Chapter 12: Religion, Romanticism, and Reform, 1800-1860
Which of the following helped bring about the major social reform movements in the early nineteenth century?
An economic depression spurred reformers into action as they sought to alleviate its effects, leaders of the Second Great Awakening encouraged Americans to reform society, and transcendentalists sought to better the situations of those in poverty and slavery.
What did NOT lead William Lloyd Garrison to describe Abigail Kelley as the "most persevering, most self-sacrificing, most energetic, most meritorious" of all the abolitionists?
As a former slave, Kelley endured unspeakable abuse, and kelley merged her belief in the cult of domesticity with her anti-slavery advocacy.
What were some of the major changes regarding religion that did NOT take place in the United States during the early nineteenth century?
As the economy diversified and industrialized, Americans began to move away from religion in general, and as the rich became richer in the market economy, religions in the United States mainly emphasized the moral superiority of the select few.
Which of the following were among the major successes of the early-nineteenth-century social reform movements in the United States?
Asylums for the mentally ill separated them from criminals in penitentiaries, and reformers established a growing movement in support of women's rights.
They abandoned the ___ idea of predestination- that God selected only a chosen few for salvation
Calvinist
_____________, however, promoted the cult of domesticity, chastising women who engaged in public politics and advising them to limit their activities to the domestic realm.
Catharine Beecher
The concept of Deism that had influenced many of the leaders of the American Revolution sparked criticism of conventional religion from the Deistical societies that emerged in the early nineteenth century. What was NOT the philosophy advanced by the Deists?
Deists believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible, and deists believed in restricting the speech of opposition groups.
The concept of Deism that had influenced many of the leaders of the American Revolution sparked criticism of conventional religion from the Deistical societies that emerged in the early nineteenth century. What was the philosophy advanced by Deists?
Deists believed in a rational God, believed all people were created as equals, and prized science and reason over traditional religion and blind faith.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Encouraged Americans to end their dependence on European culture and advocated self-reliance.
The old view of humanity as sinful faded as religion was influenced by _____ rationalism from the colonial period that stressed that all humans were equal.
Enlightenment
Polygamy was an important and central Mormon belief since the founding of the religion in 1823.
False
Such changes helped encourage a second period of religious revivalism, during which evangelical ministers preached against excess and declared salvation by what?
Free will
Why did William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of The Liberator and outspoken leader in the anti-slavery movement, believe that the U.S. Constitution was "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell?"
Garrison believed that the United States could not support the institution of slavery while proclaiming the ideal of liberty.
Analyze the painting below. What does it reveal about how women participated in camp meetings and frontier revivals?
In camp meetings, some women found opportunities to participate as equal parishioners to men.
Romantics emphasized intangible experiences that extend beyond that which can be experienced by the five senses, as well as stressing the importance of _______ and nonconformity?
Individualism
What were NOT factors that contributed to the emergence of transcendentalism in early nineteenth-century America?
Industrialization and the diversifying modern economy led transcendentalists, above all, to value hard work and materialism, and transcendentalists were inspired by the decline of American religious activity to explore the value of the individual over God.
How did the anti-slavery movement impact American society and politics?
Involvement of women in the anti-slavery movement caused some reformers to recognize the oppression of women by men, and It increased sectional tensions that ultimately led to the Civil War.
What was the cult of domesticity, and what was NOT some of the reactions to it?
It was a religious cult that developed to support full equality for women, It was an offshoot of Mormonism that supported the idea that Jesus was born in America, and It was a radical response to the Second Great Awakening.
What was the cult of domesticity, and what were some of the reactions to it?
It was an ideology that emphasized women's role within the home as mothers and wives, A backlash against restrictions in the women's "sphere" led many women to protest for equal rights, and women were educated to become teachers at "normal schools," where they could be "mothers away from home."
What led William Lloyd Garrison to describe Abigail Kelley as the "most persevering, most self-sacrificing, most energetic, most meritorious" of all the abolitionists?
Kelley bravely delivered speeches about sexual assault on female slaves, and despite infuriating some men, Kelley took a leadership position in the American Anti-Slavery Society.
Mormons moved from western New York to what became the state of Utah. How did Mormon beliefs affect the admission of Utah as a state?
Many Mormons practiced polygamy until 1896, and Utah was only admitted as a state in 1896, once the Mormon practice of polygamy ended.
How did transcendentalism influence American literature?
Many new American writers produced the first great age of American literature.
Identify how transcendentalism influenced American literature.
Many new American writers produced the first great age of American literature.
