Summary Of Sex In Antebellum America

At the beginning of the antebellum age Christianity was heaven bent on reforming sexual attitudes to be rooted in righteous dogma. In the eyes of Christian leadership young, innocent, growing America had the chance to create a true idealized Christian society. As the Christian leadership noticed that people were losing their bearings on the path toward an idealized holy purpose, they armed themselves with rhetoric and searched for the perpetrators that caused the degradation. As time passed and the debate to reform sexual attitudes roared on, Christian leadership turned to its trusted partner in reform: the American legal system. But why did the Christians find it necessary to turn to the legal system in order to resolve the matter of reforming
In the early nineteenth century almost every debate was being started by a member of Christian leadership. Christian ministers drew large crowds, stood atop soap-boxes and stages and attempted to persuade and guide their audience toward a more religiously righteous path. They addressed key social issues of the day; and the topic of sex was one of the key issues. Per the sources featured in The Attitudes toward Sex in Antebellum America a Christian preacher starts the reform movement: his name was Lyman
France and their supposedly enlightened government had corrupted the minds of Americans whom were calling themselves freethinkers. According to Beecher “The National Assembly of France… appointed a committee to inquire and report whether there were a God…” There findings (according to Beecher) were that there was no God and then the country fell into the time of Terror. Naturally, Beecher’s reaction to a country that is capable of entertaining the idea that there might not be a God is evil; but financing and conducting research on the matter is Satan’s at work. Additionally, he makes it clear that any country willing to doubt the Creators existence was destined to experience the perils of the Terror in France. This contributes to an American fear of governing by any foreign doctrine or allowing laws to be molded without the consent of scripture.
These new stances are important for a few reasons. First of all, Christians were able to discredit other Americans – the freethinkers – because they were seen as being influenced and corrupted by the evil French maelstrom of enlightenment ideals. In the past, the danger was foreign but now the evil had spilled onto American soil. Secondly, the notion that Atheism was the anchor of the freethinking movement in America alerted the public who were irresolute on the issue of