Although the United States was going through a moral reform, reformers continued to make every effort to abolish slavery in order to unify the nation. Reformers swept through the United States before the Civil War in a movement known as the Second Great Awakening to influence citizens to change their previous moral standards. Slavery continued to expand in the South, and reformers’ agendas continued to fail because of the denial of Southern plantation owners wanting to keep their slaves. Many reformers attempted to promote the abolition of slavery, however, their religious beliefs, poster propaganda, and questioning the morality of slavery were the most effective ways to influence the nation to unify. Religious beliefs contributed to the …show more content…
David Walker says, “whites have always been an unjust...set of beings, always seeking power and authority,” to call for slaves to revolt against their masters. Angelina Grimke builds upon Walker’s position, saying “the opposition of slavery has done its deadliest work in the hearts of our citizens,” to illustrate how slavery has caused nothing positive to the nation and is only diverting the country apart. The Northerners also had the interpretation of “holding slaves is morally wrong...upon precepts taught in the bible, and takes (the bible) as the standard of morality and religion” (Slavery and the Bible,1850) to further question the justification of holding slaves and how the morals of Christians in the North aided by the rise of the abolition movement during the Second Great Awakening. The morality of slavery was being questioned in the United States during the nineteenth century because of the denial of happiness and human rights among those under the rule of southern plantation owners. Reformers expressed their point of views, and many northerners began to join the abolition movement, however their attempts couldn’t influence the southerners and slavery continued on plantations in the southern
In completing this week’s reading, Antebellum Reform: Salvation, Self-Control, and Social Transformation by Wendy Gamber, I identified several key terms that illustrate the significance of the Antebellum Reform period. Following the Second Great Awakening, the Antebellum Reform was a time period of self-control and moral suasion. Self control refers to the ability to control oneself and supports the predestination to free will, or the idea that “one’s station in life was not fixed [...] it was your fault, not God’s will, if you failed to succeed on earth or to gain salvation in heaven” (Gamber, p. 132). Certainly, people can control their own behaviors and attitudes; however, self-control became synonymous with the ideal of the American
By the 1820’s, the Abolitionist movement had already been fairly successful in transforming attitudes towards slavery in the colonies. Throughout the early years of the sentiment, many writers and orators repeatedly called upon the heritage of the Revolution in calling for an end to slavery. When David Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World appeared in 1829, however, it marked something distinctly different, a kind of vociferous attack on slavery that had seldom, if ever, been seen in print. When it first emerged, it was the most confrontational anti‐slavery document to have ever been published, and even though it was criticized as being extremely radical, it contained logical extensions of the principles of the American
Kaitlyn Triplett BLS 365-01 Dr, Matthew McKinnon 9 April 2023 The Civil War as a Theological Crisis Historians often argue that the political and social tensions that existed between Northerners and Southerners and the connection to the legalization of slavery are commonly referred to as the fundamental conflicts that provoked the American Civil War. However, in Mark Noll’s book The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, he examines how the differing religious thought surrounding God’s approval or rejection of slavery created more tensions, division, and was a major landmark shift in American religious thought. In the text, Noll examines differing perspectives of what the Bible has to say about slavery.
The Second Great Awakening, was one that once again sparked religion. It helped people come together once again under the faith, uniting them. The South began to create emotional camp meeting, where 1000’s would gather in search of religion whether it came in the form of Baptism, Presbyterianism, or Methodist faith. The camps provided an outlet for rural people, and those whose lives were lonely.
Prior to the 1830s, the antislavery movement was mainly concentrated in the upper South. At first abolitionist groups encouraged slave owners to release their slaves voluntarily; however, as the movement grew in popularity, abolitionist began to encourage colonization and other techniques in order to improve a slave’s quality of life. Within both techniques they hoped to persuade all slave owners to treat their property humanly, this would allow for the slave population to decrease. Therefore, by 1836, the abolitionists had radicalized the antislavery movement greatly, due to an increasing number of attacks on groups such as the American Colonization Society, growing revolutionary views, and labeling slavery as a moral issue.
