Call to Freedom CHAPTER 15
New Movements in America
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Section 1: America’s Spiritual Awakening
Beginning in the 1790s some Americans took part in a movement of Christian renewal
known as the Second Great Awakening. Charles Grandison Finney was an important leader of the
movement. In a forceful and direct style, he preached that individuals were responsible for their own
salvation. Church membership grew throughout the country. Some New Englanders found spiritual
inspiration in transcendentalism. Transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson wanted people
to trust their own personal beliefs and judgment. Other transcendentalists such as Margaret Fuller
said women had the right to choose their own path; Henry David Thoreau believed in self-reliance
and wrote about his experiences living alone in a cabin for two years.
Utopian (looking for the perfect life) communities began to form. In the 1840s
transcendentalists formed a community at Brook Farm, Massachusetts. Ann Lee’s Shaker
community had grown to include 6,000 members by the 1830s. Other utopian communities were
based on social philosophies, such as equal pay for men and women. However, few of these
communities lasted. Ideas about spirituality, the simple life, and nature also shaped painters and
writers in the early 1800s. Thomas Cole painted the American landscape. Ann Sophia Stephens
wrote historical fiction. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote of Puritan life in The Scarlet Letter, while his
friend Herman Melville wrote the sea tales Moby-Dick and Billy Budd. The nation produced many
gifted poets during this period, including Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Walt Whitman.
Section 2: Immigrants and Cities
In the mid-1800s waves of immigrants crossed the Atlantic Ocean to begin new lives in the
United States. More than 4 million people came between 1840 and 1860, most of them Irish or
German. A potato blight in Ireland drove many poor Irish to America. Many Germans came to the
United States seeking new economic opportunities and political freedom. Mass immigration fueled
local economies. Some native-born Americans called Nativists feared losing their jobs to
immigrants. The Nativists became politically active, forming the Know-Nothing Party. The KnowNothings wanted to keep Catholics and immigrants out of public office. They controlled the
Massachusetts legislature for a short time.
The Industrial Revolution led to the creation of many new jobs in American cities. The
Transportation Revolution helped link cities and made it easier for people to move to them. U.S.
cities grew rapidly during the mid-1800s. This growth and the rise of industry changed American
life. Families of business owners and skilled laborers became part of the new middle class. Urban
growth also created new problems. Such challenges included limited transportation, crowded living
conditions, class conflicts, and unsafe housing. Most cities had no permanent police force and only
volunteer fire companies. All of these conditions combined to make life difficult for many city
residents.
Section 3: Reforming Society
The ideas of the Second Great Awakening led many Americans to strive toward improving
social conditions. Some of their causes included prison reform which was led by Dorothea Dix. She
worked to separate mentally ill prisoners from common criminals. Other reformers such as Lyman
Beecher spoke out about alcohol abuse prevention. This idea of controlling or eliminating alcohol
abuse became known as the Temperance Movement. Many also spoke out for improved educational
opportunities. Horace Mann was the leader of what became known as the Common School
Movement. Reformers worked toward improving public education and giving greater educational
opportunities to women, African Americans, and people with disabilities. Oberlin College in Ohio
was the first co-educational college and also the first to admit African Americans.
Section 4: The Movement to End Slavery
During the 1830s Americans who wanted the emancipation of slaves formed the Abolitionist
Movement. Abolitionists were a vocal minority. They spread their message through speaking tours,
newspaper articles, and pamphlets. Members of the American Anti-Slavery Society spread their
literature throughout the North and Midwest and sent petitions to Congress. Some in the movement
wanted to exclude women. Two white southern sisters, Angelina and Sarah Grimké, became wellknown antislavery activists. African Americans were very active in the antislavery movement.
Former enslaved African Frederick Douglass gave regular lectures for the Anti-Slavery Society.
Charles Remond asked the Massachusetts legislature to end racial discrimination in the state.
Sojourner Truth became famous for her dramatic and fiery speeches.
By the 1830s a loosely organized group of free African Americans, former slaves, and white
abolitionists formed the Underground Railroad. The network helped escaped slaves make their way
to freedom. Former enslaved African Harriet Tubman helped over 300 slaves to freedom and never
lost a single person. An estimated 40,000 enslaved Africans escaped on the Underground Railroad
between 1810 and 1850.
Section 5: Women’s Rights
Many women in the abolitionist movement also believed in women’s rights. In 1838
Angelina Grimké became the first woman to speak before a legislature in the United States when she
addressed both issues in a speech. Although some people opposed women’s rights, reformers
remained committed. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the Seneca Falls
Convention. The convention was the first public meeting about women’s rights held in the United
States and launched the women’s rights movement. Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony became the
most important leaders of the movement.
Answer the following questions on a separate piece of paper.
1. What was the Second Great Awakening?
2. What type of beliefs did Transcendentalists such as Emerson, Fuller and Thoreau practice?
3. Who were some famous American poets of this time period?
4. From what two countries did most immigrants to the U.S. come from during this time period?
5. What caused the Irish to come to America?
6. Who were Nativists?
7. What were 2 factors that caused cities to grow in the mid-1800’s?
8. What were some problems faced in the cities?
9. What type of reform did Dorothea Dix work towards?
10. What was the Temperance Movement?
11. Who was a leader of the educational reform movement?
12. What college in Ohio was the first to admit blacks and become co-educational?
13. What was the goal of the Abolitionist Movement?
14. Choose one famous Abolitionist and give an example of how they worked to end slavery.
15. What was the Underground Railroad?
16. What was the Seneca Falls Convention?