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movement - 55 reference results
women's movement: see feminism; woman suffrage.
safety movement, widespread effort to prevent accidents that followed the increasing number of casualties in industry, traffic and transportation, and homes arising out of the Industrial Revolution and the growth of cities. Large manufacturing companies, public utilities, railroads, steamship lines, and insurance companies were particularly concerned with reducing the number of injuries and deaths as well as with cutting the cost of workmen's compensation, other damage payments, and litigation arising out of accidents. Humanitarianism and the evolution of an awareness of public responsibility were other factors in the initiation of the safety movement, which took the form of educating the public in accident prevention by way of safety clubs, posters, magazines, and other means. A vital part of the safety movement was the passing of laws, such as those requiring that buildings be constructed in accord with fire prevention laws, that automobiles meet certain basic safety requirements, that halls be well lighted in certain classes of buildings, that machinery be properly guarded, that food conform to specified standards, and that poisonous materials be so marked. In the United States the National Safety Council, founded in 1913, collects and distributes information and statistics regarding safety in industry, the home, travel, and schools. Numerous federal, state and local agencies deal with safety issues. On the federal level, the Federal Aviation Administration (founded 1958) deals with air travel; the Consumer Product Safety Commission (1972) protects the public against unsafe products; the Environmental Protection Agency (1970) regulates toxic chemicals and environmental hazards; the Food and Drug Administration (1931) regulates food, drugs, and cosmetics; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (1970) enforces safety in the workplace; the Federal Highway Administration (1966) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (1970) administer programs to increase safety on the nation's highways; the Federal Railroad Administration (1966) covers rail safety; the Mine Safety and Health Administration (1973) regulates mines; the National Transportation Safety Board (1966) investigates and regulates safety issues for all types of transportation; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1974) regulates nuclear power; and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (1981) inspects meat and poultry products.

See C. L. Gilmore, Accident Prevention and Loss Control (1970); R. Mokhiber, Corporate Crime and Violence (1988).

revitalization movement, political-religious movements promising deliverance from deprivation, the elimination of foreign domination, and a new interpretation of the human condition based on traditional cultural values, common in societies undergoing severe stress associated with colonial conquest and intense class or racial exploitation. A prominent example is the Ghost Dance of Native Americans, who believed that their ritual would cause ancestors and bison herds to return and white people to leave. Although a nonviolent form of protest, it ended with the massacre of over 200 Sioux men, women, and children by the U.S. army at Wounded Knee, S.Dak., in 1890. Cargo cults are another form of revitalization movement found in New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia, especially after the intense movements of armies through the area during World War II. Followers believe that local governments prevent their ancestors from delivering an abundance of European or American goods. Their rituals reflect their sense of economic marginalization, belief that the world capitalist economy behaves irrationally, and alienation from state-level politics. These movements are also referred to as nativistic, revivalistic, millenarian, or messianic.

See J. Mooney, The Ghost Dance Religion (1965); P. Worsley, The Trumpet Shall Sound (1968); A. H. Shovers, Visions of Peace (1985).

nastic movement, in botany, the movement of plant parts in response either to certain external stimuli or to internal growth stimuli. Nastic movements, which are generally slow, can be observed by time-lapse photography. Such movements as those of developing buds, which swell, open up, and eventually fall off, are examples of internally directed, or autonomic, nastic movements. The opening and closing movements of many flowers, and the responses of leaves to changes of temperature and light, are externally directed, or paratonic, nastic movements. Specialized plants, such as the insectivorous sundew, move in response to the touch and chemical stimuli of captured insects. Nastic movements are responses to stimuli that uniformly affect the plant or else elicit a uniform response regardless of the direction they come from, whereas tropisms are movements in response to stimuli coming from one direction; geotropism, for example, is the response to gravity. The distinction between the two is sometimes unclear.
gay-rights movement, organized efforts to end the criminalization of homosexuality and protect the civil rights of homosexuals. While there was some organized activity on behalf of the rights of homosexuals from the mid-19th through the first half of the 20th cent., the modern gay-rights movement in the United States is usually said to have begun with the Stonewall riot (June, 1969) in New York City, which resulted from a police raid on an illegal gay bar. A number of groups formed to work for the repeal of laws prohibiting consensual homosexual conduct; for legislation barring discrimination against gays in housing and employment; and for greater acceptance of homosexuals among the rest of the population. By 1999 the antisodomy laws of 32 states had been repealed or declared unconstitutional; in all but five of the remaining states, the antisodomy laws applied to both heterosexuals and homosexuals. The Supreme Court overturned all state antisodomy laws in 2003; it ruled that a Texas law applying only to homosexuals was unconstitutional, but at the same time the Court repudiated a 1986 decision in which it had refused to extend the right of privacy to consensual sexual acts.

Laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination also have been enacted, but largely at the local level; by 1999 only 11 states had such laws. Opposition to such laws, particularly from conservative religious groups, has often been strong, and opponents of gay-rights measures have frequently gained their repeal. In 1992, Colorado became the first state to nullify existing civil-rights protection for homosexuals by amending its constitution; the provision was stuck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996. By means of a statewide public referendum in 1998, Maine became the first state to repeal its gay-rights statute.

In 1993 the Defense Dept., at President Clinton's order, changed the ban on homosexuals in the military to a ban on homosexual activity. The much discussed policy, known as "don't ask, don't tell," was presented as a way to allow gays in the military to serve without fear of discharge or other penalty as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation. By the end of the 1990s, however, it appeared to have done little to change the precarious status of gay soldiers. Most other NATO nations permit openly homosexual men and women to serve in their armed forces. Beginning in 1995, homosexuals were no longer automatically denied U.S. government security clearances.

