1. Apush Chapter 6 Study Guide

Apush Chapter 6 Study Guide

Small group of New England thinkers who questioned the doctrines of established churches and the business practices of the merchant class; argued for a mystical and intuitive way of thinking as a means for discovering one's inner self and looking for the essence of God in nature; challenged materialism of American society by suggesting that artistic expression was more important than the pursuit of wealth; valued individualism and viewed organized institutions as unimportant but supported many reforms. Created an American genre; American people were more nationalistic and eager to read works of American writers about American themes because of the War of 1812; Washington Irving wrote fiction using American settings; James Fenimore Cooper wrote a series of novels glorifying frontiersmen as nature's noblemen in Leatherstocking Tales; Nathaniel Hawthorne questioned intolerance and conformity in American life in The Scarlet Letter; Herman Melville's Moby Dick reflected theological and cultural conflicts of the era as it told the story of Captain Ahab's pursuit of a white whale. High rate of alcohol consumption prompted reformers to target alcohol as the cause of social ills; began by using moral exhortation; German and Irish immigrants opposed campaign but lacked political power to prevent state and city governments from passing reforms; factory owners and politicians joined reformers when they realized that temperance could reduce crime and poverty and increase worker output; Maine became first state to prohibit manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor and twelve other states followed before the Civil War. PA took lead in prison reform; built new prisons called penitentiaries to take the place of crude jails; reformers placed prisoners in solitary confinement to force them to reflect on their sins and repent; experiment was dropped because of high rate of prisoner suicides; prison reforms reflected major doctrine of the asylum movement that structure and discipline would bring about moral reform; Auburn system in NY was a similar experiment that enforced rigid rules of discipline and provided moral instruction and work programs.

Some reform movements drew their inspiration from the religious revivalism of the. Recognized the democratic potential in the production of printed material. Age of reform: 1790-1860 Key Concept 4.1: The United States began to develop a modern democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans sought to define the nation’s democratic ideals and change their society and institutions to match them.