Chapter 12—Antebellum Culture and Reform
I.
The Romantic Impulse
1.
National Cultural Aspirations—What did America’s cultural leaders want for America? What was romanticism?
A.
Nationalism and Romanticism in American Painting
1.
Hudson River School—What did the Hudson River School paint, and who were some of its artists?
B.
Literature and the Quest for Liberation
1.
Cooper and the American Wilderness—Who was America’s first great novelist, and what did he write about? Why was Walt
Whitman famous, and what did he write about?
2.
Herman Melville—How did Melville’s themes cast doubt on the focus on the individual? Who was Edgar Allen Poe?
C.
Literature in the Antebellum South
D.
The Transcendentalists—What did the transcendentalists mean by “reason” and “understanding”? What did they think that humans should strive for (what were humans meant to “transcend”)?
1.
Ralph Waldo Emerson—Who was Emerson? What did he think humans should work towards? Who was Thoreau?
2.
Thoreau and Civil Disobedience—What was Thoreau’s theory about civil disobedience?
E.
The Defense of Nature—What did transcendentalists believe about humanity and nature?
F.
Visions of Utopia
1.
Brook Farm—What was Brook Farm? How was it to operate? What happened to Brook Farm?
2.
New Harmony—What did Charles Fourier and Robert Owen try to establish?
G.
Redefining Gender Roles—How did Margaret Fuller redefine gender relations?
1.
Redefined Gender Roles at the Oneida Community—How was the Oneida Community unique as they viewed gender roles?
2.
The Shakers—Who founded the Shakers? Where did they get their name? What did they believe about gender roles?
H.
The Mormons
1.
Joseph Smith—Who was Joseph Smith? What was the Book of Mormon? What happened when Mormons tried to found their “New Jerusalem”? What happened to Joseph Smith? What did Brigham Young ultimately do? What did Mormons create in Utah?
II.
Remaking Society
A.
Revivalism, Morality, and Order—What two sources fueled the philosophy of reform? Who was Charles Grandison Finney?
1.
Revivalism in the Burned-Over District—What was the “burned-over district”?
2.
Finney’s Doctrine of Personal Regeneration—What was the goal of Finney’s revivalism?
B.
The Temperance Crusade—What was the goal of the temperance movement? Why was there so much alcohol in America?
C.
Health Fads and Phrenology
D.
Medical Science
E.
Reforming Education—What happened to public education in the mid-1800s? Who was Horace Mann? According to Mann, what was the purpose of public education?
1.
Rapid Growth of Public Education—How did states encourage the growth of public education? How did public education compare in the North vs. the South?
2.
Achievements in Educational Reform—What achievements did the U.S. accomplish in education?
3.
The Benevolent Empire—What was the goal of the Benevolent Empire?
F.
Rehabilitation
1.
The Asylum Movement—What was the goal of the asylum movement
2.
Prison Reform—What were “penitentiaries”?
G.
The Indian Reservation—How did the U.S. policy towards Indians shift?
H.
The Emergence of Feminism
1.
Reform Movements and the Rise of Feminism—What restrictions did women face by the 1840s? Who were some famous female reformers who called for equal rights?
2.
Seneca Falls—What occurred at Seneca Falls? What religion was prominent at the meeting?
3.
Limited Progress for Women—What movement at this time took precedence over feminism?
III.
The Crusade Against Slavery
A.
Early Opposition to Slavery
1.
American Colonization Society—What did the ACS propose to do with African Americans? What was Liberia?
2.
Failure of Colonization—Why was the ACS ultimately unsuccessful?
B.
Garrison and Abolitionism
1.
Garrison and The Liberator —What was The Liberator and why did Garrison found it? How was Garrison’s approach to abolition different from prior abolitionists? What was his goal?
2.
American Antislavery Society
C.
Black Abolitionists
1.
Free Blacks’ Commitment to Abolition—How did free blacks support Garrison? Who was David Walker and what was his message? Who was Sojourner Truth?
2.
Frederick Douglass—Who was Frederick Douglass and why was he famous?
D.
Anti-Abolitionism—What groups opposed abolition (in the South AND the North)? Why did these groups oppose abolition?
1.
Violent Reprisals—What happened to some abolitionists?

E.
Abolitionism Divided
1.
Moderates vs. Extremists—How did Garrison split the abolitionist movement? How did northern states begin to combat slavery (particularly after the Supreme Court’s decision in Prigg v. Pennsylvania )? How did the “free soil” movement differ from “abolitionism”? What did the “free soil” movement accomplish? What did some extremist abolitionists do to combat slavery?
2.
Harriet Beecher Stowe—What did Harriet Beecher Stowe do to ignite debate over slaver in America?