Post on 26-Mar-2015
Obj: What assumptions were behind the religious movements of the era & did they & the subsequent
reform movements actually make people more equal?
TOCQUEVILLE – RELIGION A POLITICAL INSTITUTION MEANING THE WAY RELIGIOUS IMPULSES REINFORCED DEMOCRACY & LIBERTY
POLITICS MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL SO MUST RELIGION – QUIT PREACHING TO THE RICH
BEGUN IN CT BUT MOVED WEST
CAMP MEETINGS – 2ND COMING NEAR & TIME TO REPENT; WERE EMOTIONAL OUTLETS
CANE RIDGE, KY 1801
FATHER OF MODERN REVIVALISM CHARLES G. FINNEY
DIFFERS FROM 1ST G.A. BECAUSE REVIVALS NO LONGER WORK OF GOD BUT HUMANS
EMOTIONAL RELEASE THROUGH PERSONAL TESTIMONY, FREE AGENCY = FREE WILL
ACTIVE MIDDLE CLASS ALREADY HAS BOUGHT INTO IMPROVING SOCIETY MOST EFFECTIVE IN SMALL TO MIDSIZED TOWNS
STRONG & ACTIVE CHURCHES DEVELOP
EASTERN REVIVALS & THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT 1820’s
ACKNOWLEDGE SIN & SURRENDER TO GOD
SALVATION AVAILABLE TO ALL
INDIVIDUALS COULD OVER-COME DESIRE TO SIN
SERMONS NOT DOCTRINAL OR THEOLOGICAL BUT ABOUT DAILY LIVING
MAKE RELIGION PERTINENT TO INDIVIDUAL’S LIFE
INDIVIDUALISM IN RELIGION JUST AS IN POLITICS
GROWS W/ OWN CHURCHES 19TH C. & IN N.E. MANY PROMINENT FAMILIES LEFT CONGREGATION-ALIST CHURCHES
FEW CONVERTS OUTSIDE OF NE BUT ATTRACTED WEALTHY & THEREFORE INFLUENTIAL
MORAL GOODNESS TOOK TIME & BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE MODELED ON CHRIST’S LIFE NOT SOME EMOTIONAL OUTBURST; CRITICAL OF REVIVALS
AGREE THAT HUMAN BEHAVIOR COULD BE CHANGED
J. SMITH PALMYRA, NY – HOW CAN THEY ALL BE RIGHT?
APPEAL LAY PARTLY IN PUTTING U.S. AT CENTER OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY
ORIGINAL AMERICAN RELIGION
MET W/ HOSTILITY WHEREVER THEY WENT & EVENTUALLY SETTLE UTAH TERRITORY
B. YOUNG TAKES OVER AFTER DEATH OF JOSEPH SMITH
MORMONS
PART OF THE UTOPIAN SOCIETY MOVEMENT
ANN LEE FOUNDER IN ENGLAND & THRIVED IN BURNED OVER DISTRICT – WESTERN AREAS TOO
GENDER EQUALITY MARRIAGE SUBORDINATE
TO CELIBACY UTOPIANS SOUGHT NEW
PATH TO SPIRITUAL FULFILL MENT. ATTACKED ESTABLISHED INSTITUTIONS
ROBERT OWEN – NEW HARMONY, INDIANA - FAILURE
EMERSON, THOREAU & WHITMAN THE MOST WELL KNOWN
MARGARET FULLER – 1ST FEMALE INTELLECTUAL
“I AM LARGER, BETTER THAN I THOUGHT. I DID NOT KNOW I HELD SO MUCH GOODNESS” W. WHITMAN – SEES HIMSELF AS PERSONIFICATION OF AMERICAN PEOPLE
U.S. COULD PRODUCE AS GREAT LITERATURE & ART AS EUROPE
COMMENTARY ON SOCIETY, POLITICS, ‘ACTIVISTS’
RELIGION BECOMES UNIFYING FORCE FOR MANY DUE TO INSTABILITY OF WORK & CONTINUAL MIGRATION OF FAMILIES
1820 75% AGRIGULTURAL JOBS 1850 LESS THAN 65% - INEQUALITY OF WEALTH, MOST LIVE DAY TO DAY BUT W/ FEW RAGS TO RICHES STORIES, J.J. ASTOR, SUSTAIN POPULAR BELIEF THAT COMMON MAN CAN MAKE IT RICH TOO. REALITY WAS QUITE DIFFERENT
POVERTY SEEN AS THE POOR’S FAULT BECAUSE IN THE AGE OF JACKSON SUCCESS WITHIN EVERYONE’S GRASP SO IF YOU’RE NOT MAKING IT, IT’S YOUR OWN FAULT
IMMIGRATION OVERTAXES SYSTEM, UNPREPARED FOR INFLUX FREE BLACKS IN NORTH FACED DISCRIMINATION – WORST
BEING FORCED INTO LOWEST PAYING JOBS 1 RESPONSE WAS FORM OWN CHURCHES – AME & RICHARD
ALLEN 1816