Crash Course U.S. History: Religious and Moral Reform Movements in the 19th Century

Introduction

• Host: John Green
• Topic: Religious and moral reform movements in 19th century America
• Reference to sex as a theme in societal context

Utopian Communities

• Shakers
  • Known for furniture, embraced celibacy
  • Promoted equality of sexes and communal lifestyle
  • Population peaked at 6,000; now only three members
• Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
  • Founded by Joseph Smith, faced persecution, migrated to Utah
  • Believe in the Book of Mormon alongside the Bible
  • Continues to grow today
• Brook Farm
  • Founded by transcendentalists in 1841
  • Aimed to integrate manual labor with intellectual pursuits
  • Inspired by socialist Charles Fourier
  • Failed due to lack of enthusiasm for farm work
• Josiah Warren’s Communities
  • Locations: Utopia, Ohio and Modern Times, New York
  • Promoted individualism and voluntary relationships, including marriage
  • Collapsed due to lack of regulation

Religious Revival: The 2nd Great Awakening

• Heightened in the 1820s and 1830s
• Charles Grandison Finney’s camp meetings in New York
• Increased ministers from 2,000 (1770s) to 40,000 (1845)
• Oneida Community
  • Founded by John Humphrey Noyes
  • Practiced complex marriage, evolved into a silverware company

Ideals and Beliefs

• Protestant Influence
  • Reform movements were predominantly Protestant
  • Influenced by the market revolution
• Perfectionism
  • Belief in unlimited improvement for individuals and society
• Reconceptualization of Freedom
  • Freedom as self-discipline, not license

Temperance Movement

• High alcohol consumption in the early 19th century (7 gallons/year per capita)
• Protestants promoted sobriety, aligning with ideas of restraint and self-discipline
• Controversial among Catholic immigrants

Institutional Reform

• Construction of asylums, jails, and poorhouses
  • Seen as places of moral freedom through discipline
• Growth of compulsory state-funded education
  • Common schools aimed to equalize opportunity
  • Resistance from some parents, better established in the North

Abolitionism

• Largest reform movement of the 19th century
• Colonization Movement
  • Aimed to return African Americans to Africa, established Liberia
  • Opposed by most free blacks
• Radical Abolitionists
  • William Lloyd Garrison: "The Liberator"
  • Connection to religious revivalism, preached slavery as sin
  • Frederick Douglass and other black abolitionists pushed for equality
  • Resistance and violence against abolitionism

Notable Figures

• Frederick Douglass
  • Former slave, prominent abolitionist speaker and writer
• David Walker
  • Author of radical abolitionist text promoting equality

Conclusion

• Abolitionism and reform movements driven by religious and moral ideologies
• Set the stage for future social changes, including women’s rights
• Episode ends with upcoming focus on women’s movements

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• Production Credits: Directed by Stan Muller, written by Raoul Meyer and John Green
• Community Engagement: Viewers encouraged to participate in comments and discussions