Chapter Twelve: The Pursuit of Perfection, 1800-1861

Practice Quiz:

1. What was the Second Great Awakening?
a. a wave of religious revivals
b. a political movement to abolish slavery
c. a creative movement that revolutionized American art
d. a reform movement to educate more American children.

2. The idea that people could conduct their lives completely free of sin is called
a. perfectionism.
b. abolitionism.
c. temperance.
d. purification.

3. How did radical revivalist Charles G. Finney violate Christian tradition?
a. He did not believe in a mysterious, all-powerful God.
b. He allowed women to pray aloud in church.
c. He relied on rational, scientific arguments to win converts.
d. His sermons were dry, rational, and unemotional.

4. What was the Washingtonian Society?
a. an evangelical group that focused on converting the working classes to Christianity
b. a group of Christian women who traveled the country preaching the evils of alcoholism.
c. a political faction that used the Constitution as a basis for their anti-slavery movement.
d. a temperance group whose members discussed their struggles with alcoholism.

5. Each of the following was a result of the temperance campaign of the 1830s EXCEPT
a. the drinking habits of middle-class American males were significantly altered
b. large numbers of confirmed drunkards were cured
c. temperance became a mark of respectability
d. per capita consumption of hard liquor declined by over 50 percent

6. The “proper” sphere for middle-class white women in the nineteenth century was
a. helping with her husband’s small business.
b. being involved in the arts and literature.
c. keeping house and raising a family.
d. working at tasks that did not need physical strength.

7. The feminine subculture for many middle-class women during this era focused on
a. establishing that women are morally superior to men.
b. establishing a sense of solidarity with other women.
c. gaining political equality with men.
d. Competition with other women to be most virtuous.

8. Why did Catherine Beecher argue that women should be schoolteachers?
a. Women were best suited to instill virtues in young male children.
b. Women had a stronger moral sense than men.
c. Women were more intelligent than men.
d. Women were not qualified to work in any other occupation.

9. Which of the following was a major change in middle-class family life during the nineteenth century?
a. Relationships between parents and children became more intimate.
b. Families became smaller and more child-centered.
c. The use of corporal punishment declined.
d. all of the above.

10. Which of the following statements about mid-nineteenth century public schools in the United States is FALSE?
a. Intellectual training was seen as less important than moral indoctrination.
b. In addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, public schools taught the Protestant ethic.
c. Working-class families viewed the public schools as as depriving them of needed wage earners.
d. The most influential supporter of the common school movement was Theodore Weld of Ohio.

11. After 1831, abolitionism received its greatest support in the
a. border states.
b. small to medium-sized towns of the upper North.
c. large cities.
d. northern state legislatures.

12. Frederick Douglass was NOT
a. a former slave.
b. the founder of the black newspaper North Star.
c. a presidential candidate in 1868.
d. a fiery orator who described slavery to northern audiences.

13. Which group was most active in the Underground Railroad?
a. sympathetic plantation owners in the South
b. working class whites
c. free blacks in the North
d. affluent whites in the North

14. Why were relations between black and white abolitionists often tense?
a. Black abolitionists thought that white abolitionists were too radical.
b. White abolitionists thought that black abolitionists were too radical.
c. White abolitionists did not want to end slavery immediately, whereas black abolitionists did.
d. Black abolitionists protested that they did not have a fair share of influence and leadership positions in the movement.

15. Which of the following individuals is INCORRECTLY matched with his reform movement?
a. Lyman Beecher : temperance
b. Horace Mann : public schools
c. Henry Highland Garnet : abolition
d. Charles Larkin Rice : anti-prostitution