Chapter 14: A New Spirit of Change 1820–1860
Section 1: The Hopes of Immigrants
Main Idea: In the mid-1800s, millions of Europeans came to the United States hoping to build a better life. European immigrants came to the United States because of push-pull factors. Push factors included a European population boom, changes in farming that forced people off the land, and crop failures. In addition, the Industrial Revolution put many artisans out of work. People also came because of religious and political conflicts. The pull factors were religious freedom, economic opportunity, and land. People came from Scandinavia to escape poverty and to buy cheap land. Many settled in the Midwest and became farmers. The Germans were the largest group of immigrants. Many became Wisconsin farmers. German immigrants were very successful and strongly influenced American culture. In 1845, a disease attacked Ireland's main crop, the potato. The resulting famine, or food shortage, caused about 2 million people to leave. The Irish had little education and few skills. In the United States, they settled in cities, where they competed with free blacks to get low-level jobs. Rapid population growth in American cities caused many problems, including housing shortages, unhealthy conditions, and crime. Some people born in the United States treated immigrants with prejudice—a negative opinion not based on facts. U.S.—born citizens called nativists began a political party called the Know-Nothing Party. They wanted to cut immigration and to stop Catholics and foreigners from being elected to office. The party elected six governors but broke up over slavery.
Section 2: American Literature and Art
Main Idea: Inspired by nature and democratic ideals, writers and artists produced some of America’s greatest works. In the 1800s, writers adopted romanticism, a new style of art from Europe. They portrayed individuals. They also wrote about imagination, creativity, and feelings. American James Fenimore Cooper wrote about nature and the American wilderness. As writers began to use a more American style, Noah Webster gave rules for it in his new dictionary. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about United States history, including the ride of Paul Revere. Many American painters used nature in their work. One group, the Hudson River school, painted peaceful landscapes. Others painted the scenery of the West. John James Audubon traveled across the continent and sketched birds and animals. Enslaved African Americans created beautiful baskets, quilts, and pottery. By the 1840s, Americans took pride in their culture. New England writer Ralph Waldo Emerson thought Americans should learn about life from examining themselves and from nature and books. One of Emerson’s students, Henry David Thoreau, moved to a cabin he built in the woods. There, he wrote about his simple life in a book called Walden. Emerson and Thoreau practiced a new philosophy called transcendentalism, which taught the importance of the spiritual world. Thoreau also believed that people should use civil disobedience, or peaceful refusal, to disobey unjust laws. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson shaped modern poetry. Whitman’s poems praised ordinary people. Emily Dickinson wrote about God, nature, love, and death. Fiction writers also shaped modern literature. Edgar Allan Poe wrote strange, frightening stories that still influence horror writers. He also invented the detective story. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about the Puritans in novels such as The Scarlet Letter. Herman Melville wrote about the sea in his novel Moby Dick. Both writers show the harm done by cruel actions.
Section 3: Reforming American Society
Main Idea: In the mid-1800s, several reform movements worked to improve American education and society. In the 1790s and early 1800s, there was a wide renewal of faith called the Second Great Awakening. At revivals, preachers urged people to give up their sins. The temperance movement was a campaign to stop people from drinking alcohol. By 1838, about a million people had signed a pledge to give up alcohol. Some states banned its sale, but most of these laws were eventually repealed. In the 1830s, young women mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, started a labor union—a group whose members seek better working conditions. In 1836, about 1,500 women went on strike, or stopped working, to demand improved conditions. In 1840, President Van Buren ordered a ten-hour workday for public workers. Americans also wanted better schools. Massachusetts set up the first state board of education, headed by Horace Mann. By 1850, many states and cities in the North had started public schools. Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college to admit women students. African Americans faced barriers to education. In the South, it was against the law to teach a slave. In the North, most public schools did not accept African-Americans. Dorothea Dix was a reformer who traveled the United States pleading for better care for the mentally ill. As a result, 32 new hospitals were built. By the 1830s, some Americans hoped to build an ideal society called a utopia. One attempt was at New Harmony, Indiana. Another was at Brook Farm, Massachusetts. Conflicts and financial problems ended both societies. The Shakers formed a utopia based on religious beliefs. They believed that people should lead peaceful and holy lives. Shakers promised not to marry or have children. They built simple furniture in styles still used today. The Shakers had about 6,000 members in the 1840s. By 1999, there were only seven.
Section 4: Abolition and Women’s Rights
Main Idea: The spread of democracy led to calls for freedom for slaves and more rights for women. Abolition, the movement to end slavery, began in the late 1700s. By 1804, most northern states had outlawed slavery. In 1807, Congress made it illegal to bring new African slaves into the United States. Abolitionists began to demand an end to slavery in the South. David Walker, a free African American in Boston, printed a pamphlet urging slaves to revolt. William Lloyd Garrison published The Liberator, a newspaper that called for the end of slavery. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were abolitionists and former slaves. Douglass wrote an autobiography that described how it felt to be a slave. He also published an anti-slavery newspaper. Sojourner Truth had fled her owners and was set free by Quakers. She spoke for abolition in the North. The Underground Railroad was an above-ground series of escape routes. People called conductors led runaway slaves to freedom. One famous conductor was Harriet Tubman. An escaped slave herself, Tubman made 19 dangerous journeys to free enslaved persons. Among them were her parents. Women in the 1800s had few legal or political rights. In July 1848, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton held the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. The women demanded women’s rights but disagreed about suffrage, or the right to vote. In the mid-1850s, three women added their support to the women’s movement. In 1851, Sojourner Truth gave a speech urging men to give women their rights. Astronomer Maria Mitchell helped found the Association for the Advancement of Women. Susan B. Anthony built the women’s movement into a national organization. She worked to give married women the right to their own property and wages. By 1865, 29 states had such laws. However, women did not receive voting rights until the 1900s.
