AP US History AMSCO Guided Notes
4.9: The Development of an American Culture
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP US History Guided Notes
AMSCO 4.9 - The Development of an American Culture
Learning Objectives
- Explain how and why a new national culture developed from 1800 to 1848.
I. Cultural Nationalism
1. How did the concerns and attitudes of young Americans in the early 19th century differ from those of the nation's founders?
2. What role did patriotic themes play in American art, education, and public culture during this period?
II. A Changing Culture: Ideas, the Arts, and Literature
1. How did romanticism differ from Enlightenment thinking, and how was this movement expressed in the United States?
A. The Transcendentalists
1. What were the core beliefs of transcendentalists and how did they challenge American society?
2. What social reforms did transcendentalists support despite their emphasis on individualism?
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
1. What did Emerson argue Americans should do regarding European culture and their own cultural development?
2. How did Emerson's views on self-reliance and spiritual matters reflect transcendentalist philosophy?
2. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
1. What was Thoreau's purpose in conducting his two-year experiment at Walden, and what did he accomplish there?
2. How did Thoreau's opposition to the Mexican War lead to his arrest, and what was the significance of his essay on civil disobedience?
3. Brook Farm
1. What was George Ripley's goal in establishing Brook Farm, and what made it significant despite its short existence?
2. What intellectual figures were associated with Brook Farm and what ultimately caused the experiment to fail?
B. Other Communal Experiments
1. Why were communal experiments so numerous during the antebellum period, and what did they reflect about American society?
1. Shakers
1. What were the key characteristics of Shaker communities and why did they eventually decline?
2. The Amana Colonies
1. How did the Amana Colonies differ from the Shakers in their approach to communal living?
3. New Harmony
1. What was Robert Owen's vision for New Harmony and what caused his utopian socialist experiment to fail?
4. Oneida Community
1. What ideals guided the Oneida Community and how did it achieve economic success despite public controversy?
5. Fourier Phalanxes
1. What was Charles Fourier's proposed solution to competitive society and why did this movement fail in America?
C. Arts and Literature
1. How did democratic and reforming impulses of the Age of Jackson influence American cultural expression?
1. Painting
1. What was genre painting and which artists became known for depicting everyday American life?
2. What did the Hudson River School emphasize in their paintings and what movement did they reflect?
2. Architecture
1. How did American architects use Greek architectural styles to express democratic ideals?
3. Literature
1. How did the War of 1812 influence American literary interests and the types of works Americans wanted to read?
2. What American themes and settings did Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper explore in their works?
3. How did Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe each contribute to a distinctively American literature?
Key Terms
cultural nationalism
utopia
Shakers
Amana Colonies
Robert Owen
New Harmony
John Humphrey Noyes
Oneida Community
Charles Fourier
Fourier Phalanxes
antebellum
romanticism
transcendentalists
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau; Walden; "On Civil Disobedience"
Brook Farm
George Ripley
feminists
Margaret Fuller
Theodore Parker
George Caleb Bingham
William S. Mount
Thomas Cole
Frederick Church
Hudson River School
Washington Irving
James Fenimore Cooper
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Edgar Allan Poe