expansion of middle class and impoverished working class
booms and busts exacerbate class divisions
today
major in history!
rise of religious revivals
religious & secular reform movements
public schools
almshouses
prisons
temperance
reform and labor
gender & reform movements
divisions within abolitionism
why major in history?
7 University-wide teaching awards in the last 4 years
classes next semester:
HIS290 Intro to Digital History, Prof Kane
HIS290 Drugs and Alcohol in America, Prof Beech
HIS290 History of the Hudson Valley, Prof Pastore
HIS310 History of Women in the US, Prof Graves
tracks in US, European and World history
one-on-one personal advising with history faculty
what do history majors do?
oral communication
clear and strong writing
the ability to conduct research
how to argue and how to present evidence
how to effectively distill and summarize large amounts of information
where do history majors go?
business management, data and intelligence analysis, law, medicine, advertising and marketing, editing and publishing, teaching, environmental impact assessment
Biology, Criminal Justice, Business Administration, and History majors all have comparable 10-year earning
how did the new Protestant denominations of the Second Great Awakening differ from older denominations?
(more than one right answer)
A. The new denominations focused more on hellfire and punishments sinners would face
B. The new denominations explicitly rejected ties to English and French churches
C. Preachers in new denominations did not need licenses or university degrees
D. In some denominations, women and people of color were recognized as preachers in new congregations
the Second Great Awakening - 1790 - 1850
begins in New York and Ohio (Burned Over District)
emotional, personal, direct connection to God
radical inclusion of women and people of color as leaders
millenarianism - perfection and purification of the world will bring Christ's return
why were the religious revivals of the early 19th century so popular?
A. Americans looked to religion and religious reform as a way of asserting control over social and economic changes
B. white Americans feared slave uprisings and sought to convert enslaved people
C. poverty caused by economic panics and the boom-bust cycle drove many Americans to rely on their churches for support
D. British churches evangelized in the United States in an effort to reassert imperial influence
religion and secular reform
anxiety over emotional and social change drove religious revival
rise of public schools - UAlbany founded in 1844 to educate teachers
temperance movement - Albany the beer capital of the US!
rise of almshouses
first prisons - Auburn (NY) system
what kind of workers will there be?
leadership roles of women
religion and secular reform
anxiety over emotional and social change drove religious revival
rise of public schools - UAlbany founded in 1844 to educate teachers
temperance movement - Albany the beer capital of the US!
rise of almshouses
first prisons - Auburn (NY) system
what kind of workers will there be?
leadership roles of women
how did women claim leadership roles in these political reform movements?
A. women married to politicians and preachers used their roles as 'helpmates' to leverage leadership positions
B. women were considered responsible for raising healthy families as 'republican mothers', and early reform movements aimed to improve the social and physical health of all families
C. white women who owned slaves wanted to make sure their slaves were educated, baptized as Christians, and didn't drink too much
D. women argued that they were too weak for other kinds of political work, but religious reform was safer
the path to women's suffrage
Seneca Falls, NY - 1848
Declaration of the Rights of Women
initial focus on women's right to own property, work, and lead in families - NOT the vote!
voting comes later, because social and economic aims could not be achieved without the vote
split in abolitionist activism
overlap between temperance, school, abolition and women's rights activists
who gets to vote first - white women or black men? (where are black women?)
free black abolitionists instrumental in getting white Northerners to care about slavery - PR and shame
white Northern reformers fear losing the money and support of white Southerners