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Chapter 10: Revivalism, Reform, and Artistic Renaissance, 1820-1850
- 1. 1 Visions of America, A History of the United States CHAPTER 1 Visions of America, A History of the United States Revivalism, Reform, and Artistic Renaissance, 1820–1850 10 1 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 2. 2 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 3. 3 Visions of America, A History of the United States Revivalism, Reform, and Artistic Renaissance, 1820–1850 I. Revivalism and Reform II. Abolitionism and the Proslavery Response III. The Cult of True Womanhood, Reform, and Women’s Rights IV. Religious and Secular Utopianism V. Literature and Popular Culture VI. Nature’s Nation 3 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 4. 4 Visions of America, A History of the United States Revivalism and Reform A. Revivalism and the Market Revolution B. Temperance C. Schools, Prisons, and Asylums 4 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 5. 5 Visions of America, A History of the United States Revivalism and the Market Revolution What was the Second Great Awakening? How did Finney use the tools of the market revolution to further the goals of the Second Great Awakening?
- 6. 6 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 7. 7 Visions of America, A History of the United States Temperance What does this painting of a militia muster reveal about alcohol consumption in America?
- 8. 8 Visions of America, A History of the United States Temperance Temperance – A reform movement that developed in response to concern over the rising levels of alcohol consumption in American society
- 9. 9 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 10. 10 Visions of America, A History of the United States Schools, Prisons, and Asylums How did Mann’s vision of educational reform differ from that of the Working Men’s Party? What was a panopticon?
- 11. 11 Visions of America, A History of the United States Schools, Prisons, and Asylums Penitentiary – A new reform-based model of incarceration that isolated individuals from one another and gave them a chance to repent and reform – A radical departure from earlier approaches to crime, which cast behavior in terms of sinfulness, innate depravity, and punishment
- 12. 12 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 13. 13 Visions of America, A History of the United States Abolitionism and the Proslavery Response A. The Rise of Immediatism B. Anti-Abolitionism and the Abolitionist Response C. The Proslavery Argument
- 14. 14 Visions of America, A History of the United States The Rise of Immediatism Why was David Walker’s Appeal so radical? Who was Henry “Box” Brown?
- 15. 15 Visions of America, A History of the United States The Rise of Immediatism Immediatism – Abolitionist doctrine that rejected gradualism and advocated an immediate end to slavery
- 16. 16 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 17. 17 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 18. 18 Visions of America, A History of the United States Images as History Hiram Powers’s statue, “The Greek Slave”, became part of the larger debate about slavery in the mid-nineteenth century. Why did the public accept the nudity of “The Greek Slave”? “THE GREEK SLAVE”
- 19. 19 Visions of America, A History of the United States Images as History “THE GREEK SLAVE” She modestly turns away from viewers. The chains around her wrists signify her status as a slave. Because she was “clothed in Christian virtue,” the statue drew even women and children viewers.
- 20. 20 Visions of America, A History of the United States Anti-Abolitionism and the Abolitionist Response What was the “gag rule”?
- 21. 21 Visions of America, A History of the United States Anti-Abolitionism and the Abolitionist Response Gag Rule – A procedural motion that required that the House of Representatives automatically table antislavery petitions and not consider them
- 22. 22 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 23. 23 Visions of America, A History of the United States The Proslavery Argument What was the proslavery argument?
- 24. 24 Visions of America, A History of the United States The Proslavery Argument Peculiar Institution – A term that John C. Calhoun coined to describe Southern slavery – In Calhoun’s view, slavery was not “an evil” or a cause of shame but rather “a good—a positive good” to be championed.
- 25. 25 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 26. 26 Visions of America, A History of the United States The Cult of True Womanhood, Reform, and Women’s Rights A. The New Domestic Ideal B. Controlling Sexuality C. The Path toward Seneca Falls
- 27. 27 Visions of America, A History of the United States The New Domestic Ideal How does “Domestic Happiness” represent the ideal of the family?