Spousal benefits, such as health insurance and pension plans for long-term domestic partners, and the legal recognition of same-sex couples ("gay marriages") also became important gay-rights issues in the 1990s. A number of American corporations now offer same-sex partners of employees medical benefits comparable to those offered to employees' spouses; about one fifth of all workers are employed by these businesses. However, beginning in the mid-1990s, many states began explicitly banning same-sex marriages; by 2005, 41 states had done so. The Vermont supreme court declared in 1999 that the state must grant homosexual couples the same rights and protections that married heterosexuals have, and in 2000 the state legislature backed "civil unions" for same-sex couples that offer many benefits similar to those of heterosexual marriage. In 2003, Massachusetts' highest court ruled that homosexual couples have the constitutional right to marry, and the state began issuing licenses for same-sex marriages in May, 2004. The state legislature meanwhile passed a constitutional amendment that would have created civil unions for homosexual couples while restricting marriage to heterosexuals, but that amendment failed to win legislative approval in a required second, consecutive vote in 2005. At the same time, however, in 11 states voters approved (Nov., 2004) state constitutional amendments restricting marriage to a man and a woman and in some cases also banning same-sex civil unions; more than 20 states now have such amendments. California's supreme court similarly ended that state's ban on same-sex marriage in 2008. Connecticut now recognizes civil unions between same-sex couples, and after New Jersey's supreme court ruled in 2006 that the state must extend equal rights to same-sex couples the state enacted civil union legislation. A few other states, all of which ban gay marriage, recognize same-sex domestic partnerships, which offer fewer rights than civil unions.

At the national level the Defense of Marriage Act (1996) restricts the federal definition of marriage to heterosexual couples, but some conservatives, including President George W. Bush, have called for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. Meanwhile, some religions and churches have been struggling with the issues of gay marriage and of the ordination of gay clergy. Worldwide, laws relating to homosexuality vary widely; a few nations (Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries, New Zealand, South Africa, and Uruguay) offer some form of official recognition to homosexual couples. Many non-Western countries consider consensual homosexual acts crimes (in some Islamic nations, capital crimes).

See also homosexuality.

See D. Clendinen and A. Nagourney, Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America (1999).

ecumenical movement, name given to the movement aimed at the unification of the Protestant churches of the world and ultimately of all Christians.

During and after the Reformation Protestantism separated into numerous independent sects. An early attempt to reverse this tendency was the Evangelical Alliance founded in England in 1846; an American branch was formed by Philip Schaff in 1867. Other organizations that crossed denominational barriers were the Young Men's Christian Association (1844), the Young Women's Christian Association (1884), and the Christian Endeavor Society (1881). In 1908 the Federal Council of Churches of Christ, composed of the larger Protestant denominations in the United States, was organized and strove to represent Protestant opinion on religious and social questions. The movement known as Church Reunion in Great Britain and as Christian Unity (1910) in the United States was active in seeking a creed and polity behind which all Christians could unite.

On an international scale the ecumenical movement really began with the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910. This led to the establishment (1921) of the International Missionary Council, which fostered cooperation in mission activity and among the younger churches. Other landmarks in the development of the movement were the Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work (Stockholm, 1925), inspired by Nathan Söderblom of Sweden; the World Conference on Faith and Order (Lausanne, 1927); and the first assembly of the World Council of Churches (Amsterdam, 1948). The World Council, bringing together Protestant, Orthodox Eastern (including the Russian Orthodox Church), and Old Catholic bodies, is now the chief instrument of ecumenicity; in 1961 it united with the International Missionary Council.

Progress has also been made in mergers between individual churches; notable examples include the Church of South India (see South India, Church of), established in 1947, the first union between episcopal and nonepiscopal churches, and in the United States, where there have been many mergers, the United Church of Christ. A proposal was made in 1960 to bring together the American Methodist, Episcopal, United Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ denominations; this led to the establishment (1962) of the Consultation on Church Union, whose discussions continued into the 1970s. A proposed merger between the English Methodists and the Church of England was rejected by the Methodists in 1969. The Anglicans did, however, reach several doctrinal accords with the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1970s. Several American Lutheran churchs united to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1988, which agreed in 1997 on a full communion (an arrangement by which churches fully accept each other's members and sacraments) with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America. The Lutheran group reached a similar agreement with the Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church in 1999. Under the terms of the full communion, the churches involved can hold joint worship services, exchange clergy members, and collaborate on social service projects.

The Vatican did not give formal recognition to the existence of the ecumenical movement until 1960, when it established the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. Protestant and Orthodox Eastern observers were invited to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), and the Decree on Ecumenism (1964) promulgated by that council encouraged new dialogues with Protestant and Orthodox churches. In 1969, Pope Paul VI visited the headquarters of the World Council of Churches in Geneva; the Catholic Church now sends observers to the World Council and is a full member of some of its committees. In 1995, in his encyclical Ut Unum Sint, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the Roman Catholic commitment to Christian ecumenism; in 1999, he became the first pope to visit Orthodox nations. Catholics and Lutherans signed a joint declaration in 1999 on the doctrine of justification that resolved some of the issues that led to the Reformation in 1517.

See B. Leeming, The Churches and the Church (1960); N. Goodall, The Ecumenical Movement (3d ed. 1966); J. Desseaux, Twenty Centuries of Ecumenicism (1984); R. S. Bilheimer, Breakthrough: The Emergence of the Ecumenical Tradition (1989).

cooperative movement, series of organized activities that began in the 19th cent. in Great Britain and later spread to most countries of the world, whereby people organize themselves around a common goal, usually economic. The term usually refers more specifically to the formation of nonprofit economic enterprises for the benefit of those using their services.

Types of Cooperatives

An old and widespread form is the consumers' cooperative, in which people organize for wholesale or retail distribution, usually of agricultural or other staple products. Traditionally, membership is open, and anyone may buy stock. Goods are sold to the public as well as to members, usually at prevailing market prices, and any surplus above expenses is turned back to the members. Money is saved through direct channeling of goods from producer to consumer. Producers' cooperatives are manufacturing and distributive organizations, commonly owned and managed by the workers. Another development in such cooperatives has been the acquisition of failing manufacturing plants by labor unions, who run them on a cooperative basis. Agricultural cooperatives usually involve cooperation in the processing and marketing of produce and in the purchase of equipment and supplies. Actual ownership of land is usually not affected, and in this way the agricultural cooperative differs from the collective farm. Agricultural cooperatives are often linked with cooperative banks and credit unions, which constitute another important type of cooperative. There is also cooperative activity in insurance, medical services, housing, and other fields.

History

The origin of cooperative philosophy is found in the writings and activities of Robert Owen, Louis Blanc, Charles Fourier, and others. Its early character was revolutionary, but under the impact of such movements as Christian Socialism this aspect diminished. After some early 19th-century experiments, consumers' cooperation took permanent form with the establishment (1844) of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in England.

