Alejandro Garcia
Dr. Haas
History 102
21 April 2016
The New America
The Constitution of America clearly states in the first amendment that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise”. As a result from this, throughout the 1790s until the 1830s many religious rose up and became known by the power of this amendment. This rise of different religious that really shook America and change the country forever is known as the Second Great Awakening. At the beginning of the American revolution the largest well known religious in America known at that time were the Congregationalist, who are related to the earlier people who came to America know as the Puritans, Anglicans as well those known
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Another big reform that took place was Transcendentalism which was mainly about praising the divine equality of each soul. Unlike many other religions that believe in predestination, transcendentalism there is no real division between saved and damned,anyone could have a transcendent experience and could connected to the spiritual world based on their lifestyle. Transcendentalism was a very comforting ideal as a philosophy for a nation like America which believes that all men are created equal and have the same inalienable rights. The transcendentalist movement began to cross paths with the antebellum efforts toward social reform as perceived in that point of view, that if all men and women were spiritually equal from birth as they believed, all men and women must deserve to be treated with social and political equality as well no matter who they …show more content…
However, Transcendentalism was extremely against the rise of the every and any scientific method that was placed most value on material facts rather than any spiritual ideals. Very few Transcendentalists, were involved in the growing disputes between labor and capital,also the reformation of asylums and penitentiaries, or other matters on a reformist agenda.Many Transcendentalists because of this basic belief became involved in efforts to reverse conditions that prevented individuals from realizing their full potential.
Comparing many reforms, they all seemed to have very common themes and assumptions, one of the most important of the similarities was how each reform would be very passionate about their belief that individuals are able to act as free decision makers, capable of choosing right from wrong, and not be manipulated by anyone who can use them as puppets that tell them what to think see and believe. This logic helps explain the close connection between abolitionists and reforms such as the women’s rights
This newfound freedom in the Protestant sector of Religion inspired the Methodists to create a legacy and reform their ways to keep up with the newly evolved America. Presbyterians eventually got involved in the evolution of the churches as well, making sure their blatant dis-agreeance to slavery was well understood. As a result of the war, Thomas Jefferson made a pass at enforcing a bill to eradicate England’s monopoly on American Religion. The bill was originally written in 1779, but was turned down due to its wild and uncommon nature. The bill was to allow townspeople to choose which church and church like entity their money would support instead of all the money from taxes going to England and English churches that the Americans no longer wished to be part of.
The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalism is a book written by Barry Hankins in 2014. The main idea that the book reflects is that the Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalism reinforced Americans beliefs in the individual’s importance and support even as it helped to bring a sense of community to a highly nomadic masses. The Second Great Awakening movement transformed the American religion and society in a number of ways. While there was a large growth of the deism in New England. Church’s revolutionary fervor tended to alienate it from its constituency.
Reformists wished for people in office to be morally responsible. I believe it is important that reformists didn’t entirely shy away from politics. Instead, they learned how to use persuasion to make more change in the right direction. The reformists conformed to the way of gaining followers because it seemed like the only way to work. They made alcohol and slavery a major issue in politics and were able to stop postal workers from working on
Religion inspired movements to reform society. Both the abolitionist movement the women’s rights movement were inspired by religion because the Second Great Awakening focused on transcendentalism, or the ability for anyone to connect and form a relationship with god. This idea allowed both African Americans and women to take on more religious, social, and political responsibilities and rights. The temperance movement was inspired religion because of the idea of perfectibility, or bettering one’s self.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s reformers in the United States were trying different methods to advance the country. The reformers had different goals such as earning women suffrage and assisting the poor. The reformers had their methods to help bring about change in society. Reformers had different goals and methods to help change the society.
Also, the abolition movement was another way people were trying to repair society. Abolitionists used both Christianity and Domestic Ideology to promote their reform. In the beginning, it was described that the only people challenging slavery “were Quakers, slaves, and free black.” Through the Quaker religion emerged and an important woman named Abby Kelly, who was described as selfless and courageous which were necessary characteristics for her becoming a part of the abolition movement. Her courage led her to challenge domestic ideology’s “assumption that women’s “place” was in the home” by giving public speeches 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.
Richard Kaplan also said, “the theological belief in the potential mutability, indeed perfectibility, of people also encouraged a reforming attitude toward social institutions. Humanity and earthly society were not inherently sinful and, thus, could and should be reformed.” With the new quantity of religious people, the belief that there should no longer be sinful or unjust things grew tremendously. With this belief, people began to believe that things that needed to be reformed, should be reformed. The Second Great Awakening sparked a nationwide wave of reform movements that had a huge impact on American society throughout the 19th century.
Have you ever thought of what was the start of your school, or how the inventions that are regular to us today were made, or why you can vote? The truth is, some of these things were born from the Age of Reform, and the movements I’m focussing on are the Temperance and Abolition Movement. The sort of meaning for these two movements were because of huge ethical problems in society. Both movements have their similarities and differences, but the most intriguing comparisons are their motives, their end effects, and their end game compared to their starting intentions. The motives of the two movements are sort of connected to themselves.
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.
Transcendentalist were known to be passionate in the social reform movement, human rights, education, abolishment and women's right. They had a view that all human being were deserving of the ability to be fully human. Surprisingly, Fredrick Douglass is a name that also sees the world in a very similar way as a Transcendentalist. Douglass' views on human nature and the future of the United States are parallel with the views of the Transcendental movement. One of the themes in Douglass' writing was the relationship between human nature and the power it had.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Transcendentalist, a person, according to the week 10 powerpoint, who rejected the thought of organized religion and had a deep skepticism of government. He embraced individualism and rugged self-reliance. He, and other Transcendentalists, focused primarily on the mind and on nature. Charles Finney, according to the week 10 powerpoint and Charles Finney on revivals, was apparently the most successful revivalist of the Second Great Awakening. The revival movement was, after admitting your sins, to dedicate the rest of your life to the church and the morals the church taught.
The American Enlightenment and the Great Awakening were two very important motivators that changed the colonial society in America through religious beliefs, educational values, and the right to live one’s life according to each individual’s preference. The Great Awakening and the American Enlightenment movements were two events in history that signaled a grand distinction to the teachings among religious believers. New beliefs of how a person should worship in order to be considered in “God’s good graces” soon became an enormous discussion among colonists across the land. “Men of the cloth,” such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were well respected and closely followed when preaching about the love of God and damnation.
The political and social injustices that were present in the Gilded Age inspired several reformists to change society through social changes and reforms. These activists sought to reform against political corruption, labor conditions, women's suffrage, and ideologies. Most of these reforms helped to improve the social issues of America's corrupt society. For instance, many people of the middle class were against the theory of Social Darwinism, the idea that some people were genetically predisposed to be better than others through natural selection and that the government shouldn't be involved in private businesses or free-markets (laissez-faire). Reform Darwinists believed that the government should be able to interfere with private businesses
The mid-19th Century saw an evolution in reform and religious sentiment. Up to the 1830s, most reform revolved around Protestant evangelism and traditional religious and social thought. However, the 1840s and 1850s saw the creation of new, more ambitiously reforming movements. One of these movements was spiritualism. Generally, it was the belief that an individual could talk to spirits and seek counsel from them.