- 28. 28 Visions of America, A History of the United States The New Domestic Ideal Cult of True Womanhood – A set of beliefs that defined women’s values in opposition to the aggressive and competitive values of the marketplace
- 29. 29 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 30. 30 Visions of America, A History of the United States Controlling Sexuality Which reform movements attracted antebellum women?
- 31. 31 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 32. 32 Visions of America, A History of the United States The Path toward Seneca Falls How did Stanton’s upbringing influence her approach to women’s rights?
- 33. 33 Visions of America, A History of the United States The Path toward Seneca Falls Seneca Falls Convention – A convention of women’s rights supporters held in Seneca Falls, New York – Attendees drafted a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, which declared that “all men and women are created equal”
- 34. 34 Visions of America, A History of the United States Religious and Secular Utopianism A. Millennialism, Perfectionism, and Religious Utopianism B. Secular Utopias
- 35. 35 Visions of America, A History of the United States Millennialism, Perfectionism, and Religious Utopianism How did the Shakers recast the idea of the family? What did the Oneida community believe?
- 36. 36 Visions of America, A History of the United States Millennialism, Perfectionism, and Religious Utopianism Complex Marriage – A system developed by John Humphrey Noyes’s followers at Oneida, in which any man or women who had experienced saving grace was free to engage in sexual relations with any other person
- 37. 37 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 38. 38 Visions of America, A History of the United States Competing Visions REACTIONS TO SHAKER GENDER ROLES The Shakers reconfigured traditional gender and family roles.
- 39. 39 Visions of America, A History of the United States Competing Visions REACTIONS TO SHAKER GENDER ROLES What do reactions to Shaker gender roles reveal about nineteenth-century American values? In The Shaker Bridal, Hawthorne’s main character is unhappy and pitied after forsaking conventional marriage. In an 1829 account, a visitor to a Shaker community describes a joyful religious utopia of tranquility and comfort.
- 40. 40 Visions of America, A History of the United States Secular Utopias Why did Mormon values appeal to farmers and other small producers in the era of the market revolution? What geographical patterns are evident from this map of utopian communities?
- 41. 41 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 42. 42 Visions of America, A History of the United States Choices and Consequences George Cragin, Mary’s husband, was interested in Noyes’s ideas. Moved to Vermont and joined the community at Putney The Putney community required participation in complex marriage. MARY CRAGIN’S EXPERIMENT IN FREE LOVE AT ONEIDA
- 43. 43 Visions of America, A History of the United States Choices and Consequences Mary’s choices regarding free love MARY CRAGIN’S EXPERIMENT IN FREE LOVE AT ONEIDA Persuade her husband to leave the community with her Leave regardless of her husband’s decision Stay with her husband and participate in complex marriage
- 44. 44 Visions of America, A History of the United States Choices and Consequences Decision and consequences • Mary stayed at Putney and participated in complex marriage. • Eventually traveled to Oneida and became one of the founding members. • Declared that life at Oneida brought her closer to God. Why might a woman like Mary Cragin have been drawn to the Oneida Community? MARY CRAGIN’S EXPERIMENT IN FREE LOVE AT ONEIDA
- 45. 45 Visions of America, A History of the United States Choices and Consequences Continuing Controversies •Why would a nineteenth-century woman be attracted to utopian movements that rejected mainstream views of the family and marriage? MARY CRAGIN’S EXPERIMENT IN FREE LOVE AT ONEIDA
- 46. 46 Visions of America, A History of the United States Literature and Popular Culture A. Literature and Social Criticism B. Domestic Fiction, Board Games, and Crime Stories C. Slaves Tell Their Story: Slavery in American Literature D. Lyceums and Lectures
- 47. 47 Visions of America, A History of the United States Literature and Social Criticism How did Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Melville respond to the market revolution?
- 48. 48 Visions of America, A History of the United States Literature and Social Criticism Transcendentalism – A loose set of ideas that looked to nature for inspiration and insights
- 49. 49 Visions of America, A History of the United States Domestic Fiction, Board Games, and Crime Stories What ideas about the family and religion are reflected in “The Mansion of Happiness”?
