Many of the early puritans and pilgrims arrived in America with a fervent faith and vision for establishing a godly nation. Within a century the ardor had cooled. The children of the original immigrants were more concerned with increasing wealth and comfortable living than furthering the Kingdom of God. The same spiritual malaise could be found throughout the American colonies. The philosophical rationalism of the Enlightenment was spreading its influence among the educated classes; others were preoccupied with the things of this world.
The Antebellum reform movements included the Second Great Awakening, education reform, prison reform, the Temperance Movement, and the Feminist Movement. In the 1700s, faiths such as deism and Unitarianism acquired more followers. This led to the wave of religious revival across America known as the Second Great Awakening. This movement was mainly caused by new religious thinking. It had great success in bringing tons of people into religion.
The New England area was more religious than the Chesapeake causing differences to develop in the two societies. John Winthrop, a Massachusetts settler, wrote in his A Model of Christian Charity, that God has made distinctions in man, for example, one man being poor and another rich, but they should all rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, and so on. (Doc A) This created very close knit religious communities in New England focused on togetherness. Being unified under God created bigger unities and they were able to all live peaceful in larger towns rather than spread out on their own in the Chesapeake. The Articles of Agreement of Springfield Massachusetts (1636) focused mainly on God and that all men and families that have come deserve equal opportunity.
For example, by working hard they would gain success and respect in the society . They worked hard to please God to give them reward in the world and in the afterlife .However, predestination also made the Puritans work hard for afterlife reward. Even today, Americans work hard to gain wealth and success. Benjamin Franklin gives an example of hard working as a President to his people. His value for hard work implanted on people’s mind of way to wealth (Miller 172).
There were many forces and ideas that motivated forces inspired efforts to remake and reform American society during the antebellum years. Americans were turning to make society better by dividing antebellum (Before the civil war). It was abolitionism, attempting to end slavery. Promote women’s rights and turn to god. Battle poverty and darkness behind this movement were there major movement’s abolitionism.
The Model of Christian Charity’s tone is more comforting and with great reason, Winthrop was trying to establish a loving comradely between the colonist. This is evident when he says that “all true Christians are of one body in Christ.” Then he compares each person to a body part and according to the sermon “The ligaments of this body are knit together by love. (Lauter 336) ” Winthrop realized that in order for the colony to succeed he had to have the colonist working as one unit especially considering the imminent dangers they were facing in the New World. He also tries to satisfy the individual by addressing the colonist concerns with wealth and social status. Winthrop assures his colonist that being rich, or poor is all part of God’s plan and everyone has a purpose in that plan.
In his view, the Church's first and foremost goal isn't the individual experience, but rather the ability for humans to create the Kingdom of God on earth. For Raushenbusch this could be done through what he called the “social gospel.” “Since the Kingdom is the supreme end of God, it must be the purpose for which the church exists.”[7] By living each day in love, humans should theoretically be able to live like Jesus Christ and in turn reform society. This focus was influenced by many factors. One prevalent factor, which led to this sense of urgency toward social reform, was the migration of the population. In Emerson's time, the majority of American citizens lived in rural areas.
DBQ: Reform Movements From 1825-1850, there was a series of political and social reforms throughout the United States that sought to shape democracy. At the time, there was a desire for the country to conform to a utopian-like society. In order to fulfill this vision, many changes had to be made. Many reforms focused on issues such as temperance, the public education system, rehabilitation, women’s suffrage, and the abolition of slavery. In the United States, there was a sort of “temperance crusade” per say happening at the time.
The members are called Jesuits. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents. Jesuits work in education (founding schools, colleges, universities and seminaries), intellectual research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes and promote social justice and ecumenical dialogue. Ignatius of Loyola founded the society after being wounded in battle and experiencing a religious conversion.
Being the diehard Christian that he was, brought spirit lifting tales to isolated Native Americans. Giving a clear understanding for his religion to every place he went. As long as he was traveling, his belief would spread. One way it spread to people was through stories and the biggest story that spread was Uncles Tom’s Cabin. In a chain of reaction Columbus brought Christian culture, as time passed the thought of Christianity spread to the story of Uncle Tom and that brought people hope.