The Antebellum Period In America

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The Antebellum Period in America occurred between 1815-1860. During this time period, religion, economic expansion, and social reform all greatly changed the United States and ultimately formed the nation that we have today. The effects of the Second Great Awakening greatly affected religion, the market revolution permanently changed the American economy, and social reform movement lobbied for temperance, women’s rights, the abolition of slavery, and institutions for those in poor mental health. The Second Great Awakening began around 1790 and gained momentum in the early nineteenth century. The Second Great Awakening was led by established religious leaders who were worried about low church attendance in young America. The crescendo of the …show more content…

One reform movement that drew inspiration from the Second Great Awakening would be the temperance movement. Some social reformers claimed that drinkers were not free because the need to drink caused individuals to become slaves to …show more content…

Ideas like moral suasion and total emancipation were hotly debated, partly because of the religious movement that was simultaneously occurring. The market was very quickly growing, and the invention of the steamboat and the Erie Canal only made trade more accessible and affordable. The Antebellum Period foreshadowed an American future in which slavery was abolished and trade was more accessible. Together, these events strengthened American both morally and economically. As Ralph Waldo Emerson writes in 1837, “ We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak with our own minds.” Citizens of the United States recognized the value of freedom and independence, but during the Antebellum Period and leading up to the Civil War, many Americans had to decide who should and should not be

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