- 50. 50 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 51. 51 Visions of America, A History of the United States Slaves Tell Their Story: Slavery in American Literature Why did Douglass need to prove that he was the author of his autobiography?
- 52. 52 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 53. 53 Visions of America, A History of the United States Lyceums and Lectures Why was phrenology so popular during this period?
- 54. 54 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 55. 55 Visions of America, A History of the United States Nature’s Nation A. Landscape Painting B. Parks and Cemeteries C. Revival and Reform in American Architecture
- 56. 56 Visions of America, A History of the United States Landscape Painting What does Cole’s painting reveal about American views of nature?
- 57. 57 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 58. 58 Visions of America, A History of the United States Parks and Cemeteries What was the rural cemetery movement? Why did Egyptian architectural styles inspire Americans in the 1830s?
- 59. 59 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 60. 60 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 61. 61 Visions of America, A History of the United States Revival and Reform in American Architecture What was the Greek revival? What does Shaker furniture reveal about Shaker values? Why did phrenologists favor the octagon as an architectural style?
- 62. 62 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 63. 63 Visions of America, A History of the United States
- 64. 64 Visions of America, A History of the United States
Editor's Notes
- Chapter Opener: “The Way of Good and Evil” (page 283) Text Excerpt: The expansion of democracy and the changes resulting from the market revolution left Americans concerned about their lives and the nation’s future. Rising inequality and a bitter debate over slavery intensified anxieties. In this popular lithograph, “The Way of Good and Evil”, the artist portrays the social ills facing America, including alcoholism, prostitution, and crime. A tavern, brothel, and prison represent the path of destruction. Different buildings—a school, home, and church—anchor the center. The path to salvation leads from these institutions through college and eventually up into heaven. In the artist’s view, Americans faced a clear choice: salvation or eternal damnation. Background: The popular image “The Way of Good and Evil” reflects the hopes and aspirations of reform-minded Americans during the period after the Great Awakening and before the Civil War. The image presents two opposing paths—one leading to salvation and the other leading to damnation. The rapid changes wrought by the market revolution and the rise of Jacksonian democracy left many Americans feeling that the nation had veered away from its core values. At the same time, the tools provided by the market and the techniques developed in American politics to reach the American people were used by reformers to spread their message. A variety of different religious and secular reform movements emerged in this period to deal with these social ills and offered a host of different solutions to combat these problems. In many cases the solutions to these social problems required changes in institutions, including churches and schools. Reformers also turned to architecture hoping that changes in the built environment would further the cause of reform. Chapter Connections: Among the most prominent evils depicted in this image are prostitution and alcoholism. Both of these issues attracted considerable attention from reformers. The notion that life was a journey along a path was a popular metaphor that shaped everything from the plot lines of many popular novels to the new board games created during this period. Novelists appealing to a mass audience presented tales in which their lead characters endured the trials and tribulations of a world filled with temptations. Choosing the correct path could mean the difference between salvation and ruin. The same underlying metaphor also influenced the creators of the first board games, such as “The Mansion of Happiness”. Designed to instill values such as chastity, religiosity, and hard work, players of the game moved forward if they landed on virtues and were sent backward if they landed on vices such as alcoholism. Discussion Questions: In addition to prostitution and alcoholism, what other social evils depicted in this image threatened America? What role does education play in the “The Way of Good and Evil”? What role does religion play in the “The Way of Good and Evil”?
- Image 10.1: “Religious Camp Meeting” A contemporary artist captured the intense emotional experience of a revival meeting.
- Image 10.2: A Militia Muster Although militia musters had always included drinking, the scene depicted here shows a militia man too drunk to stand up. Martial virtue is nowhere to be seen.
- Image 10.3: Philadelphia Penitentiary Architects designed prisons to accommodate the penitential model. Prisoners could be isolated for reflection while still being monitored by prison authorities. The most famous example of this new type of prison was Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. [Source: The Library Company of Philadelphia]
- Image 10.4: Abolitionist Puzzle Abolitionists developed a variety of ways to educate Northern children about the evils of slavery, including jigsaw puzzles.
