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CHAPTER 12
Religion, Romanticism, and Reform
1800–1860
This chapter begins by discussing the major changes in religion during the early nineteenth century,
including the rationalization of religion and the Second Great Awakening, as well as its impact on
existing denominations and the appearance of new ones. The text then examines how changes in secular
thinking—epitomized by the transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau as well as literary giants such as
CORE OBJECTIVES
1. Describe the major changes in the practice of religion in America in the early nineteenth century, and
analyze their influence.
2. Examine the emergence of transcendentalism in American culture in the early nineteenth century.
3. Explain the origins of the major social reform movements in the early nineteenth century, and analyze
their influence on society and politics.
4. Analyze the impact of the anti-slavery movement on society and politics.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Religion
A. Rational Religion
B. Unitarianism and Universalism
C. The Second Great Awakening
D. Frontier Revivals
E. Baptists and Methodists
F. Revivalism and African Americans
G. Camp Meetings and Women
H. Religion and Reform
I. The Mormons
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2. Romanticism in America
A. Transcendentalism
B. Ralph Waldo Emerson
C. Henry David Thoreau
D. An American Literature
E. Literary Giants
3. The Reform Impulse
A. Temperance
B. Prisons and Asylums
C. Women’s Rights
D. Early Public Schools
E. Utopian Communities
4. The Anti-Slavery Movement
A. Early Opposition to Slavery
B. From Gradualism to Abolitionism
C. A Split in the Movement
D. Black Anti-Slavery Activity
E. Underground Railroad
F. Reactions to Abolitionism
G. The Defense of Slavery
LECTURE IDEAS
1. As economic growth and social changes swept the country, so too did a revival known as the Second
Great Awakening. This massive religious wave saw more Americans than ever joining and supporting
2. Compare and contrast Unitarians with Universalists. Discuss the shift towards a more optimistic
outlook on life. Continue the discussion to include the changing role of the religious follower or
practitioner. Relevant sources include the following:
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4. Two of the more interesting attempts to establish utopian communities in the 1840s took place in the
Boston–Concord area at Fruitlands and Brook Farm. Write a lecture that compares these efforts in
terms of their objectives and level of success. A great source for Fruitlands is the section devoted to its
5. Henry David Thoreau is widely regarded as a founder of American environmentalism, and his Walden
is often viewed as a pioneering ecological text. What is the basis of this claim? Write a lecture that
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES / FLIPPED CLASSROOM SUGGESTIONS
1. Give each group in your class a particular reform group, other than abolition (it will come in a later
chapter) to research. Their focus could center around topics such as education, temperance, and
2. For an exploration into abolitionism, divide your class into two groups. Have them research and report
on the two movements of white abolitionism and black abolitionism. See the following:
3. Ask your students to research more deeply into Romanticism. Ask them to find out more about other
aspects of American Romanticism, such as art and music, as well as explore the connections to
European Romanticism. After this research is completed, have a discussion in which students consider
4. Religion in America during the nineteenth century shifted from the old Calvinist views of
predestination to a more optimistic outlook. Compare and contrast these practices of old and new.
Then, look
at two other religions of your choice and explore their view of humanity—natural goodness or sinful
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5. Access Catharine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s The American Woman’s Home: Or, Principles
of Domestic Science; Being a Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful,
Beautiful, and Christian Homes (http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/books/book_26.
cfm). Select short passages to have your students focus on. Ask them how the ideas articulated in those
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What was the most significant development or trend in the United States during the first half of the
nineteenth century? What makes that development more compelling than any of the other possibilities?
2. Did religion serve as a unifying or dividing force in antebellum America? What is the basis of your
argument?
3. What impact did the reform movement have in the early nineteenth century?
4. Discuss the role of groups such as “vigilance committees” in the Underground Railroad.
5. Why is having a high literacy rate, like the United States had during the first part of the nineteenth
century, so significant to a country?
6. How could Christianity be a significant basis for both abolitionism and defenses of slavery?
PRACTICING CITIZENSHIP
This chapter portrays a period in which newspaper readership was exploding, a situation directly opposite
to that of our own time, in which technological and cultural changes have sent newspaper circulations
plummeting and put the American newspaper industry in crisis mode. Should Americans be concerned
about this development? To formulate a response, read a good daily newspaper (the hard copy, not the
online edition!) every day for an entire week. If your town or city does not have one, then read a national
paper like the New York Times. Take at least 45 minutes to an hour each day to do so. Don’t just read the