The cooperative movement has since had considerable growth throughout Great Britain and the Commonwealth, where local cooperatives have been federated into national wholesale and retail distributive enterprises and where a large proportion of the population has membership. Various examples of cooperative organization are also found in the Scandinavian countries, Israel, the People's Republic of China, Russia, and France. In the United States the cooperative movement began in the 19th cent., first among workers and then among farmers. The National Grange, a farmers' cooperative, was founded in 1867 and later exercised considerable political influence (see Granger movement). An international alliance for the dissemination of cooperative information was founded in 1895. Today the major types of cooperatives include those of farmers, wholesalers, and consumers, as well as insurance, banking and credit, and rural electrification cooperatives (the growth of the latter two facilitated by loans from the federal government). There has been increasing international collaboration among the various kinds of cooperatives and a growing trend toward the establishment of international cooperative distribution.

Bibliography

See J. Berry and M. Roberts, Co-op Management and Employment (1984); E. Spanner, Brotherly Tomorrow (1984); G. Melnyk, The Search for Community (1985).

antislavery movement: see slavery; abolitionists.
anti-Vietnam War movement, domestic and international reaction (1965-73) in opposition to U.S. policy during the Vietnam War. During the four years following passage of the Tonkin Gulf resolution (Aug., 1964), which authorized U.S. military action in Southeast Asia, the American air war intensified and troop levels climbed to over 500,000. Opposition to the war grew as television and press coverage graphically showed the suffering of both civilians and conscripts. In 1965 demonstrations in New York City attracted 25,000 marchers; within two years similar demonstrations drew several hundred thousand participants in Washington, D.C., London, and other European capitals. Most of the demonstrations were peaceful, though acts of civil disobedience—intended to provoke arrest—were common. Much of the impetus for the antiwar protests came from college students. Objections to the military draft led some protesters to burn their draft cards and to refuse to obey induction notices. By 1967 the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) invoked the language of revolution in its denunciations of the war in Vietnam as an inevitable consequence of American imperialism. There was also a more moderate opposition to the war from clergy, elected politicians, and people such as Dr. Benjamin Spock. In 1968, President Johnson, who was challenged by two antiwar candidates within his own party for the presidential nomination, Senators Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy, chose not to run. The election of Richard Nixon in 1968 and his reduction in U.S. ground forces did little to dampen the antiwar movement. His decision to invade Cambodia in 1970 led to massive demonstrations on college campuses, most tragically at Kent State Univ. where four people were killed by members of the Ohio National Guard. The legacy and meaning of the massive protests against the Vietnam War are still debated.

See T. Gitlin, The Sixties (1989); M. Young, The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 (1991); A. Garfinkle, Telltale Hearts (1995).

animal-rights movement, diverse individuals and groups concerned with protecting animals from perceived abuse or misuse. Supporters are specifically concerned with the use of animals for medical and cosmetics testing, the killing of animals for furs, hunting for pleasure, and the raising of livestock in restrictive or inhumane quarters, so-called factory farming. Concern for inhumane treatment of animals has led many supporters of the movement to advocate vegetarianism. Although the movement can trace its roots to the antivivisection campaigns (see vivisection) of the 19th cent., the modern movement is closely tied to environmental issues. In the early 1970s, environmental activist organizations, such as Greenpeace, began protesting against the annual slaughter of Canadian fur seals and against commercial whaling. The movement gained support in the 1980s with increasing opposition to the commercial fur industry and objections to the indiscriminate or routine use of laboratory animals in research and testing. By the 1990s, membership in major national animal-rights organizations, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had grown dramatically. Animal-rights campaigns have been responsible in large part for substantial tightening of regulation in the use of animals for research.

See P. Singer, Animal Liberation (1975); T. Reagan, The Case for Animal Rights (1983).

Tractarian movement: see Oxford movement.
Regulator movement, designation for two groups, one in South Carolina, the other in North Carolina, that tried to effect governmental changes in the 1760s. In South Carolina, the Regulator movement was an organized effort by backcountry settlers to restore law and order and establish institutions of local government. Plagued by roving bands of outlaws and angered by the assembly's failure to provide the western counties with courts and petty officers, the leading planters, supported by small farmers, created (1767) an association to regulate backcountry affairs. They brought criminals to justice and set up courts to resolve legal disputes. The assembly and the governor, recognizing the legitimacy of the grievances, did not attempt to crush the movement. By 1768, order was restored, and the Circuit Court Act of 1769, providing six court districts for the backcountry, led the Regulators to disband. The movement in W North Carolina, with different causes, arose at the same time. Led by small farmers protesting the corruption and extortionate practices of sheriffs and court officials, the Regulators, strongest in Orange, Granville, Halifax, and Anson counties, at first petitioned (1764-65) the assembly to recall its officers. When this failed, they formed (1768) an association pledged to pay only legal taxes and fees and to abide by the will of the majority. They won control of the provincial assembly in 1769, but with Gov. William Tryon, the provincial council, and the courts against them they were unable to secure relief. At first orderly, the Regulators resorted to acts of violence (especially at Hillsboro) after Edmund Fanning, a particularly despised official, was allowed to go unpunished. Those actions alienated large property holders and the clergy from the movement. On May 16, 1771, Tryon's militia completely routed a large body of Regulators in the battle of Alamance Creek. Seven of the leaders were executed, and the movement collapsed. One group of Regulators moved west to Tennessee, where they helped form the Watauga Association, but most of them submitted. Tensions remained, however, between the western farmers and the tidewater aristocracy.

See R. M. Brown, The South Carolina Regulators (1963).

Oxford movement, religious movement begun in 1833 by Anglican clergymen at Oxford Univ. to renew the Church of England (see England, Church of) by reviving certain Roman Catholic doctrines and rituals. This attempt to stir the Established Church into new life arose among a group of spiritual leaders in Oriel College, Oxford. Prominent among them were John Henry Newman, John Keble, Richard Hurrell Froude, Charles Marriott, and later Edward Bouverie Pusey and Richard William Church. The Oxford movement has exerted a great influence, doctrinally, spiritually, and liturgically not only on the Church of England but also throughout the Anglican Communion.

Early Years: The Tracts

In July of 1833, Keble preached a sermon, On the National Apostasy, which Newman held to be the actual opening of the movement. A few days later a meeting was held at Hadleigh, Suffolk, in the rectory house of Hugh James Rose, "the Cambridge originator of the Oxford movement," and a resolution was made to uphold "the apostolic succession and the integrity of the Prayer-Book." Newman, who felt that extensive popularizing was more effective than organization, immediately launched a series of pamphlets, Tracts for the Times. Later, Keble and Pusey joined him, and their group became known as the Tractarians. To the tracts was added The Library of the Father of the Holy Catholic Church (translations from patristic writings) to encourage a return to the beliefs and customs of the first centuries of the church.