- Image 10.5: Mailed to Freedom (page 291) Caption: This image of Henry “Box” Brown, who mailed himself to freedom, was sold to help finance a speaking tour for Brown, who became a spokesman against slavery. Text Excerpt: Adept at publicizing their cause, abolitionists seized opportunities provided by dramatic events, such as the escape of Henry “Box” Brown, who had mailed himself from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia in a wooden box. The trip took 26 hours, and Brown arrived in his box in Philadelphia shaken but unscathed. Abolitionists distributed images of his escape, and he later toured the North with a panorama, “The Mirror of Slavery”. Panoramas were large pictures mounted on rollers that, when unfurled slowly, gave the viewer the feeling that the picture was moving. Often a narrator accompanied a panorama on tour. Brown’s narration complemented the panorama’s depiction of the history of slavery in America. Background: Abolitionism intensified in the period from 1830–1850. The sensational escape from slavery of Henry “Box” Brown is vividly represented in this image showing him emerging from his arduous 26-hour journey from Richmond to Philadelphia and freedom. Brown’s tale not only contained a dramatic story that captured the public’s imagination, but he proved to be an effective public speaker who showed a keen appreciation for the way his message could be marketed to the public. In addition to this lithograph, abolitionists sponsored Brown on a lecture tour. His Narrative of Henry Box Brown (1849) helped spread his anti-slavery message, and a year later he went on tour to narrate a moving panorama, Henry Box Brown’s Mirror of Slavery. Chapter Connections: Abolitionists took full advantage of all the tools provided by the new market revolution to advance their cause, including the railroad that delivered Henry Brown’s box to the Pennsylvania Anti-slavery Society in Philadelphia. Brown’s innovative escape from slavery was only possible because of the speed and efficiency of America’s expanding railroad network. The lithograph of Brown emerging from his box was one of countless images created and distributed by abolitionists. The panorama Brown toured with was another example of abolitionist innovation in this area. Illustrated almanacs, rhyming alphabet books, and puzzles were all put to use to advance the cause of anti-slavery. Discussion Questions: Who was Henry “Box” Brown? Why did Brown’s escape from slavery capture the popular imagination? How did abolitionists make use of images to further their cause?
- “The Greek Slave”
- Image 10.6: “New Method of Sorting the Mail” The abolitionist mail campaign prompted violent protest in the South. In this drawing Southerners assault the Charleston post office and burn abolitionist mail.
- Image 10.7: “Slavery As It Exists in America” This proslavery cartoon portrays slaves as happy and well cared for by masters who are benign patriarchs.
- Image 10.8: “Domestic Happiness” (page 295) Caption: Lily Martin Spencer’s painting captures the new ideal of domesticity in which women were assigned the role of instilling the values of piety, family, and sexual passivity. Text Excerpt: In “Domestic Happiness,” [Spencer] depicts a husband and wife standing before their two sleeping children. The mother’s hand gently touches her husband, symbolizing the new domestic ideal’s emphasis on emotional intimacy between husband and wife. She also appears to be gently restraining her husband from waking the children, a subtle reminder that in the domestic sphere, women, not men, were in charge. Background: Artist Lilly Martin Spencer enjoyed popular success as a painter at a time when few women were able to make a living as artists. Spencer took domestic life as her subject matter, painting a variety of domestic scenes. Indeed, Lilly’s paintings were so successful that her husband abandoned his own career to manage hers. There was no small irony in the fact that her own life defied the very ideals her paintings marketed to a public eager to view them. Her painting “Domestic Happiness” shows a couple serenely watching over their sleeping children, a visual icon for the new idea of the “domestic sphere”. Chapter Connections: Spencer’s images of domesticity reflected the profound changes in gender roles in the early nineteenth century. The rise of a “cult of true womanhood” and the notion of separate spheres for men and women created an ideal of domesticity in which woman and the home were seen as refuges from the male world of the marketplace. In this image, the wife asserts her authority over the domestic sphere subtlety, gently reminding her husband to let their children remain asleep by holding up her hand to his chest. The painting captures the intimacy between husband and wife. The scene here represents an expansion of the evolving conception of marriage as a companionate relationship documented in earlier paintings such as Charles Wilson Peale’s portrait of the Cadwalder family (Chapter 4). Discussion Questions: What was the “cult of true womanhood,” and how does its ideology inform “Domestic Happiness”? How does the artist represent the relationship between the husband and wife in this painting? How does this image compare with earlier depictions of the family such as the portraits of the Winslow and Cadwalder family in Chapter 4?
