NEW MOVEMENTS IN
AMERICA
CHAPTER 8, SECTION 1
RELIGION SPARKS REFORM
• Charles Grandison Finney
• Led revivals (meetings) to
revive (awaken) religious
feelings
• Hundreds to thousands of
people would embrace his
teachings
THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
• Reform movement in the 1820s and 1830s
• Led by Finney and many other preachers
• Took place all over the United States, but mainly in
the North
• By 1850, two times as many Americans attended
church than they had when America was founded
THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
• Many preachers were
Protestant
• Preachers told people that
“their destiny lay in their own
hands”
• People were urged to live well
and work hard
• Through dedication and hard
work they could create a kind
of heaven on earth
THE REFORM ERA
•
•
•
•
The Reform Era lasted from 1830-1860
The Second Great Awakening helped launch this
Americans wanted to reshape American society
People who participated are called reformers
THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT
• Wanted to reduce the use of
alcoholic beverages
• Temperance means
moderation
• Reformers linked the evils of
alcohol to sickness, poverty,
and the breakup of families
• 1851-Maine outlawed alcohol,
12 states followed them
REFORMING EDUCATION
• 1840s most schools were private schools or common
schools
• Common schools were public schools that taught
basic reading, writing, and math
• Teaching in common schools was generally poor, but most
families could not afford private school
COMMON SCHOOL MOVEMENT
• People wanted more children to be educated
• Educated people make better decisions and this
would be important in a democracy
• Common school movement wanted to extend and
improve public schools
HORACE MANN
• A very influential leader of
the Reform Era
• First Secretary of Education
in Massachusetts
• Wanted all states to fund
and supervise locally
controlled schools
• Advocated compulsory
attendance
• Started normal schools—
schools where teachers are
trained
HORACE MANN
• Mann transformed education in Massachusetts
• 1839-Created the first normal school
• 1852-Passed first compulsory attendance law in the United
States
• By 1860 six in ten white children attended school in the US
• Did not help Native American children or African American
children
WILLIAM MCGUFFEY
• Well known education
reformer
• Wrote textbooks for
different grade levels
• Taught reading and
moral and intellectual
values
REFORMING PRISONS
• Dorothea Dix campaigned
for humane treatment of
prisoners and mentally ill
• Before reform—mentally ill
and nonviolent criminals were
confined with violent
criminals
• Prisons were horribly crowded
and unsanitary
• Prisoners were abused by
their jailers
REFORMING PRISONS
• Dix petitioned Massachusetts state legislature for
better conditions
• Created state-supported institutions to house and treat
mentally ill people
• By the time she died more than 100 institutions were built
throughout the country to treat the mentally ill
TRANSCENDENTALISM
• Transcendentalism – the belief that knowledge is
found not only by observation of the world, but also
through reason, intuition, and personal spiritual
experiences
• By transcending (going beyond) observation,
people can have a deeper and truer
understanding of the world
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
• Leading transcendentalist
• Gave sermons and lectures
and wrote essays and
poems
• Belief that people should be
self-reliant and trust their
intuition
• All people and all of nature
are connected
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
• Major transcendentalist
• Believed in power of selfreliance and individual
thought
• People should act according
to their own beliefs even if
that meant breaking the law
• “Civil Disobedience” an
essay that beliefs are were
used in modern times
• Martin Luther King Jr. and
Gandhi
UTOPIANISM
• Believed in creating new communities that would
be free of social ills
• Utopia – a perfect society
• Led by Robert Owen – created New Harmony, but
society failed within 3 years
• Brookfarm – Utopian community in Massachusetts
that emphasized equality
• Failed because of debts