The development by American intellectuals of a national culture committed to the liberation of the human spirit, as expressed in art, literature, utopian communities, and transcendental philosophy
The effect of this commitment to the liberation of the human spirit in reinforcing the evangelical reform impulse of the period, in movements as diverse as temperance, education, rehabilitation, and women's rights
The emergence of the crusade against slavery as the most powerful element in this reform movement, and the various strategies of such prominent abolitionists as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass in combating the "peculiar institution"
A thorough study of Chapter Twelve should enable the student to understand the following:
The contributions of the Hudson River School, antebellum writers, and the transcendentalists in fashioning an American culture grounded in nationalism and romanticism
The development of utopian communities and new religions as an expression of the American reform impulse
The growth of both religious revivalism and new theories of health, science, and education during the antebellum decades
The origins and development of the nineteenth century women's movement, and its culmination in the Seneca Falls convention
The impact of William Lloyd Garrison on the rapid rise of abolitionism, and his role in the later division between radical and moderate abolitionists
The successes, struggles, and hardships faced by the abolitionist movement through 1852
American abolitionism in the context of the global movement against slavery that arose in the nineteenth century
To learn more about the book this website supports, please visit its Information Center.