- Image 10.9: Lectures to Ladies on Anatomy and Physiology The image of a skeleton kneeling in prayer was carefully chosen to avoid offending the reading public. The religious pose and the absence of flesh appealed to the chaste ideals associated with the cult of true womanhood. [Source: The Library Company of Philadelphia]
- Image 10.10: Millerite William Miller’s prediction that the millennium would arrive in March 1843 prompted this satirical image of one of his followers preparing for apocalypse by stocking up on cheese and crackers.
- Image 10.11: Utopian Communities The heaviest concentration of these religious and social experiments was in New England, western New York, and the Midwest.
- Image 10.12: The Mansion of Happiness Modern style board games were invented during the period of the market revolution and moral reform to instill values into children. This popular board game embodied many of the ideals of domestic fiction and prints. The game sets players on a journey along a path toward piety in which they must avoid sin if they hope to finally arrive at the Mansion of Happiness.
- Image 10.13: First edition of Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845) The eloquence of Douglass led some to suggest that his account of his own escape from slavery could not have been written by an ex-slave. To underscore that the book was genuine, an image of Douglass and a copy of his signature are prominently displayed alongside the title page.
- Image 10.14: Phrenological Head This colorful folk sculpture of a young girl’s head included hand-painted zones that phrenologists believed controlled human emotion and behavior.
- Image 10.15: “View from Mount Holyoke” (page 308) Caption: This dramatic Cole landscape not only captures the wild power of nature, a common theme in Cole’s paintings, but it contrasts this untamed natural world with a more placid pastoral world represented by the rich agricultural lands of the Connecticut Valley. Text Excerpt: Many of the themes that would become hallmarks of Cole’s work are evident in his dramatic painting, “View from Mt. Holyoke”. Cole contrasts a stormy natural landscape with the more placid panorama of the rich farmlands of the Connecticut River valley. Cole places himself in the midst of the wild mountain landscape nestled between two rock outcroppings to underscore his belief that nature is the true inspiration for artistic creativity. Background: Writing in his essay “American Scenery,” artist Thomas Cole noted: “The imagination can scarcely conceive Arcadian vales lovelier or more peaceful than the valley of the Connecticut.” The fertile lands of the Connecticut Valley are beautifully represented in Cole’s painting of the view from Mount Holyoke. On the opposite of this scene of rural harmony and beauty, Cole depicts a rugged scene of wilderness in the midst of a thunderstorm. The skies are dark and the landscape dominated by damaged trees. Cole places himself in between these opposing visions of nature. The artist in Cole’s vision has a special responsibility: He must commune with nature and educate Americans about the nation’s natural resources. Chapter Connections: Cole became a leading champion of the beauty of the American landscape. His vision of the power of nature echoed the views of transcendentalist philosophers and writers, most notably Emerson and Thoreau, who also advised Americans to seek inspiration from the natural world. A similar impulse led to changes in cemeteries and urban parks across America. Mount Auburn Cemetery helped launch a rural cemetery movement that sought to use burial grounds as places of tranquility and repose that could help Americans toward a path of spiritual revival and renewal. A new generation of urban parks, including New York’s Central Park, also attempted to bring the country into the city. Park designers hoped that the urban population would be transformed by exposure to nature and that the degradation and vices of city life could be reduced by experiencing nature. Discussion Questions: What do the neatly arranged fields in Cole’s painting symbolize? What do the twisted and broken trees on the mountaintop symbolize? Why did Cole place himself in the middle of the canvas?