The Tractarians preached Anglicanism as a via media between Roman Catholicism and evangelicalism. Newman became the acknowledged leader in answering critics and advocating the restoration of practices abandoned in the Church of England since the Reformation. When the Tractarians attacked Renn Dickson Hampden, a follower of Richard Whately, the liberals, led by Dr. Thomas Arnold, opposed them openly. After 1834, Pusey was influential in the movement, adding force and dignity to the controversial manner and emphasizing the observance of ritual. Opponents dubbed the movement "Puseyism."

Within the movement itself, a Romanizing party developed under William George Ward, Frederick William Faber and others, and it was partly to counter them that Newman wrote his celebrated Tract 90 on the Thirty-nine Articles, which aroused a storm of opposition and brought the series to an end (1841). The movement lost valuable supporters to Roman Catholicism, including Newman, and Henry Edward Manning. The movement to Roman Catholicism was opposed by Pusey, under whose leadership the majority remained loyal to the Church of England. Under Pusey the movement advanced beyond its academic beginning and became an effective vehicle for ecclesiastical and, later, social reform.

Later Years: Changes in Religious Practices

Among the means for renewing deep and personal devotion to the teachings of the Bible, Keble, Newman, and especially Pusey, sought to develop religious community life. Sisterhoods were founded, the first in 1845. They became centers of charitable and social work of importance. Communities for men were fewer and expanded less rapidly.

The Oxford movement also stressed higher standards of worship, and particularly in the later period many changes were made in the church services, e.g., beautification of churches, intonation of services, the wearing of vestments, and emphasis on hymn singing. Every effort to revive ceremonial customs aroused a storm of excitement and opposition leading at times to rioting. This violence culminated in 1860 at St. George's-in-the East, London. Because attention was centered upon the forms of expression in the churches, especially between 1857 and 1871, the followers of the Oxford movement became known as ritualists. Anglo-Catholicism was another name for the movement as its supporters tried to secure in the Established Church recognition of ancient Catholic liturgy and doctrine.

The changes desired by the ritualists caused much public agitation and litigation between 1850 and 1890. In 1874 the Public Worship Regulation Act was passed by Parliament, avowedly to "put down Ritualism." On the part of churchmen the struggle was fought in resistance to secular authority in spiritual affairs. No Anglo-Catholic could recognize the mandates of a purely parliamentary court, such as the judicial committee of the privy council, which, although it lacked spiritual authority, was the supreme court of ecclesiastical appeal. The last imprisonment for refusal to admit its authority was made in 1887, after which such resistance was respected as reasonable.

In later years the followers of the movement placed increasing emphasis on the responsibility of Christians in the life of society and have given much attention to social problems. This social concern led to the foundation of the Christian Social Union in 1889 under Brooke Foss Westcott and Henry Scott Holland.

Bibliography

See R. W. Church, The Oxford Movement (1891; rev. ed. 1970, ed. by G. Best and J. Clive); E. R. Fairweather, The Oxford Movement (1964); M. R. O'Connell, The Oxford Conspirators (1969); R. Chapman, Faith and Revolt (1970).

Nonaligned Movement, organized movement of nations that attempted to form a third world force through a policy of nonalignment with the United States and Soviet Union. Yugoslavia, India, Indonesia, Egypt, and Ghana were instrumental in founding (1961) the movement, which grew out of the Bandung Conference (1955). Its members, mainly developing nations from Asia, Africa, and Latin America that embrace more than half the world's people, include true neutrals and many nations that were in fact aligned with one of the superpowers during the cold war. In light of the cold war's end, it reassessed its role and has redefined itself as a forum for its member nations to develop policies and positions that they can seek to implement at the United Nations and other international forums. The 118 member nations meet regularly to discuss their common interests. See also Third World.
May Fourth Movement (1919), first mass movement in modern Chinese history. On May 4, about 5,000 university students in Beijing protested the Versailles Conference (Apr. 28, 1919) awarding Japan the former German leasehold of Jiaozhou, Shandong prov. Demonstrations and strikes spread to Shanghai, and a nationwide boycott of Japanese goods followed. The May Fourth Movement began a patriotic outburst of new urban intellectuals against foreign imperialists and warlords. Intellectuals identified the political establishment with China's failure in the modern era, and hundreds of new periodicals published attacks on Chinese traditions, turning to foreign ideas and ideologies. The movement split into leftist and liberal wings. The latter advocated gradual cultural reform as exemplified by Hu Shih who interpreted the pragmatism of John Dewey, while leftists like Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao introduced Marxism and advocated political action. The movement also popularized vernacular literature, promoted political participation by women, and educational reforms.

See Hu Shih, The Chinese Renaissance (2d ed. 1964); V. Schwarcz, Chinese Enlightenment Intellectuals and the Legacy of the May 4th Movement of 1919 (1986).

Know-Nothing movement, in U.S. history. The increasing rate of immigration in the 1840s encouraged nativism. In Eastern cities where Roman Catholic immigrants especially had concentrated and were welcomed by the Democrats, local nativistic societies were formed to combat "foreign" influences and to uphold the "American" view. The American Republican party, formed (1843) in New York, spread into neighboring states as the Native American party, which became a national party at its Philadelphia convention in 1845. The movement was temporarily eclipsed by the Mexican War and the debates over slavery. When the slavery issue was temporarily quieted by the Compromise of 1850 nativism again came to the fore. Many secret orders grew up, of which the Order of United Americans and the Order of the Star-spangled Banner came to be the most important. These organizations baffled political managers of the older parties, since efforts to learn something of the leaders or designs of the movement were futile; all their inquiries of supposed members were met with a statement to the effect that they knew nothing. Hence members were called Know-Nothings, although there was never a political organization bearing the name. Efforts were concentrated on electing only native-born Americans to office and on agitating for a 25-year residence qualification for citizenship. Growing rapidly, the Know-Nothings allied themselves with the group of Whigs who followed Millard Fillmore and almost captured New York state in the 1854 election, while they did sweep the polls in Massachusetts and Delaware and had local successes in other states. The disintegration of the Whig party aided them in their strides toward national influence. In 1854 they looked toward extension into the South, and in the following year they openly assumed the name American party and cast aside much of their characteristic secrecy. In June, 1855, a crisis developed; at a meeting of the national council in Philadelphia, Southerners seized control and adopted a resolution calling for the maintenance of slavery. The slavery issue, after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, again came to the front, and this time the slavery issue split apart the Know-Nothing movement as it had the Whigs. The antislavery men went into the newly organized Republican party. Millard Fillmore, the American party candidate for President in 1856, polled a small vote and won only the state of Maryland. The national strength of the Know-Nothing movement thus was broken.

