PowerPoint Presentation
REFORMING AMERICAN SOCIETY
Unit 8, Journal #2How can a push towards personal responsibility
lead to change? When/how has this occurred in your lifetime?Charles
Finney, StewardshipAccording to Finney, how and why are we Gods
stewards?
As Gods stewards, what are peoples responsibilities to Him?
Whose job is it to uphold the will of God?
In what ways can you see these ideals upheld in society today?
In what ways are they not?
Lets Sum It UpBased on the information from last class and your
reading of the Finney text, what major changes come out of the 2nd
Great Awakening?TRANSCENDENTALISM
What can we see in this picture?
What is transcendentalism all about?What can we see in this
picture? What is transcendentalism all about?Beauty in nature
Pride
Truth found in personal emotions
Good found in man and nature
We are small in the grand scheme of the nation
Added comments.
Experiencing TranscendentalismOUTSIDE RULES:We will walk outside
to an area of my choice. On the walk, you may not talk. Once we
have reached our location, you will silently walk to a place within
my sight and experience nature. CHOICES:You may lay down and watch
the cloudsSit and examine the grass and nearby plantsClose your
eyes and let your other senses take overTwirl in a circle, letting
your mind wander and looking at the world around you
Then, you will record your experiences on your notesheet when
you return. The questions you must answer are:
What was it like to clear your mind and just think about nature?
How can letting go of the world around you clear your mind for
clear, directed thought?
How did your experience (specifically) relate to one or more of
the ideas of transcendentalism?i.e. beauty in nature, pride, truth
found in personal emotions, good found in man and nature, we are
small in the grand scheme of the nation, etc.Transcendentalism and
EmersonMany reform-minded individuals sought an alternative to
religion.
Ralph Waldo Emerson led a group practicing transcendentalisma
philosophical and literary movement that emphasized living a simple
life and celebrated the truth found in nature and in personal
emotion/imagination.
Said people had to transcend or go beyond logical thinking and
find answers to lifes mysteries by learning to trust their emotions
and intuition (felt people were basically good and would do the
right thing)Transcendentalism and ThoreauEmerson spawned a literary
movement which stressed American optimism, freedom and
self-reliance.Henry David Thoreau wrote that because the individual
conscience is so important, we must not obey the laws we consider
unjust.
Urges civil disobedience What is it?
Believed that people must be free to act by their own idea of
right and wrong. His work helped shape many reform movements of his
time.
In Walden, published 1854, Thoreau wrote about living alone in
the woods. Thoreau urged people to reject the greed and materialism
that was affecting Americans in their daily lives.
If we are to take on a religious and emotional shift that
focuses on personal responsibility, what is likely to follow?
REFORM!!!!Growth of ReformSecond Great Awakening: Personal duty
to God, to uphold His word and the morals associated with the
faith.
Transcendentalism: Personal motivations must trust their
emotions and intuition and rise up against evil
KEEP IN MIND!Industrial GrowthIncreasing Migration and
ImmigrationNew Means of Communication
ReformIn the early 1800s, reform occurs in many ways, but we
will focus on the following:
Slavery and AbolitionWomens RightsThe
WorkplaceEducation/Schools
These shifts towards bettering society DID NOT happen all at
once, but rather were separate, fortunate events that were sparked
by this rise in morality and purpose.
Please read and complete the chart by following the directions
located on the top.
GROUPSWhat are some reforms of today?
