A Religious Awakening
• Lasted half a century
•Began in Kentucky, spread north and south
•Americans wanted governors to support
religion
•African Americans join in the spirit

Mormons form in New York in 1830

Unitarians- reflected growing Christian
liberalism

Joseph Smith formed Jesus Latter Day
Saints
Preachers were Protestant
Mormons were persecuted
Followed practices frowned upon by neighbors
Men have more than one wife
Held land as a group
•Political power

Mormons chased out of Ohio
› Sought refuge in Illinois

Joseph Smith runs for president
› Murdered by Mormons

Brigham Young
› Led Mormons far east
 Great Salt Lake city

Catholics and Jewish people face
discrimination
› 1800s Roman Catholic Church faced
discrimination
› Protestants viewed Catholicism as
incompatible
 Choose loyalty to people rather than U.S

Catholic poverty
› Poor immigrants from Ireland
 Little money
 Work for low wages
 Irish immigrants grow too powerful

Jewish people face discrimination
› Public officials must be Christians
› Jews barred from holding office
› Jewish people
• Rhode Island
 New York
 Pennsylvania

1840s great numbers to escape political
unrest
› Europe
› Americans ostracized them
Early 1800s, Americans wanted to improve life
Formed settlements known as Utopian communities
often failed within 2-6 years
Utopias built to be ideal societies
Well-known Utopia include: New harmony, Brook farm
New harmony lasted 2 years
Brook farm lasted 6 years

United society believed in Christ’s second appearance

Organized mid 1700s peaked around 1840s

Found in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Indiana

Men and women did not marry

Lived in separate houses

Did not want to have children

Economy flourished due to high quality price
Believed they could go beyond senses
to learn
 Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading
transcendentalists
 Most important follower was Henry David
 Wrote “Civil Disobedience”
 Later provided inspiration to civil rights


Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J., Peter B.
Levy, Randy Roberts, and Alan Taylor.
United States History. Boston,
Massachusetts: Pearson Prentice Hall,
2008. 266-272. Print.