See R. A. Billington, The Protestant Crusade, 1800-1860 (1938, repr. 1964); W. D. Overdyke, The Know-Nothing Party in the South (1950, repr. 1968); C. Beals, Brass-Knuckle Crusade (1960).

Granger movement, American agrarian movement taking its name from the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, an organization founded in 1867 by Oliver H. Kelley and six associates. Its local units were called granges and its members grangers. The movement grew slowly until after the Panic of 1873, when it expanded rapidly, reaching its membership peak in 1875. Although established originally for social and educational purposes, the local granges became political forums and increased in number as channels of farmer protest against economic abuses of the day. The granges sought to correct these abuses through cooperative enterprise. They were in part successful with the establishment of stores, grain elevators, and mills, but they met disaster in their attempt to manufacture farm machinery. Through political activity the grangers captured several state legislatures in the Middle West and secured the passage in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa of the so-called Granger laws, setting or authorizing maximum railroad rates and establishing state railroad commissions for administering the new legislation. There was also legislation covering warehouses and elevators. Railroads and other interested parties challenged the constitutionality of these laws in the Granger Cases. But the U.S. Supreme Court, in Munn v. Illinois (1876), established as constitutional the principle of public regulation of private utilities devoted to public use. The Granger movement thus revealed the farmer as a political power and forced the older parties to give more attention to his demands. Inadequacy of state regulation, plus the weakening of the Munn v. Illinois ruling by the Wabash Case (1886), led to demands for national legislation. After 1876 the Greenback party, the Farmers' Alliance, and, finally, the Populist party expressed much of the agrarian protest, and the granges reverted to their original role, as purely social organizations. They continued to exist in the East, especially in New England, where they had been least active politically.

See studies by J. D. McCabe (1873, repr. 1969) and S. J. Buck (1913, repr. 1963).

Fenian movement or Fenians, secret revolutionary society organized c.1858 in Ireland and the United States to achieve Irish independence from England by force. It was known variously as the Fenian Brotherhood, Fenian Society, Irish Republican Brotherhood, and Irish-American Brotherhood. The name derives from the ancient Irish Fenians, a professional military corps that roamed over ancient Ireland (c.3d cent.) in the service of the high kings. They figure in the legends that developed around Finn mac Cumhail and Ossian.

Origins

The famine of the 1840s brought to a crisis Irish discontent with English rule, culminating in the abortive Young Ireland uprising of 1848, led by William Smith O'Brien. Vast numbers of embittered Irishmen emigrated to the United States, Australia, South America, and Canada, where they redoubled their agitation against England. John O'Mahony, one of those revolutionists driven abroad in 1848, was the organizer of the movement in the United States, and it was he who gave the society its name.

History

In Ireland

In Ireland the movement was led by James Stephens (1825-1901), who founded the party organ, the Irish People, in Dublin in 1863. The movement made its chief appeal to artisans and shop assistants rather than to the agrarian population. The opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to the society doubtless kept many potential members from joining its ranks. As the movement became stronger and rumors of actual plots arose, the British government took steps to crush it. In 1865 the Irish People was suppressed and Stephens was arrested, although he escaped to America. In 1866 the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended in Ireland, and many Fenians were imprisoned. Initiative shifted to America, where a huge store of arms and money had been accumulated by the Fenians, and where many Irish-American Civil War veterans were eager to strike a blow against England. In 1867 a ship, renamed Erin's Hope, was outfitted and sailed to Ireland, but the Fenians aboard were captured in their attempt to land. In the same year there were several small-scale risings in Ireland. Repeated attempts by the revolutionists to free their imprisoned comrades by force resulted in the execution of several Fenians. Agitation continued, and terrorism was condoned by many as a result of the anger aroused by the executions. The long-range effect of the Fenian movement was to draw the attention of the English Parliament to Irish problems. The Fenian movement continued until World War I, but its influence was largely drawn off into new organizations, notably Sinn Féin, founded by Arthur Griffith, a former Fenian.

In the United States

The Fenian movement in America had a career of its own. In 1865 a convention at Cincinnati determined upon an invasion of Canada. In June, 1866, Gen. John O'Neill (1834-78) with about 800 men crossed the Niagara River and captured Fort Erie. His force was soon cut off by U.S. troops, and he was obliged to retreat toward Buffalo. Some 700 men were arrested. An attack on Campobello island (off Maine) was also frustrated. O'Neill became president of the society and prepared raids from Vermont in 1870. These, too, were unsuccessful, and O'Neill and many other participants were arrested.

Bibliography

See studies by J. O'Leary (1896, repr. 1969), W. D'Arcy (1947, repr. 1971), and B. Jenkins (1969).

Ethical Culture movement, originating in the Society for Ethical Culture, founded in New York City in 1876, by Felix Adler. Its aim is "to assert the supreme importance of the ethical factor in all relations of life, personal, social, national, and international, apart from any theological or metaphysical considerations." No definite ethical system is insisted upon, although Adler's own ethical thought has naturally had much influence. The society holds its own religious services, but members may have other religious affiliations if they wish. Societies were organized in Chicago (1882), Philadelphia (1885), St. Louis (1886), Brooklyn, N.Y. (1906), and later in other cities. In England, Stanton Coit founded the South Place Ethical Society, London, in 1887; other societies have since been founded there. In 1896 the International Union of Ethical Societies was organized, uniting the movement, which had become worldwide. Although its membership is not large, the movement has enlisted a number of intellectual leaders.
Chautauqua movement, development in adult education somewhat similar to the lyceum movement. It derived from an institution at Chautauqua, N.Y. There, in 1873, John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller proposed to a Methodist Episcopal camp meeting that secular as well as religious instruction be included in the summer Sunday-school institute. Established on that basis in 1874, the institute evolved into an eight-week summer program, offering adult courses in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Thousands attended each year; for those who could not, there were courses for home study groups, and lecturers were sent out to supplement the material furnished from the organization's publishing house. Local reading circles flourished around the country.

