4 million immigrants settled in the United States between 1840 and 1860

3 million of them came from Ireland and Germany Irish immigrants fled their country because of the potato blight – this

was a disease that rotted potatoes Over a million Irish people died of starvation German immigrants came to the U.S. for economic opportunities and

freedom from government control

Nativists = Americans who opposed immigration Know-Nothing Party = nativists who supported immigration

restrictions to protect jobs and culture of native-born Americans Wanted to keep Catholics out of political offices and wanted

immigrants to live in the U.S. for 21 years before becoming citizens

Industrial Revolution led to new jobs in American cities City jobs drew immigrants to cities as well as Americans from rural areas Cities grew if there were many manufacturing jobs in the region Transportation Revolution helped connect cities Growth of cities led to the emergence of the middle-class Middle-class = social and economic level between the wealthy and the poor

Many immigrants lived in tenements – poorly designed apartment buildings that housed large numbers of people

Cities did not have clean water or effective garbage and waste disposal Diseases spread easily Cities became centers of criminal activity Cities did not have police forces in the mid-1800s Volunteer night watches fought crime

Christian renewal that began in the late 18th century Began in the Northeast Charles Grandison Finney believed that salvation was in

the hands of the individual and that sin was avoidable Many people converted to Christianity after hearing his

sermons

Reform (change) effort to urge people to use discipline to stop drinking hard liquor

Movement began because many Americans blamed alcohol abuse for social problems such as crime

She was a prison reformer She spoke of the horrible conditions of prisons She inspired the building of separate facilities for the

mentally ill

Common-school movement = members wanted all children to learn in the same place regardless of background

Horace Mann (Massachusetts) was a leader who doubled school budgets, raised teacher salaries, set up the first school for teacher training, and extended the school year

Catherine Beecher founded an all-female academy and wrote many essays stressing the importance of women’s education

Several Northern and Midwestern cities created schools for free African American children

Example (Do not copy) – Philadelphia, which was heavily influenced by Quakers, had 7 African-American schools by 1800, since Quakers believed in equality for all

Abolition = the complete end to slavery Benjamin Franklin was the president of the first anti-slavery society in

America Quakers challenged slavery by saying it was against God’s will American Anti-Slavery Society – called for the immediate emancipation

(freeing) and racial equality for African Americans Federal government issued a “gag rule” between 1836 and 1844 preventing

Congress from discussing antislavery petitions Nat Turner’s Rebellion affected the South because people stopped discussing

slavery openly

Underground Railroad – organization was NOT an actual railroad but was a network of people who arranged transportation and hiding places for escaped slaves

Harriet Tubman – led many slaves to freedom as a conductor on the Underground Railroad

Emancipation was almost impossible in the South because of the South’s economic dependence on slavery

Former slave who contributed to the abolitionist cause Believed in the same freedom and independence that white Americans

won for themselves in 1776 Argued that African Americans deserved the right to vote to protect

their interests

Former slave who contributed to the abolitionist cause Claimed God called her to preach about the truth about

slavery and women’s rights Said women should not be thought of as the weaker sex

and they deserve equality

Women’s reform movement argued that women deserved the right to vote (suffrage) “Suffragettes” gained many male supporters Movement claimed that men and women were different rather than unequal Susan B. Anthony won married women the right to control their own wages and

property in 1860 in New York Seneca Falls Convention (1848) – marked the start of the organized women’s rights

movement; organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott in Seneca Falls, New York

Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments was modeled on the Declaration of Independence (1776)