Chapter 8 Summary: Religion and Reform (1812-1860)
SSUSH7: Students will explain the process of economic growth, its regional and
national impact in the first half of the 19th century, and the different responses
to it.
SSUSH7c: Describe reform movements, specifically temperance, abolitionism, and
public school.
Ch. 8, Section 1& 2
Section 1: A Religious Awakening
Section 2: A Reforming Society
(Religion Sparks Reform: A religious revival sweeps the United States. In its wake,
many people press for reforms including the end of slavery, the granting of equal rights to
women, and increase rights for workers.)
1. What was the Second Great Awakening?
The Second Great Awakening (1790s – 1840s) centered on the belief that a person’s
salvation depended on his or her own efforts; an emphasis was put on the individuals
responsibility for seeking salvation and insisted that people could improve themselves
and society.
2. How did the Second Great Awakening revolutionize the American religious
tradition?
The Second Great Awakening revolutionized the American religious tradition by
teaching that individual responsibility was the way to salvation. Revivalism was one
effect of the Second Great Awakening.
3. Who was Richard Allen? How did the African-American church support its
followers?
Richard Allen founded the Bethel African church in Philadelphia, which later became
the African Methodist Episcopal Church. African Americans church supported its
church followers by giving its members a sense of community, an inner faith, and the
spiritual and political support to oppose oppression.
4. Who were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau? In what way did
Thoreau’s experience at Walden reflect Transcendentalist beliefs?
Ralph Waldo Emerson (a New England writer that emphasized self-reliance and
individualism) and Henry David Thoreau (friend of Emerson) an author, naturalist,
philosopher. Thoreau wrote a book (Walden) about his experience while living in a
cabin on the shore of Walden Pond. Transcendentalists stressed self-reliance and
the ability to be close to nature. Thoreau showed both qualities when he lived alone
for two years at Walden Pond.
5. Who is Dorothea Dix? How did the reformers change the treatment of the
mentally ill and prisoners?
Dorothea Dix was an American activist who devoted her life to trying to reform the
treatment of the mentally ill. Dix noticed that jails of ten housed mentally ill people.
These people were “chained, naked beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience.” She
got laws passed to improve conditions. Reformers emphasized rehabilitation rather
than imprisonment.
6. What was the Temperance Movement?
The effort to prohibit the drinking of alcohol was another offshoot of the influence
of churches. Many Americans recognized drunkenness as a serious problem.
SSUSH8: Students will explain the relationship between growing north-south divisions
and westward expansion.
SSUSH8a: Explain how slavery became a significant issue in American politics;
include the slave rebellion of Nat Turner and the rise of abolitionism
(William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and the Grimke’ sisters).
SSUSH7d: Explain women’s efforts to gain suffrage; include Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and the Seneca Falls Convention.
Ch. 8, Section 3
Section 3: The Anti-Slavery Movement
(Slavery and Abolition: Slavery became an explosive issue, as more Americans joined
reformers working to put an end to it.)
1. Who were William Lloyd Garrison and David Walker? What was radical at the
time about Garrison’s and Walker’s ideas on abolition?
William Lloyd Garrison—white abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He was
one of the founders of the American Anti-slavery Society. Garrison published the
Liberator. David walker—an American (free black) abolitionist, most famous for his
pamphlet Walker’s Appeal (which called for black pride, immediate and universal
emancipation of slaves. Walker led a slave rebellion. Garrison criticized churches and
the government; Walker advocated armed black revolts.
2. Who was Frederick Douglas? List his accomplishments. How was his approach
to abolition different from Garrison’s and Walker?
Frederick Douglass was a former slave who ran away to freedom; Douglas was an
American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman, and reformer. He did all of the
following: 1). Published a newspaper, North Star; 2). Worked as an urban slave; 3).
Lectured on the evils of slavery. Douglass was different from Garrison and Walker in that
he pushed for abolition peacefully.
3. Who was Nat Turner? How did Turner’s revolt harden Southern white attitudes
about basic liberties for blacks?
Nat Turner was an American slave whose slave rebellion in Southampton county,
Virginia was the most remarkable instance of black resistance to slavery. He led a
violent slave revolt in 1831 which killed about 60 whites. Turner and many of his
followers were captured and killed after the revolt. Turner would preach against
slavery. The rebellion was bloody and frightened slave owners. Many southern
whites believed that the only way to prevent such revolts was to eliminate by law
any personal liberties for slaves. The Virginia legislature debated but defeated a
law to end slavery. A frightened outraged south, cracked down on African
Americans both slaves and free blacks.
Ch. 8, section 4
1. What is the cult of domesticity? What were the main problems faced by women
in the mid-1800s?
The prevailing customs that controlled and demanded the lives of many women being
restricted to their activities after marriage to the home and family in the early 19 th
century has been called the Cult of Domesticity. Housework and childcare were
considered the only proper activities for married women. Women had limited legal and
economic rights. They could not vote and were not allowed to work in many professions.
2.
What gains did women make in education in the 1820s and 1830s? Did these
gains extend to African-American women?
Emma Willard—opened one of the nation’s first academically rigorous school for girls
in Troy, New York. In 1821, the Troy Female Seminary became a mode for a new type
of women’s school. Mary Lyon—founded an important institution of higher learning for
women (Mount Holyoake Female Seminary). White women found increasing
opportunities for higher and more academic education. These gains did not extend
to African American women.
3. What strides did women make in the area of health care?
Elizabeth Blackwell—the first woman to graduate from medical college; later opened
the New York Infirmary for women and children.
Catherine Beecher—undertook a national survey of women’s health.
Amelia bloomer—publisher of a temperance newspaper rebelled.
Beecher’s health survey found that one out of four women were sick due to women
not bathing or exercising and the fashion of the day included corsets so restrictive
that breathing sometimes was difficult. Also, Amelia Bloomer wore a costume of
loose-fitting pants tied at the ankles and covered by a short skirt. Women began
sewing bloomers and wearing them which was considered a daring venture.
4. Who were Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton?
Elizabth Cady Stanton & Lucretia Mott helped to organize the first women’s rights
convention, and composed an agenda and detailed statement of grievances, called
the Declaration of Sentiments. Both supported women’s right to vote. Stanton was a
speech writer and many of her speeches were delivered by Susan B. Anthony.
5. What significant events took place at the Seneca Falls Convention? How did the
Seneca Falls Convention differ from the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention held in
1840?
Nearly 300 women and men gathered at the Wesleyan Methodist Church for the
convention. The participants approved all parts of the Declaration of Sentiments
unanimously—including several resolutions to encourage women to participate in
all public issues on an equal basis with men except for the right to vote.
The Seneca Falls Convention and the world’s anti-slavery convention differed in that
women planned and ran the Seneca Falls Convention, while they were not allowed
to participate in the world’s anti-slavery convention.
6. Who was Sojourner Truth?
Sojourner Truth—originally named “Isabella Van Wagener (Baumfree)”, Truth was
born into slavery but freed once New York emancipated slaves in 1828. Though
illiterate, she became well-known and respected for her eloquent and charismatic
speaking. As abolitionists, she called for the equality of people of all colors. She
also supported the equality of men and women by speaking for women’s rights.