Second Great Awakening – U.S. to 1877

November 11, 2013

Everybody is Whiggin’ Out

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Wilentz, in Chapter 16, discusses the Whig movement and the popularity of the Whigs in the mid 1830s to early 40s. These New School Whigs were a diverse combination of Anti-Masons, politicians from the Old Northwest and western states, former Jacksonians in the South, and northern Whigs. Although the regional differences of the Whig party were diverse the Whig party was able to establish a national system of anti-Jackson newspapers and campaigning. The Whigs attacked Jacksonian corruption. Whigs based their platform on self-improvement and reform. The self-reform/improvement aspect and emphasis of moral choice grew out of the Second Great Awakening. Whigs were most popular in the areas where the Second Great Awakening was most popular and intense. The Whigs abandoned the division between classes and turned the national debate into the struggle between basic morals and those who rejected them. Although Clay drew large crowds in New England and appealed to the southern Whigs, William Henry Harrison became the party’s go to candidate for the election of 1840. The Whigs attacked Van Buren and the Democrats during the 1840 presidential election campaign. Harrison traveled the country formally delivering campaign speeches, breaking the precedence. On page 263, Wilentz said, “the Whig campaign reformulated their broader economic, cultural, and moral precepts and packaged them for the voters.” To me, the Whig party and their campaign in the election of 1840 was more like a modern day campaign than any other in the Era of the New Republic. The Whigs worked to include all different demographics, including women, even though they didn’t have the right to vote. The Whigs understood women’s influence on the male voters. The extremely high voter turn out in the election of 1840 set a record (still unbroken). As WIROBERTSON said in his post (http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/dishevelled-democracy/), the triumph in the 1840 presidential election only delayed the sure downfall of the Whig party. The Whig party was a fragile unit, but held it together long enough to achieve greatness.

November 6, 2013

Abolition-Davis and Wilentz

Abolition in the Early Republic was a movement that created a new era of American history. It brought to light the ethical and moral issues of slavery, but also exposed how deeply intwined slavery was with the economy all over the U.S. The abolition movement was in part caused by the evangelism religious revivals present in New England, also known as the Second Great Awakening. The evangelism view was that the system of Negro slavery was the great national sin that must be removed so a new Eden or New Jerusalem could be established in America. SYSTRAUSS mentions Theodore Dwight Weld as an example of an abolitionist that has a deeply rooted set of religious ideals. Davis writes about two different groups that emerged within the abolitionist movement. The colonization movement and the immediatism movement. The colonizationists argued that the racial prejudices and differences present in America were too strong for the races to ever live together as equals. Many African-Americans saw this movement as disrespectful towards their ancestors who helped build America. They viewed this movement as taking their ‘American status’ away. The immediatism was triggered by an eruption of immediatism in Britain. Unlike the British abolition movement, the American movement had a larger participation of women. Unlike slavery in Britain, American slavery was deeply intwined into the interstate economy and virtually every aspect of not only southern, but also northern life. Wilentz also wrote about the abolition movement in chapter 13. Wilentz claims that abolitionism became a genuine popular movement in the U.S. The violence associated with the abolitionist movement in the North was surprising to me. I didn’t realize until Wilentz pointed it out that the violent hostility was located in the North most of the time. The abolitionist movement created hatred in the South, but not as many violent mobs as the North. The abolition movement spread from small farmers, shopkeepers, and businessmen in mostly small cities to a larger group of wage earners in major cities and factory towns. The growth of abolition was due to the Second Great Awakening and the abolition movement in Britian. However, abolition of slavery was hindered by the deep racial prejudices and the slave economy and further complicated the tense period of the Early Republic.

November 5, 2013

Abolition and the Second Great Awakening

The abolition movement has roots in the Second Great Awakening and the ideas those religious revivals spurred. Davis discusses abolitionists from the 1830s, like Theodore Dwight Weld who did noble work in trying to eliminate the evils of slavery, but while also considering religious ideals. The problem with this connection to the Church, which Davis notes, is that “most abolitionists and other radical reformers yearned to merge themselves in a righteous crusade that they saw as a prerequisite to the liberty of both blacks and whites” (Davis 254). In connecting the religious ideal of redeeming sins to ending slavery makes it seem that these kinds of abolitionists were advocating abolition, not completely without the idea of helping the slaves, but still with the idea of helping themselves and other whites by looking more redeemable to God. As Caitlin said in her post (http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/the-second-great-awakening/) the Second Great Awakening, “formed a basis for the treatment of the enslaved rather than a protection for their freedom.” Those abolitionists who used the words of the evangelists in the Second Great Awakening did not always appear to have the best interests of the slaves in mind. This theory also connects to the American Colonization Society and their idea to liberate the slaves and then make them resettle outside of America. These white ACS members thought this would benefit the slaves, but they were also trying to rid the country of the African race. As the abolition movement advanced past the time of the Second Great Awakening, more white abolitionists begin to focus less on redeeming the sins of other whites and more on fully liberating blacks from enslavement. At this same time, free and escaped blacks became involved in the abolition movement and organized their own campaigns, because, with William Lloyd Garrison being the exception, “few white abolitionists could escape sounding patronizing to blacks” (Wilentz 213). The abolition movement that began to spread did help propel the idea of ending slavery in America to the forefront of everyone’s minds, but both Davis and Wilentz note the difference between those who truly believed in liberating the slaves so they could live equally among whites and those abolitionists who worked to free the slaves in the hopes that they could have a closer connection to God.

October 29, 2013

The Second Great Awakening

A recurring theme in American history seems to be a struggle between the individualism and freedom of the majority’s Christian faith and the oppression and exclusion often imposed upon members of society. The Second Great Awakening is a prefect example of this dichotomy. At first, the religious movement espoused connection with God for all individuals and even at times an outright rejection of slavery. These radical convictions, however, slowly transformed to an acceptance of slavery and instead formed a basis for the treatment of the enslaved rather than a protection for their freedom. Slavery, at this time, was certainly a reality that had to be faced but instead of addressing these issues on their own terms the evangelists seemed to bow to a status quo and adapt their ideologies to the institution of slavery. An earlier post this week observed that slaveholders “held ‘good’ Christian values, and wanted to save souls by spreading the faith. Southerners likely struggled to marry these ideological and religious beliefs to the institution of slavery.” This conflict is demonstrated in the transition from an early inclusion of slaves in the evangelical conversions to their exclusion from the movement. This change was largely motivated by a fear of solidarity and unity among the slave community that might lead to rebellion. The new evangelical movement moved beyond their original intentions on more issues than simply slavery, however. The Second Great Awakening began with an effort to include all those typically excluded from American society. Wilentz gives examples of how the movement made efforts to include “farmer and factory workers” (141) and allowed men of such simple origins to become “central figures of religious life” (142). This attempt at inclusion, however, moved from voluntary to mandated when the evangelists became involved in politics. They tried to permeate all aspects of government oversight with religious values from evangelical political parties to banning of mail on Sundays. Thus, America was faced with the dilemma of being struck with religious fervor and trying to balance that Christian passion with an effort to exclude some groups and involuntarily force it on others.