Transcript
Chapter 8: The Quest for a Republican Society Expanded Timeline
1782 St. Jean de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer
In the half-century after America won its independence, many aristocratic
Europeans traveled to the United States to study the new republic and compare
the new nation with Europe and European institutions. One of the first, St. Jean
de Crèvecoeur, praised the United States for establishing a democratic social
order that allowed people to succeed on the strength of their own abilities
rather than be locked into a predetermined social position by birth and family
status.
1787 Benjamin Rush, Thoughts on Female Education
A shift in Christian thought encouraged some writers, such as Benjamin Rush, to
argue that women should be educated to be agreeable companions to their
husbands and "republican mothers."
1790s Parents limit family size
At the turn of the nineteenth century the United States experienced a sharp
decline in the birth rate. Many people chose to marry later in life and to have
smaller families. This change grew out of economic reality: with less good land
available, parents were less likely to have large holdings to pass on to their
children. Accordingly, they limited family size to ensure an adequate inheritance
to all their children.
Second Great Awakening
From the 1790s to the 1830s the Second Great Awakening inspired an upsurge
of revivalism and church growth. Old-line denominations fell out of favor, as
evangelical churches, led by the Baptists and Methodists, spread Protestantism
from New England to the South and into the frontier regions. In the climate of
republicanism, the Second Great Awakening promoted democracy and friendly
competition among the churches and helped create a truly American form of
Protestantism.
"Republican motherhood" defined
Around 1800 a change in Christian thought led Americans to view woman as
morally superior to men. Minsters began to encourage women to influence the
moral character of society. They urged women to become "republican mothers,"
who gave their children proper moral instruction in order to establish in them the
solid moral foundation upon which they would become republican citizens.
1800s Rise of sentimentalism and republican marriage system
The predominance of republican values (especially support for greater
democracy), increasing economic pressures on families, and the rise of
sentimentalism, a cultural movement that emphasized feelings and emotion over
reason, dramatically altered attitudes toward marriage in the United States. As
people placed greater emphasis on emotion, young men and women selected
their own partners for love instead of parents arranging marriages for their
children. Republican marriages decreased parental control over children but
actually increased the power of husbands over wives, who no longer could turn
easily to their parents for support.
Women’s religious activism and female academies
In the early 1800s new ideas that argued that women were moral superior
opportunities opened many opportunities for women in church work.
Outnumbering men in many denominations, women assumed a greater share of
the responsibility for leadership and won the right to have "mixed" prayer
sessions which both men and women attended together in some churches. A
few women, such as Jemima Wilkinson, achieved fame as revivalists. Women also
practiced religious activism in their homes. As "republican mothers," American
women shouldered the burden of guiding their children both morally and
spiritually.
Spread of evangelical Baptists and Methodists
The growth of republicanism had a profound effect on denominations, such as
the Baptists and Methodists, that promoted democracy in church matters.
Revivalism swept across the frontier regions of the country, stirring up
audiences "as if by a storm," and brought huge gains in membership among
whites and African-Americans. The religious tone of the country changed
dramatically, with evangelical churches becoming dominant in numbers and
influence.
Beginnings of benevolent reform
Linking salvation with social reform through the concept of benevolence,
followers of the Second Great Awakening organized churches, charitable
organizations, schools, and interdenominational societies to spread their vision
and reform society. This large religious movement added an intense religious
aspect to politics and national identity.
Chesapeake blacks adopt Protestant beliefs
After 1800 thousands of blacks across the South embraced the Protestant
evangelical ideas of Methodists and Baptists, giving them a particular
interpretation. Blacks focused primarily on God’s justice and viewed themselves
as an oppressed people who had a special relationship with God. By emotionally
focusing on preparing theirs souls for the ultimate freedom of salvation, African
Americans affirmed their equality with whites and acquired some solace in the
injustice of their enslavement.
1807 New Jersey excludes propertied women from suffrage
In 1776 the republican members of the New Jersey state legislature, acting on
republican ideas, granted suffrage to all property holders in the state. Because
most women could not hold property this excluded them. However, many
widows, as well as free blacks, who could and did hold property, recognized the
loophole and became active participants in electoral politics in the state. In
1807, the state legislature, again following republican ideas, eliminated the
property-holding requirements to vote and adopted universal suffrage for all
white males. In doing so, they excluded women and blacks from citizenship and
the vote. As republican theory broadened to include all white men, it clarified its
gender and racial limits.
1810s Expansion of suffrage for men
In response to republican ideals northern states expanded political democracy.
Maryland (1810), and the new states of Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), and
Alabama (1819) all provided for broad male suffrage in their constitutions.
Slavery defined as "necessary evil"
As slavery was reinvigorated and then extended to the southwest by the
increasing demand for cotton, political tensions between the South and North
increased, forcing southern planters to justify slavery. Initially, though many
planters had qualms about slavery, they viewed it as a "necessary evil" that
maintained white supremacy, their standard of living, and prevented racial war.
By the 1820s, many planters would portray themselves as "natural aristocrats"
who ruled over their slaves with disinterested benevolence.
Expansion of Cotton South and domestic slave trade
The increased demand for cotton from mills in New England and Great Britain
drew planters and their slaves to the west and southwest in search of new land.
As settlement spread across the Old Southwest, cotton production soared. The
expanding demand for workers in the cotton belt increased the domestic trade in
slaves from the old South to the new states of Alabama, Mississippi, and
Arkansas.
1819-1821 Conflict over admission of Missouri
Diverging political views between North and South made it harder to compromise
on the issue of slavery. After lengthy dispute, political compromise allowed
Maine to enter the Union as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state to
maintain the balance of power between North and South in the Senate and
Federal government. Slavery was prohibited in the Louisiana Territory north of
the southern boundary of Missouri.
1820s Reform of public education
Women become school teachers
In the early 1800s prominent Americans began to promote a wider distribution of
knowledge to create a "republic of letters." In the 1820s these calls for change
led to increased public funding for the primary grades. Educators expanded
school curriculum and raised standards for teachers. The idea that women were
morally superior and as "republican mothers" should exert moral influence on their
children and thus on society, was accompanied by a rising expectation that
women be educated. As more women attended academies and seminaries, the
moral imperative of "republican motherhood"was expanded to include influence
over children in school. As a result more women became public school teachers.
