Chapter 11 - Religion and Reform, 1800-1860 Flashcards
individualism
the radical new pattern of Americans being no longer attached by class, caste, association, or family
Ralph Waldo Emerson
New England essayist and philosopher who advocated for individualism
American Renaissance
mid-nineteenth century flourishing of literature and philosophy
transcendentalism
intellectual individualist movement rooted in New England
lyceum movement
transcendental movement of lecture tours by influential people
Henry David Thoreau
New England intellectual who sought inspiration from the natural world (inspired by Emerson)
Margaret Fuller
transcendental thinker who explored the possibility of freedoms for women
Walt Whitman
transcendental poet who believed in the power of a collective democracy
Nathaniel Hawthorne
author of The Scarlet Letter, which demonstrated a pessimistic transcendental-era worldview
Herman Melville
author of Moby Dick, which demonstrated the consequences of having a lack of self-restraint
utopia
an ideal community
Shakers
United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing
Ann Lee Stanley (Mother Ann)
leader of the Shakers
Charles Fourier
French reformer who devised an eight-stage theory of social evolution (predicted decline of capitalist values)
Albert Brisbane
leading American disciple of Fourier’s theory
socialism
political and economic theory of social organization that suggests production, distribution, and exchange be regulated by the community as a whole
perfectionism
evangelical Protestant movement whose followers believed that Christ had already returned to earth, therefore people could aspire to sinless perfection in their lives
Oneida
location of John Humphery Noyes’s perfectionist community
Mormonism
conservative belief system centered around close-knit communities and patriarchal power; founded by Joseph Smith Jr.
minstrelsy
theatrical theme of white actors (in blackface) depicting blacks as lazy, irresponsible, unintelligent, etc.
abolitionism
the antislavery movement
Nat Turner
slave leader of a violent rebellion in Virginia
Turner’s Rebellion
killing of over 50 whites by Nat Turner’s group of Virginian slaves; resulted in a white militia putting slave heads on poles as a warning
David Walker
African American abolitionist; author of An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World
William Lloyd Garrison
radical and determined abolitionist; co-founder of American Antislavery Society
Underground Railroad
informal network of whites and free blacks who assisted fugitives on their path to a safer life
Harriet Tubman
former slave who repeatedly risked her life by returning to the South to help slaves escape
Fugitive Slave Law (1793)
allowed slave owners and slave catchers to seize suspected runaways and return them to bondage
amalgamation
racial mixing and intermarriage
gag rule
informal Congressional agreement to table antislavery petitions
separate sphere
the perceived role of women, indicating that they should remain in the domestic side of life
Female Moral Reform Society
women’s organization that provided moral guidance for working young women
Dorothea Dix
advocate for the creation of state asylums for the mentally ill
domestic slavery
the notion that traditional gender roles locked women into a slave-level status
married women’s property laws
sets of laws that gave women control over the property they brought into a marriage
Seneca Falls Convention
the first gathering of women’s rights activists
Declaration of Sentiments
drafted at the Seneca Falls Convention; alluded to the Constitution by stating that “all men AND women are created equal”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
leading figure of the early women’s rights movement
Susan B. Anthony
leading activist for women’s suffrage
