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| | The decline of all the Utopian communities has been attributed to increased industrialization and hostility by a broader public to the concept. Inflammatory newspaper articles played a role as the public became reliant on secular sources for information. Historians concluded that "religious utopian colonies possessed a longer life then their secular counterparts."<ref name="Utopian"/> Most of the Utopian communities have remnants that are preserved today and can be visited. | | The decline of all the Utopian communities has been attributed to increased industrialization and hostility by a broader public to the concept. Inflammatory newspaper articles played a role as the public became reliant on secular sources for information. Historians concluded that "religious utopian colonies possessed a longer life then their secular counterparts."<ref name="Utopian"/> Most of the Utopian communities have remnants that are preserved today and can be visited. |
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| − | In addition to the Utopian communities, there were key social and religious movements in or around the 1840s: | + | In addition to the Utopian communities, there were key social and religious movements in or around the 1840s that resulted from the culmination of the Second Great Awakening that swept America from 1790 to 1840: |
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| − | * the Church of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church), the only major church founded in America, was established in 1830 by Joseph Smith in western New York. he then moved to Ohio, and then Illinois, where it thrived so much that it became the largest town in Illinois in 1844. <more> NY, went to OH; 1844 largest town in IL; 1847 to Utah, majority there" | + | * the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church), the only major church founded in America, was established in 1830 by Joseph Smith in western New York. He then moved to Ohio, and then Nauvoo, Illinois, where it thrived so much that it became the largest town in Illinois in 1844 (even bigger than Chicago). The movement ban alcohol and emphasized hard work and entrepreneurship. But in 1844 an anti-Mormon newspaper (the "Nauvoo Expositor") began attacking the church, and city council responded by ordering destruction of its printing presses, which in turn led to the imprisonment of Mayor Joseph Smith. While in jail with his brother, Joseph Smith (and his brother) was killed by a mob that was unlawfully allowed to enter the prison. Brigham Young became leader of the church within a few years, and led the 70,000-person community on a 1,300-mile migration to establish a new state in the west, then part of Mexico but now Utah. Today the Mormon Church is the fourth largest church denomination in the United States, after the Catholics, Baptists and Methodists.<ref>http://www.ncccusa.org/news/080215yearbook1.html</ref> |
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| − | * Seventh Day Adventist Church "1844: stresses second coming of Christ, Saturday Sabbath, Bible, part of great second awakening" | + | * The Seventh Day Adventist Church began 1844, when a prediction of the end of the world based on a biblical interpretation did not prove to be true (the so-called “Great Disappointment”). This new Christian religion emphasizes observance of the Sabbath on Saturday (hence its name), adherence to the Bible, and preparation for the second coming of Christ. The Seventh Day Adventists also emphasized an approach to good health that included building hospitals, such as the one that exists today in Hackettstown, New Jersey. |
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| − | * Women's rights. Women's Rights/Seneca Falls "1848: 1st ""women's rights"" convention: called for women right to vote and drafted Declaration of Sentiments" Elizabeth Blackwell "1849: first women to receive a medical degree in America, from Geneva College in NY; English-born" | + | * Women's rights began as a social movement in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, where the first women's rights convention was held. The assembly drafted a Declaration of Sentiments that called for granting to women the right to vote, which they did not have at the time. Separately, in 1849, the English-born Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical degree in America, which she obtained from Geneva College in New York. |
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| − | * Liberty Party "1840-8: (NY) 1st anti-slavery party, later joined antislavery Whigs, Dems to form stronger Free-Soil party." | + | * In 1840, the first anti-slavery party (called the "Liberty Party) formed. it lasted until 1848, when it merged with opponents of slavery in the Whig and Democratic Parties in order to form another anti-slavery party, the stronger Free-Soil party. |
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| − | * Unions Commonwealth v. Hunt 1842: Mass. Sup. Ct. held it was legal for workers to organize a union and to strike; this was union victory | + | * In 1842, the union workers' movement obtained a key court ruling in their favor from the Massachusetts Supreme Court, in ''Commonwealth v. Hunt''. That decision held that it was legal for workers to organize a union and to strike. The ability to strike and shut down a factory if it did not give into union demands. |
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| | ==James K. Polk and War with Mexico== | | ==James K. Polk and War with Mexico== |