Social Environment

The mid-nineteenth century rocked with the dynamics of social change, mainly driven by the flush of individualism. The presidency of Andrew Jackson opened the door to freeing the “common man” from the status quo. It seemed that every conceivable reform issue was inaugurated.MOL 46.5

Lyceums, and later the Chautauqua circuit, attracted millions to hear lectures on such diverse topics as slavery, Fourierism (small, cooperative communities), non-resistance, land reform, perfectionism, mesmerism (hypnotism), whole-wheat bread, and all aspects of health. And the publications of these “reforms” flooded the market. “There are temperance papers.... There have been numerous journals devoted to Spiritualism, Socialism, Phrenology, Homeopathy, Hydrotherapy, Anti-Rent, Bloomerism, Women’s Rights, Odd Fellowship, Masonry, Anti-masonry, and all the notions, movements, and sensations of a very active-minded community.” ^{14Thomas Low Nichols, Forty Years of American Life: 1821-1861 (New York: Stackpole Sons, 1937), p. 208.}MOL 46.6

Young America was also a cauldron of social polarizations. Race relations haunted most communities in every State. Ethnic groups, including certain Europeans, Orientals, Hispanics, Negroes, and Native Americans, had to face blind prejudice affecting the work place as well as the neighborhood. ^{15“Within the framework of American history, the nineteenth century was probably the most crucial period with regard to race relations. Racial issues headlined the newspapers as white Americans found themselves in positions of conflict and compromise with ethnic groups such as Blacks, Native Americans (Indians), Hispanics, Orientals, and European ethnics. In each encounter the Caucasian majority had to face its own fears of, and prejudices toward, the minority groups. Often sheer, blind prejudice dictated the ways in which minority people were treated until greater contact modified the more extreme views.... Contact and exposure between the races did little to modify stereotypes held about the minority group. In such situations complex relationships both sociological and psychological mitigated against any real racial harmony or understanding. This was especially true in the case of Afro-Americans.” Norman K. Miles, “Tension Between the Races,” in Land, The World of Ellen G. White, p. 47.}MOL 46.7

The consumption of alcoholic beverages was also a national concern. One historian described the United States as an “alcoholic republic.” Annual per capita consumption of alcohol increased from three gallons in 1800 to four gallons in 1830. ^{16Jerome L. Clark, “The Crusade Against Alcohol,” in Land, World of Ellen G. White, p. 131.}MOL 46.8

By 1839, the American Temperance Society, through its more than 8,000 local societies, had convinced 350,000 to sign the total abstinence pledge—the “total” pledge becoming a great step even for temperance advocates. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, organized on November 18, 1874, was especially effective on the local level. ^{17Testimonies for the Church 1:132, 138.}MOL 47.1

The last half of Ellen White’s ministry coincided with the phenomenal rise of urban-industrial cities. A nation born on the farm had moved to the cities. “The number of Americans living in centers with more than 2,500 inhabitants had grown from 19 percent in 1860 to 39 percent in 1900 and to 52 percent in 1920.” ^{18Carlos A. Schwantes, “The Rise of Urban-Industrial America,” in Land, World of Ellen G. White, p. 80.}MOL 47.2

The change of pace from the time-honored natural pace of the farm to the artificial life of the city forced many new and difficult adjustments. “Rural America had its vices, but none seemed as blatant as those of the metropolis.” For most Protestants, the city was a symbol of everything wrong—“an alien and hostile world hopelessly steeped in rum and Romanism.” ^{19Land, World of Ellen G. White, pp. 84, 85; Osborn, The Spirit of American Christianity, pp. 16-18; Winthrop S. Hudson, The Great Tradition of the American Churches (New York: Harper & Row, [Torchbooks] 1963), pp. 110-136.}MOL 47.3

Another factor that polarized the cities was class conflict—conspicuous rich being envied by those working the factories, most of them the stereotyped immigrants with their unconventional, insular ways. For the first time America heard the term, “organized labor.” ^{20“In the late nineteenth century people often referred to corporations as ‘trusts,’ ‘monopolies,’ ‘soulless machines,’ or ‘octopuses’ whose grasping tentacles reached everywhere; labor unions were referred to as ‘communistic’ or ‘un-American.’ Of the two forms of organization, labor usually seemed the greater threat...-. As the nineteenth century wound to a close, it became ever more evident that Protestantism was losing its working-class members. The close alliance between Protestantism and wealth, and the attitude of Protestant clergymen toward labor’s struggle, had not gone unnoticed by workers.... For many working-class worshipers, it was increasingly difficult to find even a Protestant church to attend. As the church adopted an increasingly middle-class stance, it not only alienated many workers but also discovered compelling reasons to abandon physically the working-class neighborhoods of the metropolis in order to flee to suburban or rural environments.” Land, World of Ellen G. White, pp. 91-93.}MOL 47.4

Ellen White’s ministry paralleled a turbulent time of great social changes. She wrote much about the dark years of the Civil War and the plight of the slave, the shakeup of the move from the farm to the city, the obvious implications of extravagant alcoholic consumption, and the class struggle between the rich and the poor.MOL 47.5