He rather rejected the manipulation of doctrine utilized by the slaveholders to achieve their end. Douglass wrote that, "the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,-a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,-a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,-and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection" (965). Religion was therefore not only a means of false justification for slave owners, but also a source of unified protection against any criticism of slave practices that could arise. Douglass seemed to insist that there was a genuine form of Christianity that was based upon love of God and love of "thy neighbor," but that these Southern practitioners certainly had not converted to the belief in such a doctrine.
Evangelical preachers, in keeping with their social doctrine that targeted the disadvantaged in society, attempted to convert slaves and Native Americans. Prior to the Awakening no one had made a serious effort at their conversion for fear that Christianity was “a step towards freedom” (357). Slaves attended evangelical sermons en masse, wary of the Anglican ministers who supported their masters. Evangelical Christianity offered moments of release and equality from the perpetual suffering of a slave’s life. This did not mean, however, that the evangelists actively opposed slavery.
In the wake of the second Great Awakening in the early 1800’s, societal morals regarding slavery, lack of rights for women, the prison system, education, and other institutions were questioned. Unitarianism stressed salvation through good works, and both religious converts and transcendentalists initiated social reform movements in an attempt to improve the moral state of America. Two of these movements that included perhaps the most controversy and struggle included abolitionism and women’s rights. Although both the abolitionist and women’s rights movements were able to eventually create lasting societal and political change, the fact that only a small portion of the population had any democratic rights showed the initial weaknesses of American democracy.
Throughout his narrative, Douglass’s descriptions of the white slaveholders expose the Christian hypocrisy found in the American slave system. Douglass first does so by exposing how the lesson taught by Christians to help those in need is contradicted by the experiences Douglass has especially with hunger. Douglass reflects on these experiences when he states that for the “first time during a space of more than seven years” feeling the effects of the “painful gnawing’s of hunger…” (54). This event shows the Christians’ lessons of selflessness and kindness is hypocritical as they treat their fellow humans as subhuman. The Christians at the time rely on scripture to make a case for slavery in America.
As opposed to Abraham Lincoln, who only began his active movement against slavery after his presidential inauguration, abolitionists and enslaved people themselves fought courageously to end the inhumane practice from the very beginning. More than seventy years before Lincoln was elected, the Quakers were already leading the early abolitionist movements, as they believed slavery violated the law of God and human rights. The indispensable factor in the eradication of slavery was not the political leadership of Abraham Lincoln, but rather the actions of the abolitionists and enslaved people themselves. The abolitionists were an important political force in the Civil War antebellum period, and they paved the way to the ratification of the Constitution’s
“ I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, woman-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.” (Douglass 100) Douglass does this to show how hypocritical people in the South were being. Churches were teaching the Christian practice of being kind and compassionate while not actually practicing it themselves. Douglass argues that the actions of some people are against religion.
The Second Great Awakening’s Impact on Abolitionism in the North The Second Great Awakening during the late 18th and 19th centuries sparked many reform movements in the United States. The new enlightenment age fostered scientific thought that often challenged traditional Christian practices. Principles of “Deism” and “Unitarianism” were religious philosophies that focused on free will, reason, and science.
The second great awakening had a huge impact on the growing opposition to slavery in 1776 to 1852. The second great awakening was a religious revivalism that protected church morals and promoted abolition. During the second great awakening many white americans
Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.
and by those too, who profess religion?”(Apess, 6). In this way, Apess argues by pointing out the hypocrisy found in the Christian ideology of the time, insisting that the ideas held on racial superiority and slavery, while not explicitly condemned in the Bible, go against the ideas of the teachings of Jesus. Apess also uses an appeal to authority, to Jesus nonetheless, in order to shame those who would argue for slavery by mentioning that their savior would be discriminated against in American society. Another voice against slavery, Frederick Douglass, not only uses his religion as an argument against slavery, but also condemns the branches of Christianity which supported it over the course of his 1845 “Narrative”. In his appendix, Douglass states “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt,