Neo-Confucianism Is a Philosophy Which Was Born TEST1

¶ … Federalist Papers, the U.S. Constitution was ratified in the late 1780's by the original 13 states. But this new nation would experience a myriad of other changes by the turn of the century. With a new political system, westward expansionism and manifest destiny would guide the new American spirit. Of the most significant transformations on the American landscape of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were the parallel phenomena of the Industrial Revolution and the Second Great Awakening.

One an unbridled attempt to expand the material world, the other a fanatical endeavor to revive religious sentiment, these movements were uniquely positioned in time. They would also pull the American psyche in two opposing directions. The Second Great Awakening was a never-before seen Protestant revival movement that swept through the new nation. Preachers sought converts and converts sought church membership in record numbers. On the other side of the equation, entrepreneurs, inventors, and businessmen experienced a revival of their own. New technologies were introducing themselves at an alarming rate.

Not all Americans were pleased with the changes besetting the American lifestyle. Christian evangelists foresaw a "long, immoral road towards the fire and brimstone of eternal damnation." Yet people like Samuel Slater, inventor and businessman, had a more optimistic outlook. While it may be tempting to sympathize with people like Charles Finney in light of some of the environmental problems we experience today, I side clearly with Samuel Slater and others like him who were more realistic and less religious.

Samuel Slater initiated a mechanical leap forward in the New World by constructing a textile mill in the late 1700s. His business model in itself was revolutionary; he would offer employees company housing and a way of life previously unheard of. These new industries provided jobs to families and raised the standards of living. Where people were once self-sufficient farmers, they were now working on credit, for money that they would later exchange for food they once grew themselves and luxury items that previously never existed.

This new type of economy was dramatically transforming life in the New World by allowing individuals to start new businesses. Just like Slater, I believe that these changes promoted prosperity among the general populace. But these views were not shared by all Americans. Religious men and preachers like Charles Finney only envisioned the disastrous effects industrialization could have on a society. Many of Finney's beliefs were based on superstition and melodrama, but there were some tangible, visible proofs for his theories.

For instance, factory conditions were not favourable to workers and in fact, were extremely unhealthy and hazardous. Children were probably forced to work. But it is also likely that people like Finney saw only negativity where there was immense potential for positive development. There has never been a utopian society and likely never will be. As human beings, especially human beings in an emerging democracy, the best we can do is good enough. Industry and economic development were not always beautiful, ideal, or beneficial to all.

But the industrial revolution did improve living standards for most people in the new United States. The emerging economy in America would be increasingly based on credit instead of a direct exchange of goods. Perhaps Finney foresaw the possible abuses in this type of system and was bemoaning the new capitalism. But were people better off before the industrial revolution? Pre-industrial farmers were at the mercy of the elements to feed their families, whereas factory workers have steady, reliable income.

Furthermore, post-industrial farmers had access to improved tools and machines that vastly increased production. Improvements in transportation allowed farmers to expand westward and acquire new land to till. The invention of the steam engine also promoted exponential growth in the marketing and trading of goods. Items that were produced or grown in one area could be sold in areas hundreds of miles away. Remote places had access to previously unavailable goods.

The geography of the new nation was changing almost daily as pioneers moved west in search of new territory to develop. Advances in machinery and technology would transform American politics and geography, as well as economics and social mores. Ultimately, the new economy built around industry created more wealth that could be channelled into schools and other institutions that benefited large groups of people. The religious revival of the Second Great Awakening impacted American culture and demographics to a great extent, and to a lesser extent politics and economics.

But it was less of a force than a coping mechanism. People were probably increasingly drawn towards religion as a means to understand the profound changes occurring in the world. It is probable that evangelists like Finney were appalled by the newness of the industrial landscape and saw it as a modern Sodom and Gomorrah. Smokestacks and their bellows, factories and their throngs of workers, must have evoked for Finney images of hellfire and brimstone. It probably seemed that the human race was sinning worse than ever.

And while human rights were largely unprotected by early industrialists, it is doubtful whether Finney had the rights of workers or of indigenous populations in mind when he preached. He may have been more concerned with Biblical images than with real, concrete human suffering. While it may be easy to sympathize with Finney's views and even to justify them, the evangelist missed the bigger picture. The pre-industrial way of life was no easier, no happier, no less harmful or degrading to human beings or to God.

We simply had new tools and more efficient methods of production and transportation.