Vocab Unit 4.2

Question 1

Transcendentalists

Answer 1

Philosophical and literary movement in 19th century America that emphasized the inherent goodness of people and nature.

Question 2

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Answer 2

Key figure in the Transcendentalist movement, most famous for his essays “Self-Reliance” and “Nature” which emphasized individualism, reliance on intuition, and the inherent goodness of nature.

Question 3

Henry David Thorea

Answer 3

Prominent American essayist, poet, and philosopher closely associated with the Transcendentalist movement, most recognized for his book “Walden” which details his experiences living simply in nature and advocating for civil disobedience

Question 4

Antebellum

Answer 4

The period of increasing sectionalism that led up to the American Civil War

Question 5

Shakers

Answer 5

Utopian society that practiced communal living, pacifism, and gender equality

Question 6

New Harmony

Answer 6

Utopian community in Indiana that was established in the early 19th century by Robert Owen, a social reformer

Question 7

Oneida Community

Answer 7

19th-century utopian religious society in New York, known for its radical communal living practices, including communal ownership of property, complex rules regarding sexual relationships, focus on achieving perfectionism through shared living and work

Question 8

Second Great Awakening

Answer 8

widespread Protestant religious revival movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, characterized by emotional preaching, camp meetings, a focus on personal conversion, and fueled abolitionism and women’s rights

Question 9

Brigham Young

Answer 9

second president of the Mormon Church, who led the mass migration of Mormons westward to settle in Utah following the death of Joseph Smith, considered a key figure in the westward expansion narrative

Question 10

Mormons- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Answer 10

Religious movement founded by Joseph Smith, where members believe they belong to a restored church established by Jesus Christ, follow Book of Mormon

Question 11

Charles Finney

Answer 11

Prominent preacher during the Second Great Awakening, known for his “New Measures” revival techniques that emphasized individual choice and personal responsibility for salvation,

Question 12

American Temperance Society

Answer 12

Organization founded in 1826 that aimed to persuade people to abstain from drinking alcohol through moral suasion

Question 13

Dorothea Dix

Answer 13

Prominent social reformer who campaigned tirelessly for improved conditions and treatment of the mentally ill

Question 14

Asylum movement

Answer 14

19th-century social reform movement in the United States that advocated for the humane treatment of the mentally ill by pushing for the construction of dedicated mental institutions, known as asylums

Question 15

Horace Mann

Answer 15

Prominent educational reformer, often called the “Father of American Education,” who championed the “Common School Movement” by advocating for publicly funded, accessible education for all children

Question 16

Cult of domesticity

Answer 16

19th-century societal belief system that idealized women’s roles as devoted wives and mothers, emphasizing their primary place in the home as moral guardians, and essentially defining their sphere as the private domestic space

Question 17

Seneca Falls Convention

Answer 17

first major women’s rights convention held in the United States in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York. Issued a manifesto to claim “All man and women are created equal.”

Question 18

William Lloyd Garrison- The Liberator

Answer 18

Outspoken abolitionist. He published an anti-slavery newspaper called The Liberator. It called for freedom for all slaves immediately. Additionally, he wanted the North to secede from the Union.

Question 19

Frederick Douglass

Answer 19

Former slave who was an abolitionist, gifted with eloquent speech and self-educated. In 1838 he was “discovered” as a great abolitionist to give antislavery speeches.

Question 20

David Walker

Answer 20

African American abolitionist who gained notoriety for publishing a radical pamphlet titled “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World” in 1829, which fiercely denounced slavery and urged enslaved people to fight for their freedom

Question 21

Peculiar institution

Answer 21

Refers to slavery, specifically as it was practiced in the American South before the Civil War; it was a term used by Southerners to describe slavery as a unique and important part of their society

Question 22

Slave laws

Answer 22

laws passed by southern slaves to keep slaves from either running away or rebelling; essentially designed to control and subjugate the enslaved population.

Question 23

Planter aristocracy

Answer 23

Wealthy elite class of landowners in the American South who owned large plantations and relied heavily on slave labor to cultivate cash crops

Question 24

Poor whites “hillbillies”

Answer 24

Least prosperous non-slaveholding whites were scorned even by slaves as poor white trash.