Chapter 12: Religion and Reform, 1820-1860
I.
Individualism—What did “individualism” mean at this time? How did de Tocqueville and Emerson have different views
of individualism?
A. Emerson and Transcendentalism—What was Emerson’s background? What were the main sources of
transcendentalist philosophy? What did Emerson want to “free” people from? How did Emerson spread his
message to others?
B. Emerson’s Literary Influence—What did Emerson want to see happen in American literature?
1. Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller—Where did Thoreau gain his inspiration? What did Thoreau
mean by “he hears a different drummer”? How did Margaret Fuller’s beliefs empower women?
2. Walt Whitman—Why was Walt Whitman famous? What were the themes of his writing?
3. Darker Visions—What two novelists had more negative outlooks on the individual? What did they write?
C. Brook Farm—What were “utopias”? What was Brook Farm? What was Brook Farm’s strength? What was its
weakness?
II.
Communalism—How did people organize themselves under “communalism”?
A. The Shakers—Who were the Shakers? How were they founded? Why were they called “Shakers”? What did the
Shakers believe? To whom did the Shakers appeal? What ultimately happened to them?
B. The Fourierist Phalanxes—Who founded the Fourierist Phalanxes? What did he believe? What was a “phalanx” in
their belief system? What happened to them?
C. John Humphrey Noyes and the Oneida Community—What was “perfectionism”? What was the barrier to
perfection? What was “complex marriage”? What were the effects of “complex marriage”?
D. The Mormon Experience—Why did the Mormon attract more hostility than other communal groups?
1. Joseph Smith—Why did Joseph Smith think he was chosen by God? What church did he found? What
beliefs did he promote? Where did Smith move his church, and why? What is “polygamy” and how did it
fit with Smith’s beliefs? How did Smith die?
2. Brigham Young and Utah—Who was Brigham Young and what was his plan for the Mormons? How did
they fare in their new home? Why did Mormonism succeed where other communal efforts failed?
III.
Abolitionism—What did abolitionists stand for? On what did abolitionists base their arguments?
A. Slave Rebellion—What did it mean to call for blacks to “elevate” themselves? How was David Walker’s approach
different? Who was Nat Turner, and how was his rebellion a turning point for slavery in Virginia?
B. Garrison and Evangelical Abolitionism—What was “evangelical abolitionism”?
1. William Lloyd Garrison, Theodore Weld, and Angelina Grimke—Who was William Lloyd Garrison?
What was his background? What was his approach to dealing with slavery and its supporters? What were
the accomplishments of Theodore Weld and the Grimke sisters?
2. The American Anti-Slavery Society—Who formed the society? How did women react? What were
abolitionist leaders’ three-pronged plan of attack on slavery, and how did they work? What is “civil
disobedience?”
C. Opposition and Internal Conflict—Why was abolitionism able to win over so few people, particularly in the North?
1. Attacks on Abolitionism—How did northern opponents fight abolitionism? How did the South react to
abolitionism (and Garrison in particular)? How did Andrew Jackson get involved in the debate? What is
the “gag rule” and how were they used?
2. Internal Division—What issue split the abolitionist movement from within?
IV.
The Women’s Rights Movement
A. Origins of the Women’s Movement—In what areas did women begin to achieve greater public authority? What
public projects did women devote their energies to?
B. Abolition and Women—What role did women play in the abolitionist movement? Why were the Grimke sisters
important? Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe?
C. The Program of Seneca Falls—What legal rights did women begin to gain? What was the meeting at Seneca Falls
in 1848 about? On what document did the Seneca Falls Program base its appeal?