Organized religion influenced many social
movements during the 19th century. As there are a great number, I will just zoom in on a couple
so you can get an idea of how the analysis might look.
Although the
Abolitionist movement was born long before the 19th century, it reached its peak right around
the time that slavery was finally ended by the American Civil War. This could be exemplified by
the publication of the landmark anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, in 1852 by Harriet
Beecher Stowe. Most Abolitionists were also strong believers, the majority of Christian faith.
They used religious language and beliefs to reinforce the injustice of one man keeping another
as property.
Another 19th century social movement that was certainly
influenced by organized religion was the Temperance movement. This movement wanted people to
completely give up consumption of alcohol. Already an idea espoused by conservative Christian
groups, for whom drinking alcohol was considered a sin, the Temperance movement took on the bold
challenge of making everyone abstain. Christian women, in particular, took on prominent roles in
bringing Temperance to the national stage. It was a popular and powerful movement throughout the
century. Of course, the disastrous experiment of Prohibition - a direct result of Temperance
movement - somewhat cooled the enthusiasm of the movements adherents by the 1920's.
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