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U.S. History

Key Terms

U.S. HistoryKey Terms

Key Terms

abolitionist
a believer in the complete elimination of slavery
colonization
the strategy of moving African Americans out of the United States, usually to Africa
immediatism
the moral demand to take immediate action against slavery to bring about its end
millennialism
the belief that the Kingdom of God would be established on earth and that God would reign on earth for a thousand years characterized by harmony and Christian morality
moral suasion
an abolitionist technique of appealing to the consciences of the public, especially slaveholders
Mormons
members of an American denomination of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that emphasized patriarchal leadership
phrenology
the mapping of the mind to specific human attributes, later considered pseudoscience
pietistic
the stressing of stressed transformative individual religious experience or piety over religious rituals and formality
Second Great Awakening
a revival of evangelical Protestantism in the early nineteenth century
Seneca Falls
the location of the first American conference on women’s rights and the signing of the “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments” in 1848
Shakers
a religious sect that emphasized communal living and celibacy
teetotalism
complete abstinence from all alcohol
temperance
a social movement encouraging moderation or self-restraint in the consumption of alcoholic beverages
transcendentalism
the belief that all people can attain an understanding of the world that transcends rational, sensory experience
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