Messenger of the Lord

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.” ¹⁴ 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 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. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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.” ¹⁸ 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.” ¹⁹ 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 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