- Image 10.16: Central Park To maintain its country-like setting, the roads running through Central Park were sunk below the line of sight.
- Image 10.17: Mount Auburn The “rural cemetery movement” aimed to bring the country to the city and honor the dead by creating places of repose and reflection. An Egyptian obelisk sits beside the pond.
- Images 10.18 and 10.19: Greek Revival Parlor/Shaker Sitting Room (page 312) Caption: The carpets, elaborate decoration, and elegant furniture in this Greek Revival parlor contrast sharply with the ascetic furnishings of this Shaker sitting room. Shaker furniture was designed to be functional, not fancy. Text Excerpt: The Shakers’s rejection of the dominant styles of the day is evident if one contrasts the furnishing and design of a typical Shaker sitting room and a Greek Revival parlor in a prosperous home. The plush cushioned furniture and intricately carved furniture of the Greek Revival room contrast with the ascetic style of the Shaker room. Shaker furniture was devoid of ornamentation and highly functional, embodying the ideal of simplicity itself. Background: Writing in 1828, author James Fenimore Cooper noted that ancient Greece had captured the American imagination: “The public sentiment just now runs almost exclusively and popularly into the Grecian school. We build little besides temples for our churches, our banks, our taverns, our court houses and our dwellings.” America’s obsession with all things Greek derived from the popular association of ancient Greece as the birthplace of democracy. The modern Greek independence movement also captured America’s sympathies: evoking comparisons with America’s own revolutionary struggle against Britain. Public buildings and domestic architecture drew inspiration from Greek models. In addition to emulating Greek architectural forms, wealthier Americans sought Greek-style furnishings. This period room from the Winterthur Museum contains furniture from the 1830s, including several pieces in the Greek style such as the chair in the foreground of this image, which was based on the Greek klismos. Doorways in Greek Revival houses often sported woodwork designed to look like iconic columns and decorative elements on furniture, woodwork, and the plaster moldings on ceilings were also inspired by Greek themes. The workshop of the renowned furniture maker Duncan Phyfe produced many examples of Greek Revival furniture. One of Phyfe’s signature designs included chairs with backs carved in the shape of a Greek lyre. Chapter Connections: The Greek Revival was one of a series of architectural revivals that swept across America transforming the built environment. Egyptian Revival architecture exerted a profound influence on the design of mortuary structures, including the obelisks found in cemeteries such as Mount Auburn. The giant pylons framing the entrances to a number of cemeteries, including Mount Auburn, drew on Egyptian temples as models. Prison architecture also looked to Egypt for inspiration. The most famous example of Egyptian revival in penal architecture was New York’s Halls of Justice and Detention, nicknamed “The Tombs”. Gothic revival architecture drew inspiration from religious sources and from romanticism. Buildings done in the gothic style included churches, museums most notably the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and educational institutions such as the University of Michigan, NYU, and Yale. Gothic revival also influenced domestic architecture from grand mansions such as Lyndhurst to the plans for early suburban gothic cottages. Utopian movements, most importantly the Shakers, adopted distinctive architectural and furniture styles. The clean simple lines of Shaker buildings and furniture were a clear rejection of the more opulent styles that captured the American imagination in the early nineteenth century, including the various revival styles, the Greek and Gothic Revivals in particular. Discussion Questions: Why were Americans drawn to ancient Greece as a model for architecture and interior design? What other revival styles appealed to Americans in the years before the Civil War? How did Shaker architecture and furniture design compare with the dominant revival forms of the antebellum era?
- Image 10.20: Lyndhurst The Gothic Revival mansion, Lyndhurst, embraced elements of medieval architecture. Gothic Revival architecture’s soaring arches focused the viewers’ attention on heaven above. The angular lines were intended to mirror and evoke the awesome power of nature.
- Image 10.21: Octagon House Phrenologist Orson S. Fowler believed that a balcony on a house corresponded to the upper portion of the skull and would encourage higher mental functions.