How did most white abolitionists view the idea of complete equality for African Americans?
Many white abolitionists believed that whites were superior to blacks and did not support the idea of equality.
America's economic growth in the first half of the nineteenth century transformed American life. With prosperity came increased ____ and social change.
Materialism
How did Baptist and Methodist theology NOT change the practice of religion in nineteenth-century America?
Methodists spread the idea of predestination, and Baptists violently challenged Anglicans for power in southern states.
How did the Second Great Awakening change the power structures of American religions?
Newer denominations were more activist and decentralized in structure compared to older, more established denominations.
Analyze the painting below, titled Politics in an Oyster House (1848). What does the painting suggest about reading and politics in the mid-nineteenth-century United States?
Newspapers were widespread enough that they became a part of daily life, and newspapers helped promote public discussion and debate in social situations.
How did the anti-slavery movement NOT impact American society and politics?
Northerners were uniformly united in their opposition to slavery, and the northern anti-slavery movement inspired a southern movement to abolish slavery that was parallel in scope.
What were some of the main beliefs found in nineteenth-century transcendentalism?
People should find spirituality within themselves, instead of simply following the guidance of religious leaders and organized religion, all people have the capacity for self-realization, and reality extends beyond what can be experienced by the senses.
This challenged Calvinist beliefs in ___ and the moral superiority of the few "elect."
Predestination
Horace Mann, an advocate for public schools, maintained that universal access to education "was the great equalizer of the condition of men—the balance-wheel of the social machinery." According to reformers during the first half of the nineteenth century, how would expanding public schools benefit the nation?
Public schools better enabled the lower classes to pursue the American dream, and public schools produced an informed citizenry, which was essential in a republic.
Horace Mann, an advocate for public schools, maintained that universal access to education "was the great equalizer of the condition of men—the balance-wheel of the social machinery." According to reformers during the first half of the nineteenth century, how would expanding public schools NOT benefit the nation?
Public schools were already widespread in the South and proven to guarantee job prospects for students, and public schools provided well-paid and stable jobs for qualified teachers.
The Romantic movement represented a shift away from ________ of the Enlightenment?
Rationalism
Angelina and _____________, abolitionist sisters from a slaveholding family in South Carolina, spoke to audiences of men and women about ending slavery, defying orders to limit their public speaking to audiences of only women. They linked their efforts to abolish slavery with efforts to abolish the domination of women by men.
Sarah Grimké
How did Baptist and Methodist theology change the practice of religion in nineteenth-century America?
Seeking to include all peoples, Methodists and Baptists actively recruited African Americans to their congregations, Baptists and Methodists believed that all people could be saved, and believing in greater social equality, Baptists and Methodists encouraged frontier revivals.
Similarly, the former slave and staunch abolitionist _____________ espoused the power of women to end slavery.
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth
Spoke about the evils of slavery, and decried the inequality of women
In response to the rise of the abolitionist movement, how did slaveholders NOT justify slavery?
Supporters of slavery argued that African Americans were too intelligent and needed to be held as slaves to protect the status quo, and supporters of slavery argued that since slavery was legal in Britain, the United States should keep the institution.
In response to the rise of the abolitionist movement, how did slaveholders justify slavery?
Supporters of slavery argued that the Bible did not prohibit slavery and, in some cases, actually allowed it, supporters of slavery argued that whites would have to compete with blacks for jobs if slavery were to end, and supporters of slavery argued that slavery benefited the "savage" Africans by giving them a better life than they would have had in Africa.
Put in chronological order the following events of the anti-slavery movement
The American Colonization Society creates an African repatriation platform, William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator demands an immediate end to slavery, The American Anti-Slavery Society begins flooding the South with anti-slavery publications, Abolitionist newspapermen Elijah P. Lovejoy is killed by mob violence in Illinois, The Liberty party is established to elect an anti-slavery president, and Harriet Tubman helps hundreds of slaves escape through the Underground Railroad.
Identify the changes in American society that led to a split in the anti-slavery movement.
The Grimké sisters demanded that women should be able to participate equally in the American Anti-Slavery Society, and some believed that Garrison's "moral suasion" approach to the anti-slavery movement would not lead to success.
Identify the changes in American society that did NOT lead to a split in the anti-slavery movement.
The Liberty party formed and would not allow former slaveholders to join the movement, and Garrison and his supporters did not want to give equal rights to free African Americans.
Which of the following did NOT help bring about the major social reform movements in the early nineteenth century?
