someone else had wrote it, and his narratives became extremely influential. Whites held positions of power unavailable to blacks, and were able to help push abolitionism in a way that blacks couldn't. Abolition required blacks to redefine what liberty and freedom were in America. They said that freedom is color blind.

Utopian Communities

Others wanted to create small communities that could prove to the whole of America that the community was the ideal way to live. They all differed greatly in structure and motivation. All wanted to show that their way of life was the best way, and that meant some democracies, and some iron rulers. Some religious and some for economic reasons. Most wanted to create a cooperative basis, and restore social harmony to a world of excessive individualism.

Reformers and Freedom

Reformers believed that their goal was to enable Americans to enjoy genuine freedom. In a world in which personal freedom increasingly meant the opportunity to compete for economic gain and individual self improvement, they spoke of liberating Americans from various forms of slavery that made it impossible to succeed, such as drinking, poverty, and sin. They also believed that self-fufillment came through self discipline. Reformers believed that American society suffered from an excess of liberty.

Militant Abolitionism

Rose in the 1830's and was quite different from Colonization. A new generation of reformers rejected the traditional approach of gradual emancipation and pushed immediate abolition. They believed that blacks should stay in the country, and be equal citizens. David Walker, a free black, promoted the idea of immediate abolition, and using force if necessary. They wanted blacks to respect themselves more, and stand up for themselves.

Government Reform

Some wanted to use the power of the governments, and the constitution to force the sinners to change their ways.

A New Vision of America

The antislavery movement sought to reinvigorate the idea of freedom as a truly universal entitlement. They viewed slaves and free blacks as members of the national community. They are fellow country men, not foreigners. Blacks, once freed, should be empowered to participate fully in the public life of the United States. Descriptions of beatings, branding, and other physical sufferings of the slaves helped to popularize the idea of the bodily integrity as a basic right that slavery violated.

Moral Suasion

The effort to move others to a particular course of action through appeals to moral values and beliefs, without the use of enticements or force, used during the Reform Movements.

Colonization

The idea that after all slaves were freed, they should be set to Africa. Liberia became the place slaves would be shipped to. Endorsed by James Madison. Many could not understand how people could think that slavery could only end with the deportation of slaves. It was the easy way out. Most African Americans opposed the idea, and insisted that blacks were americans, entitled to the same freedoms and rights as whites.

Shakers

They were trying to escape from a society that was very sinful. They had a significant impact on the outside world. At their peak, their communities included more than 5,000 members. They kept sexes divided for the most part, and did not acknowledge individual accumulation of land.

Abby Kelley

Threw herself into the abolitionist movement after joining the Female Anti-Slavery Society. He have public speeches about slavery, and they were not also accepted well. Her career illustrated the interconnections of the eras reform movements. Wanted to help save the country for the sake of future generations.

The Temperance Movement

To northern citizens, reform became a symbol of respectability, an indication that one had taken control of this own life. The Temperance Movement of 1826 directed its efforts to redeeming not only drunks, but also the occasional drinker. It tried to persuade people to stop drinking. It was successful to many, but was not accepted everywhere.