Other communities were inspired to form local Chautauquas, and possibly 200-300 were organized, though few were so successful as the original. These local groups brought authors, explorers, musicians, and political leaders to lecture and furnished a variety of entertainment. The Chautauquas had something of the spirit of the revival meeting and something of the county fair. In 1912 the movement was organized commercially; lecturers and entertainers were furnished to local groups on a contract basis. This commercial endeavor was extremely successful, persisting until c.1924, after which automobile travel, motion pictures, and other forces rapidly diminished Chautauqua's appeal. The original Chautauqua site continues to draw summer visitors who attend varied programs.

Bibliography

See J. H. Vincent, The Chautauqua Movement (1886, repr. 1971); A. E. Bestor, Chautauqua Publications (1934); R. Richmond, Chautauqua: an American Place (1934); G. MacLaren, Morally We Roll Along (1938); V. Case and R. O. Case, We Called It Culture: The Story of Chautauqua (1948, repr. 1970); J. E. Gould, The Chautauqua Movement (1961).

Canada First movement, party that appeared in Canada soon after confederation (1867). Its purpose was to encourage the growth of nonpartisan loyalty to the new dominion of Canada. In Toronto, in 1874, it founded the Nation and the National Club and entered the political field as the Canadian National Association, which encouraged immigration and native industry, and a more independent stance for Canada. Although its official career was short-lived, the party's ideals were expressed by Canadian writers and were absorbed by the older political parties. In this way the movement had an effect on the development of Canadian nationalism.

See W. S. Wallace, The Growth of Canadian National Feeling (1927).

Brownian movement or motion, zigzag, irregular motion exhibited by minute particles of matter when suspended in a fluid. The effect has been observed in all types of colloidal suspensions (see colloid)—solid-in-liquid, liquid-in-liquid, gas-in-liquid, solid-in-gas, and liquid-in-gas. It is named for the botanist Robert Brown who observed (1827) the movement of plant spores floating in water. The effect, being independent of all external factors, is ascribed to the thermal motion of the molecules of the fluid. These molecules are in constant irregular motion with a velocity proportional to the square root of the temperature. Small particles of matter suspended in the fluid are buffeted about by the molecules of the fluid. Brownian motion is observed for particles about 0.001 mm in diameter; these are small enough to share in the thermal motion, yet large enough to be seen with a microscope or ultramicroscope. The first satisfactory theoretical treatment of Brownian motion was made by Albert Einstein in 1905. Jean Perrin made a quantitative experimental study of the dependence of Brownian motion on temperature and particle size that provided verification for Einstein's mathematical formulation. Perrin's work is regarded as one of the most direct verifications of the kinetic-molecular theory of gases.
Anglo-Catholic movement: see Oxford movement.
American Indian Movement (AIM), organization of the Native American civil-rights movement, founded in 1968. Its purpose is to encourage self-determination among Native Americans and to establish international recognition of their treaty rights. In 1972, members of AIM briefly took over the headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. They complained that the government had created the tribal councils on reservations in 1934 as a way of perpetuating paternalistic control over Native American development. In 1973, about 200 Sioux, led by members of AIM, seized the tiny village of Wounded Knee, S.Dak., site of the last great massacre of Native Americans by the U.S. cavalry (1890). Among their demands was a review of more than 300 treaties between the Native Americans and the federal government that AIM alleged were broken. Wounded Knee was occupied for 70 days before the militants surrendered. The leaders were subsequently brought to trial, but the case was dismissed on grounds of misconduct by the prosecution. AIM also sponsored talks resulting in the 1977 International Treaty Conference with the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Diverse social movement, largely based in the U.S., seeking equal rights and opportunities for women in their economic activities, personal lives, and politics. It is recognized as the “second wave” of the larger feminist movement. While first-wave feminism of the 19th and early 20th centuries focused on women's legal rights, such as the right to vote, the second-wave feminism of the “women's movement” peaked in the 1960s and '70s and touched on every area of women's experience—including family, sexuality, and work. A variety of U.S. women's groups, including the National Organization for Women, sought to overturn laws that enforced discrimination in matters such as contract and property rights and employment and pay. The movement also sought to broaden women's self-awareness and challenge traditional stereotypes of women as passive, dependent, or irrational. An effort in the 1970s to pass the Equal Rights Amendment failed, but its aims had been largely achieved by other means by the end of the 20th century.

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International social movement dedicated to the control of alcohol consumption through the promotion of moderation and abstinence. It began as a church-sponsored movement in the U.S. in the early 19th century. It attracted the efforts of many women, and by 1833 there were 6,000 local temperance societies in the U.S. The first European temperance society was formed in Ireland in 1826. An international temperance movement began in Utica, N.Y., U.S., in 1851 and spread to Australia, Asia, Europe, India, South and West Africa, and South America. Seealso Carry Nation; Prohibition; Woman's Christian Temperance Movement.

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In international politics, the group of states sharing the peacetime policy of avoiding political or economic affiliations with major power blocs. At its beginning the nonaligned movement consisted primarily of Asian and African states that were once colonies of the Western powers and were wary of being drawn into a new form of dependence by the West or by the communist bloc. Founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and others, the movement held its first official meeting in 1961 in Bandung, Indon.; 25 countries attended. Meetings have since been held on a three-year schedule. While the Soviet Union existed, the movement tended to seek development assistance from both the U.S. and the Soviet Union but to refrain from forming political or military alliances with either country. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the nonaligned movement has been chiefly concerned with debt forgiveness and with development of fairer trade relationships with the West. By the early 21st century the movement had more than 110 members.

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Motion of a particle moving at a constant speed on a circle. Though the magnitude of the velocity of such an object may be constant, the object is constantly accelerating because its direction is constantly changing. At any given instant its direction is perpendicular to a radius of the circle drawn to the point of location of the object on the circle. The acceleration is strictly a change in direction and is a result of a force directed toward the centre of the circle. This centripetal force causes centripetal acceleration.

