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Protestant Revivalists

Protestant Revivalists. What problems did Protestant Revivalists want to solve?. Alcoholism, illiteracy, overcrowded housing, poor health care, abuse of women, declining moral values Many people sought to improve problems through reform movements that began in the early 1800s.

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Protestant Revivalists

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  1. Protestant Revivalists

  2. What problems did Protestant Revivalists want to solve? • Alcoholism, illiteracy, overcrowded housing, poor health care, abuse of women, declining moral values • Many people sought to improve problems through reform movements that began in the early 1800s

  3. What did PRs believe? • Reformers rejected the Puritan belief that God predetermined peoples’ lives and placed them in rigid social ranks • Taught the possibility of salvation for all • Called for a crusade against personal immorality • Worked for the reform of society

  4. Major Leaders • Charles Grandison Finney • Central figure in revivalist movement • Powerful sermons drew enormous crowds • Emphasized individuals’ power to reform themselves • Lyman Beecher • Taught “good people would make a good country” • Father of Catherine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe

  5. Transcendentalists • Who were they? • Included many philosophers and writers • Centered in Concord, MA

  6. What did they believe? • Rejected traditional religion • Taught that the process of spiritual discovery and insight would lead a person to truths more profound than he or she could reach through reason • Declared that humans are naturally good • Rejected outward rituals and group worship in favor of inward searching

  7. Major Leaders • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Well known writer • Began a literary movement known as “American Renaissance” • Believed in • Intimate connection b/n man and nature • Self-reliance and independent spirit • Sanctity of the individual

  8. Major Leaders • Henry David Thoreau • Wrote Walden • In his Essay, Resistance to Civil Government, Thoreau claimed that an individual should refuse to obey unjust laws • In his later years, devoted much of his time to the abolitionist movement

  9. Temperance Movement • What was the problem that the temperance movement attempted to solve? • Early 1800s America consumed more alcohol that at any other time in our history • Temperance mov. Opposed alcohol b/c it tended to make people lose control • Valued self control and self discipline • Believed people should abstain from all alcohol

  10. What actions did they take? • Asked people to sign abstinence pledges promising not to use alcohol • Organized the American Temperance Society • Wanted states to restrict the sale and consumption of alcohol • Alcohol consumption dropped sharply as movement gained strength

  11. Public Education • What were the problems with American schools in the 1800s? • More popular in the north, few public schools in the South • Very few standards for teachers or education • Most schools were segregated • Opportunities for women were limited • Weak textbooks

  12. Major Leader • Horace Mann • Became head of Board of Ed. in MA • Believed in the right of education for every human being • Believed a democracy couldn’t survive w/out an educated society • Wanted tax supported public schools • Some people didn’t support using tax money for schools

  13. Mann’s Accomplishments • Est. grade levels • Est. curriculum and teacher training • Known as “Father of American public schools” • Spoke out against slavery • Public school children of Mann’s day were taught how to behave, stand in line, wait their turn and respect authority • Textbook called McGuffey’s Readers not only helped teach reading but also taught Protestant values like obedience, honesty and temperance

  14. Reforming Prisons • What were the problems with American prisons in the 1800s? • Early 1800s many states built prisons for the first time • Conditions in prison were typically bad • Mentally ill people were put in prison instead of being hospitalized

  15. Major Reformer • Dorthea Dix fought for prison reform • Led efforts to build hospitals for the mentally ill • Traveled from prison to prison in MA documenting problems • Campaigned in Congress for reform

  16. Utopian Communities • What were they? • Small societies dedicated to perfection in social and political conditions • Encouraged cooperation and unity • Believed if social arrangements could be perfected, the ills of society could be eliminated • Utopia –fictional place where human greed or sin did not exist

  17. Did they exist in the 1800s? • More than 100 communities arose int eh US in the early 1800s • Became short lived experiments • Most fell to laziness, selfishness and in fighting • EX • New Harmony, IN founded by Robert Owen • Oneida • Shakers, an offshoot of the Quakers

  18. What was the Brook Farm Experiment? • Formed by George Ripley in 1841 • Communal society where everyone was to work together for the common good • Tried to live out Transcendentalists ideals

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