-The Second Great Awakening took place in the 1790's and 1840's in America.

-It was mainly a Protestant movement.

-Slavery and abolition resurfaced as well as transcendentalism.

-Education improved and hospitals for the mentally ill were tranformed.

The Second Great Awakening

Major Leaders in Education

-Horace Mann made schools required for children.
-He created government funded public schools which led to an increase of secondary schools and universities.
-He pushed for teacher-training and improved facilities.
-Textbooks were published.
-Later, Mann became the Secretary of MA Board of Education.

Horace Mann

Dorothea Dix

Pro-Slavery Arguments

-Many Southern plantation owners and white ministers used the Bible to defend slavery.
-If slavery was abolished, then owners would not be able to make profit, so they fought against the abolitionist movement.
-The argument for slavery was that in the Bible, it states that servants should obey their masters and that enslaving blacks benefited them because they would become a part of "a prosperous and Christian civilization".
-Also, the myth of a "happy slave" was invented to convince the masses that slaves were happy to work in the fields and not be free.
-In 1836, Southern plantations secured the gag rule which stated that every debate on an issue will be limited or prevented.
-The gag rule was repealed in 1844 because it violated the right to petition.

The Cult of Domesticity

-In the early 19th century, women were expected to limit their activities to the home after marriage; this tradition became known as the cult of domesticity.
-But by 1850, woman started to work for wages before they were married.
-Women, at the time, couldn't
vote or sit on juries, even if they
were taxpayers.
-They had no
guardianship rights over their
children.

Picture Citations

Education Reform Picture
http://reformmovements1800s.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/8/9/14892282/1359950.jpg

Asylum and Prison Reform Picture
http://prisonandasylumreform.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/7/1/14716094/2188370.jpg?0

Picture of Jonathan Edwards:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Jonathan_Edwards.jpg

Picture of George Whitfield :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/George_Whitefield_(head).jpg

Picture of Ralph Waldo Emerson:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson_ca1857_retouched.jpg

Picture of Henry David Thoreau:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Henry_David_Thoreau.jpg