Main Idea: In the mid-1800s, millions of Europeans came to the United States hoping to build a better life. European immigrants came to the United States because of push-pull factors. Push factors included a European population boom, changes in farming that forced people off the land, and crop failures. In addition, the Industrial Revolution put many artisans out of work. People also came because of religious and political conflicts. The pull factors were religious freedom, economic opportunity, and land. People came from Scandinavia to escape poverty and to buy cheap land. Many settled in the Midwest and became farmers. The Germans were the largest group of immigrants. Many became Wisconsin farmers. German immigrants were very successful and strongly influenced American culture. In 1845, a disease attacked Ireland's main crop, the potato. The resulting famine, or food shortage, caused about 2 million people to leave. The Irish had little education and few skills. In the United States, they settled in cities, where they competed with free blacks to get low-level jobs. Rapid population growth in American cities caused many problems, including housing shortages, unhealthy conditions, and crime. Some people born in the United States treated immigrants with prejudice—a negative opinion not based on facts. U.S.—born citizens called nativists began a political party called the Know-Nothing Party. They wanted to cut immigration and to stop Catholics and foreigners from being elected to office. The party elected six governors but broke up over slavery.
Section 2: American Literature and Art
Main Idea: Inspired by nature and democratic ideals, writers and artists produced some of America’s greatest works. In the 1800s, writers adopted romanticism, a new style of art from Europe. They portrayed individuals. They also wrote about imagination, creativity, and feelings. American James Fenimore Cooper wrote about nature and the American wilderness. As writers began to use a more American style, Noah Webster gave rules for it in his new dictionary. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about United States history, including the ride of Paul Revere. Many American painters used nature in their work. One group, the Hudson River school, painted peaceful landscapes. Others painted the scenery of the West. John James Audubon traveled across the continent and sketched birds and animals. Enslaved African Americans created beautiful baskets, quilts, and pottery. By the 1840s, Americans took pride in their culture. New England writer Ralph Waldo Emerson thought Americans should learn about life from examining themselves and from nature and books. One of Emerson’s students, Henry David Thoreau, moved to a cabin he built in the woods. There, he wrote about his simple life in a book called Walden. Emerson and Thoreau practiced a new philosophy called transcendentalism, which taught the importance of the spiritual world. Thoreau also believed that people should use civil disobedience, or peaceful refusal, to disobey unjust laws. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson shaped modern poetry. Whitman’s poems praised ordinary people. Emily Dickinson wrote about God, nature, love, and death. Fiction writers also shaped modern literature. Edgar Allan Poe wrote strange, frightening stories that still influence horror writers. He also invented the detective story. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about the Puritans in novels such as The Scarlet Letter. Herman Melville wrote about the sea in his novel Moby Dick. Both writers show the harm done by cruel actions.
Section 3: Reforming American Society
Main Idea: In the mid-1800s, several reform movements worked to improve American education and society. In the 1790s and early 1800s, there was a wide renewal of faith called the Second Great Awakening. At revivals, preachers urged people to give up their sins. The temperance movement was a campaign to stop people from drinking alcohol. By 1838, about a million people had signed a pledge to give up alcohol. Some states banned its sale, but most of these laws were eventually repealed. In the 1830s, young women mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, started a labor union—a group whose members seek better working conditions. In 1836, about 1,500 women went on strike, or stopped working, to demand improved conditions. In 1840, President Van Buren ordered a ten-hour workday for public workers. Americans also wanted better schools. Massachusetts set up the first state board of education, headed by Horace Mann. By 1850, many states and cities in the North had started public schools. Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college to admit women students. African Americans faced barriers to education. In the South, it was against the law to teach a slave. In the North, most public schools did not accept African-Americans. Dorothea Dix was a reformer who traveled the United States pleading for better care for the mentally ill. As a result, 32 new hospitals were built. By the 1830s, some Americans hoped to build an ideal society called a utopia. One attempt was at New Harmony, Indiana. Another was at Brook Farm, Massachusetts. Conflicts and financial problems ended both societies. The Shakers formed a utopia based on religious beliefs. They believed that people should lead peaceful and holy lives. Shakers promised not to marry or have children. They built simple furniture in styles still used today. The Shakers had about 6,000 members in the 1840s. By 1999, there were only seven.
Section 4: Abolition and Women’s Rights
Main Idea: The spread of democracy led to calls for freedom for slaves and more rights for women. Abolition, the movement to end slavery, began in the late 1700s. By 1804, most northern states had outlawed slavery. In 1807, Congress made it illegal to bring new African slaves into the United States. Abolitionists began to demand an end to slavery in the South. David Walker, a free African American in Boston, printed a pamphlet urging slaves to revolt. William Lloyd Garrison published The Liberator, a newspaper that called for the end of slavery. Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth were abolitionists and former slaves. Douglass wrote an autobiography that described how it felt to be a slave. He also published an anti-slavery newspaper. Sojourner Truth had fled her owners and was set free by Quakers. She spoke for abolition in the North. The Underground Railroad was an above-ground series of escape routes. People called conductors led runaway slaves to freedom. One famous conductor was Harriet Tubman. An escaped slave herself, Tubman made 19 dangerous journeys to free enslaved persons. Among them were her parents. Women in the 1800s had few legal or political rights. In July 1848, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton held the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. The women demanded women’s rights but disagreed about suffrage, or the right to vote. In the mid-1850s, three women added their support to the women’s movement. In 1851, Sojourner Truth gave a speech urging men to give women their rights. Astronomer Maria Mitchell helped found the Association for the Advancement of Women. Susan B. Anthony built the women’s movement into a national organization. She worked to give married women the right to their own property and wages. By 1865, 29 states had such laws. However, women did not receive voting rights until the 1900s.