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Analysis of the time spent in going through the different motions of a job or series of jobs in the evaluation of industrial performance. Such studies were first instituted in offices and factories in the U.S. in the early 20th century. They were widely adopted as a means of improving work methods by subdividing the different operations of a job into measurable elements, and they were in turn used as aids in standardization of work and in checking the efficiency of workers and equipment.

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Repetitive back-and-forth movement through a central, or equilibrium, position in which the maximum displacement on one side is equal to the maximum displacement on the other. Each complete vibration takes the same time, the period; the reciprocal of the period is the frequency of vibration. The force that causes the motion is always directed toward the equilibrium position and is directly proportional to the distance from it. A pendulum displays simple harmonic motion; other examples include the electrons in a wire carrying alternating current and the vibrating particles of a medium carrying sound waves.

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In astronomy, the actual or apparent motion of a body in a direction opposite to that of the predominant (direct or prograde) motions of similar bodies. Observationally and historically, retrograde motion refers to the apparent reversal of the planets' motion through the stars for several months in each synodic period. This required a complex explanation in Earth-centred models of the universe (see Ptolemy) but was naturally explained in heliocentric models (see Copernican system) by the apparent motion as Earth passed by a planet in its orbit. It is now known that nearly all bodies in the solar system revolve and rotate in the same counterclockwise direction as viewed from a position in space above Earth's North Pole. This common direction probably arose during the formation of the solar nebula. The relatively few objects with clockwise motions (e.g., the rotation of Venus, Uranus, and Pluto) are also described as retrograde.

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Apparent motion of a star across the celestial sphere at right angles to the observer's line of sight, generally measured in seconds of arc per year. Any radial motion (toward or away from the observer) is not included. Edmond Halley was the first to detect proper motions; the largest known is that of Barnard's star, about 10 seconds yearly.

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Motion that is repeated in equal intervals of time. The time of each interval is the period. Examples of periodic motion include a rocking chair, a bouncing ball, a vibrating guitar string, a swinging pendulum, and a water wave. Seealso simple harmonic motion.

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Mathematical formula that describes the motion of a body relative to a given frame of reference, in terms of the position, velocity, or acceleration of the body. In classical mechanics, the basic equation of motion is Newton's second law (see Newton's laws of motion), which relates the force on a body to its mass and acceleration. When the force is described in terms of the time interval over which it is applied, the velocity and position of the body can be derived. Other equations of motion include the position-time equation, the velocity-time equation, and the acceleration-time equation of a moving body.

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Sickness caused by contradiction between external data from the eyes and internal cues from the balance centre in the inner ear. For example, in seasickness the inner ear senses the ship's motion, but the eyes see the still cabin. This stimulates stress hormones and accelerates stomach muscle contraction, leading to dizziness, pallor, cold sweat, and nausea and vomiting. Minimizing changes of speed and direction may help, as may reclining, not turning the head, closing the eyes, or focusing on distant objects. Drugs can prevent or relieve motion sickness but may have side effects. Pressing an acupuncture point on the wrist helps some people.

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or movie

Series of still photographs on film, projected in rapid succession onto a screen. Motion pictures are filmed with a movie camera, which makes rapid exposures of people or objects in motion, and shown with a movie projector, which reproduces sound synchronized with the images. The principal inventors of motion-picture machines were Thomas Alva Edison in the U.S. and the Lumière brothers in France. Film production was centred in France in the early 20th century, but by 1920 the U.S. had become dominant. As directors and stars moved to Hollywood, movie studios expanded, reaching their zenith in the 1930s and '40s, when they also typically owned extensive theatre chains. Moviemaking was marked by a new internationalism in the 1950s and '60s, which also saw the rise of the independent filmmaker. The sophistication of special effects increased greatly from the 1970s. The U.S. film industry, with its immense technical resources, has continued to dominate the world market to the present day. Seealso Columbia Pictures; MGM; Paramount Communications; RKO; United Artists; Warner Brothers.

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Change in position of a body relative to another body or with respect to a frame of reference or coordinate system. Motion occurs along a definite path, the nature of which determines the character of the motion. Translational motion occurs if all points in a body have similar paths relative to another body. Rotational motion occurs when any line on a body changes its orientation relative to a line on another body. Motion relative to a moving body, such as motion on a moving train, is called relative motion. Indeed, all motions are relative, but motions relative to the Earth or to any body fixed to the Earth are often assumed to be absolute, as the effects of the Earth's motion are usually negligible. Seealso Brownian motion; periodic motion; simple harmonic motion; simple motion; uniform circular motion.

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Relations between the forces acting on a body and the motion of the body, formulated by Isaac Newton. The laws describe only the motion of a body as a whole and are valid only for motions relative to a reference frame. Usually, the reference frame is the Earth. The first law, also called the law of inertia, states that if a body is at rest or moving at constant speed in a straight line, it will continue to do so unless it is acted upon by a force. The second law states that the force math.F acting on a body is equal to the mass math.m of the body times its acceleration math.a, or math.F = math.mmath.a. The third law, also called the action-reaction law, states that the actions of two bodies on each other are always equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

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Any of various physical phenomena in which some quantity is constantly undergoing small, random fluctuations. It was named for Robert Brown, who was investigating the fertilization process of flowers in 1827 when he noticed a “rapid oscillatory motion” of microscopic particles within pollen grains suspended in water. He later discovered that similar motions could be seen in smoke or dust particles suspended in air and other fluids. The idea that molecules of a fluid are constantly in motion is a key part of the kinetic theory of gases, developed by James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann, and Rudolf Clausius (1822–88) to explain heat phenomena.

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or mass wasting

Bulk movements of soil and rock debris down slopes, or the sinking of confined areas of the Earth's ground surface. The term mass wasting refers only to gravity-driven processes that move large masses of earthen material from one place to another. The term mass movement includes the sinking of confined areas.

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Form of adult education popular in the U.S. during the mid-19th century. The lyceums were voluntary local associations that sponsored lectures and debates on topics of current interest. The first was founded in 1826, and by 1834 there were approximately 3,000 in the Northeast and Midwest. They attracted such speakers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Daniel Webster, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Susan B. Anthony. The movement began to decline with the outbreak of the Civil War and eventually blended into the postbellum Chautauqua movement. In their heyday the lyceums contributed to the broadening of the school curricula and the development of local museums and libraries.

