Voices of Reform: Romanticism and the Transcendentalist Movement
America in the mid-19th century is caught in a whirlwind of change. The country's expansion and growth excite artists and writers caught up in the spirit of romanticism, a cultural and artistic movement that immigrated from Europe in the 1820s. Even...
Voices of Reform: Temperance Movement, The
One of the most influential reform movements of the era is the crusade against drunkenness. Among the working class, people sign pledges not to drink alcohol. Some social elites push temperance as a kind of social control, a way to cut down on socia...
Worlds Apart: Life of the Wealthy in 19th-century America, The
Wealth has always been unevenly distributed in the United States. Even at the time of the Revolution almost half of the wealth was concentrated in an estimated 10% of the population. With the rise of capitalism in the mid-19th century that disparity...
Worlds Apart: Experience of the Poor. The
The contrast between the lives of the wealthy and their servants underscores the widening gap between rich and poor. The life of the exploited--the hours they work, the jobs they are asked to do, the conditions they live in--are not what any person ...
Worlds Apart: Emerging Middle Class, The
Despite the visibility of the very rich and the very poor, what is new in 19th century America is the emergence of a middle class. It isn't just money that makes people members of the middle class, it is what they choose to do with their funds and t...
Worlds Apart: Changes in Education
Many girls as well as boys are receiving basic instruction in the first part of the 19th century with the growth of the common-school movement. The course of study for boys tends to be more academic than it is for girls. It is the "maternalistic wed...