The Romantic impulse encouraged the belief that people are innately bad, and reformers grew more selective.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately." This is how Thoreau described his decision to live apart from society on Walden Pond. He later wrote about his experience. What aspect of transcendentalism does Thoreau's quotation express?
The idea of individualism and self-reliance.
Identify what were NOT goals of the women's rights movement.
The right to assemble peacefully, and the right to leave the house alone.
What factors contributed to the emergence of transcendentalism in early nineteenth-century America?
The rise of Romanticism and its emphasis on the spiritual and emotional life of the individual inspired transcendentalists, and transcendentalists challenged that science and reason were limited in scope and instead explored the soul, emotions, and the unconscious.
How did increased economic prosperity facilitate the participation of women in the reform movements of the nineteenth century?
The rise of the urban middle class allowed women to devote more time to societal issues.
Analyze the following quotation from Henry David Thoreau:"If the law is of such a nature that it requires you to be an agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law."What idea did Thoreau develop in this quotation?
Thoreau wrote about civil disobedience, an idea that grew out of the transcendentalist emphasis on radical individualism.
What was the goal of the early-nineteenth-century American Colonization Society?
To settle free blacks in Africa
What encouraged individuals to seek personal fulfillment and a direct connection to God by convening with nature?
Transcendentalism
This rationalism affected the emergence of ____ and Universalist religions, as believers began to take on a more positive view of human nature and to stress God's loving nature.
Unitarian
Harriet Tubman
Used the Underground Railroad personally to free about 300 slaves, and worked as a northern spy and scout during the Civil War.
Which of the following were NOT among the major successes of the early-nineteenth-century social reform movements in the United States?
Vegetarianism was widely adopted as a healthy and moral diet, and nearly every child in America attended public school.
How did the expanded role of women in religion influence social life in America?
Women began to pursue social reforms, such as the right to vote and education for women.
Analyze the painting below, titled Politics in an Oyster House (1848). What does the painting NOT suggest about reading and politics in the mid-nineteenth-century United States?
Women were viewed as important participants in the political conversation, and an increase in Americans reading literature resulted in a decrease in those reading newspapers.
Emily Dickinson
Wrote almost 1,800 poems that explored such abstract themes as life, death, fear, and God
Frederick Douglass
Wrote an autobiography describing personal experiences as a slave, and published the North Star, an abolitionist newspaper in New York
Universalism
attracted the working poor and stressed that salvation was available to everyone
Julia Ward Howe
became a leader of the women's suffrage movement after her abusive husband's death; known mostly as the poet who would provide the lyrics to "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
Deism
believed in a rational God, prizing science and reason over traditional religion
Unitarianism
emphasized the oneness and compassion of a loving God and the natural goodness of humankind
Shakers
founded by Ann Lee, encouraged celibacy, and used a ritual dance as part of their worship
Oneida Community
founded by John Humphrey Noyes, and based on the idea of "complex marriage"
Brook Farm
inspired by transcendentalism and became America's first secular utopian community
Seneca Falls Convention
organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to discuss the condition and the rights of women; included both men and women
Declaration of Rights and Sentiments
proclaimed that laws that placed women in an inferior position in relation to men had no authority and that "all men and women are created equal"
Identify the goals of the women's rights movement.
the right to vote, the right to control their own property, and the ability to find gainful employment
the Grimke sisters
traveled widely as speakers as part of the anti-slavery movement; brought women's rights to center stage by defying convention and speaking to mixed-gender audiences
Susan B. Anthony
was active in temperance and anti-slavery groups and came to focus on women's suffrage; was unmarried and devoted much of her attention to the movement
Margaret Fuller
was one of the women who was part of the Transcendentalist Club and organized her own group in Boston; wrote the book Woman in the Nineteenth Century
Abigail Kelley
was the first woman elected as an officer in the American Anti-Slavery Society; told stories of enslaved women sexually assaulted by their owners
Walt Whitman
wrote the controversial Leaves of Grass, which was banned in Boston for its sexual references
What were NOT some of the main beliefs found in nineteenth-century transcendentalism?
A limited monarchy would be the strongest form of government, and anyone could find salvation through the teachings of qualified clergy.
Which of the following statements best describes Emily Dickinson, an individual who was a part of the Romantic movement in the early 1800s?
A lonely poet whose groundbreaking poetry explored themes of life, death, fear, and heartbreak.
What were some of the major changes regarding religion that took place in the United States during the early nineteenth century?
A popular religious belief that people are inherently good also contributed to a political reform movement, and inspired by revivals and camp meetings, a growing number of Americans joined churches that preached that all people could be saved if they chose the right path.