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or homosexual rights movement

Civil-rights movement that advocates equal rights for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals. Supporters of gay rights seek to eliminate sodomy laws barring homosexual acts between consenting adults and call for an end to discrimination against gay men and lesbians in employment, credit, lending, housing, marriage, adoption, public accommodations, and other areas of life. The first group to campaign publicly was founded in Berlin in 1897 by Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935) and had 25 local chapters in Europe by 1922; suppressed by the Nazis, it did not survive World War II. The first U.S. support group, the Mattachine Society, was founded in Los Angeles circa 1950; the Daughters of Bilitis, for lesbians, was founded in San Francisco in 1955. The Dutch Association for the Integration of Homosexuality COC, founded as the COC (Cultuur en Ontspannings Centrum [“Culture and Recreation Center”]) in 1946 and headquartered in Amsterdam, is a prominent European group and the oldest existing gay rights organization. Many date the expansion of the modern gay rights movement to the Stonewall rebellion in New York City in 1969, when a raid by police on a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn provoked a riot by bar patrons. “Stonewall” came to be commemorated annually by the observance of Gay and Lesbian Pride Week in cities around the world. The International Lesbian and Gay Association (founded 1978), headquartered in Brussels, lobbies for human rights and opposes discrimination against homosexuals. Although the movement is strongest in western Europe and North America, gay rights organizations exist in many countries throughout the world. Among the major issues pressed by gay rights advocates in the 1990s and into the 21st century were the passage of hate crime laws and the establishment of legal rights for homosexuals to marry, adopt children, and serve openly in the military.

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Division or consolidation of communal lands in Western Europe into the carefully delineated and individually owned farm plots of modern times. Before enclosure, farmland was under the control of individual cultivators only during the growing season; after harvest and before the next growing season, the land was used by the community for the grazing of livestock and other purposes. In England the movement for enclosure began in the 12th century and proceeded rapidly from 1450 to 1640; the process was virtually complete by the end of the 19th century. In the rest of Europe, enclosure made little progress until the 19th century. Common rights over arable land have now been largely eliminated.

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Movement toward unity or cooperation among the Christian churches. The first major step in the direction of ecumenism was the International Missionary Conference of 1910, a gathering of Protestants. Several Protestant denominations inaugurated a Life and Work Conference (on social and practical problems) in 1925 and a Faith and Order Conference (on church doctrine and governance) in 1927. After World War II the World Council of Churches (WCC) was established; the International Missionary Conference joined it in 1961. The Roman Catholic church also has shown strong interest in improving interchurch relations since the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) and, with the patriarch of Constantinople, has lifted the excommunication of 1054. The Eastern Orthodox church was active in the movement since 1920 and joined the WCC at its inception. The more conservative or fundamentalist Protestant denominations have generally refrained from involvement. Another important factor in 20th-century ecumenism was the creation of united churches that reconcile splintered sects, such as the United Church of Christ (1957) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1988).

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Popular U.S. educational and cultural movement founded in 1874. It began as a training assembly for Sunday-school teachers at Chautauqua Lake, N.Y., but gradually spread to various circuit “chautauquas” and broadened in scope to include general education and popular entertainments, many of which incorporated religious themes. Outstanding speakers were brought in for summer lectures and classes. The movement declined after reaching a peak in 1924 (though the Chautauqua Institution still holds meetings), but its legacy contributed to the growth of community colleges and continuing education programs. Seealso lyceum movement.

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or bowel movement

Elimination of feces from the digestive tract. Peristalsis moves feces through the colon to the rectum, where they stimulate the urge to defecate. The rectum shortens, pushing the feces into the anal canal, where internal and external sphincters allow them to be passed or retained. Chest, abdominal, and pelvic muscles are used to pass them. Long delay of defecation causes constipation and hardened feces. Seealso diarrhea, incontinence.

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or Black Arts movement

Period of artistic and literary development among black Americans in the 1960s and early '70s. Based on the cultural politics of black nationalism, the movement sought to create art forms capable of expressing the varieties of black experience in the U.S. Leading theorists included Amiri Baraka, Houston Baker (b. 1943), and Henry Louis Gates. Don L. Lee (b. 1942), known as Haki R. Madhubuti after 1973, was one of its most popular writers; other notable writers included Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Ntozake Shange (b. 1948). The movement also produced such autobiographical works as The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965; with Alex Haley), Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice (1968), and Angela Davis: An Autobiography (1974).

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(circa 1783–1888) Movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical religious groups condemned it as un-Christian. Though antislavery sentiments were widespread by the late 18th century, they had little immediate effect on the centres of slavery themselves—the West Indies, South America, and the southern U.S. In 1807 the importation of African slaves was banned in the U.S. and the British colonies. Slavery was abolished in the British West Indies by 1838 and in the French possessions 10 years later. In the 11 Southern states of the U.S., however, slavery was a social and economic institution. American abolitionism laboured under the handicap that it threatened the harmony of North and South in the Union, and it also ran counter to the U.S. Constitution, which left the question of slavery to the individual states. The abolitionist movement in the North was led by agitators such as William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, writers such as John Greenleaf Whittier, former slaves such as Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of slavery to the West, marked a turning point in the movement. Convinced that their way of life was threatened, the Southern states seceded from the Union (see secession), which led to the American Civil War. In 1863 Lincoln (who had never been an abolitionist) issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves held in the Confederate states; the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1865) prohibited slavery throughout the country. Slavery was abolished in Latin America by 1888. In some parts of Africa and in much of the Islamic world, it persisted as a legal institution well into the 20th century.

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or Tractarian movement

(1833–45) Movement within the Church of England that aimed to emphasize the church's Catholic inheritance as a source of legitimacy and deeper spirituality. Its main intent was to defend the Church of England as a divine institution against the threats of liberal theology, rationalism, and government interference. Though some in the movement (notably John Henry Newman and Henry E. Manning) ended up converting to Catholicism, most did not. Their concern for a higher standard of worship influenced not only the Church of England but also other British Protestant sects. The movement was also instrumental in the establishment of Anglican monasteries and convents.

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Chinese intellectual revolution and sociopolitical reform movement (1917–21). In 1915 young intellectuals inspired by Chen Duxiu began agitating for the reform and strengthening of Chinese society through acceptance of Western science, democracy, and schools of thought, one objective being to make China strong enough to resist Western imperialism. On May 4, 1919, reformist zeal found focus in a protest by Beijing's students against the Versailles Peace Conference's decision to transfer former German concessions in China to Japan. After more than a month of demonstrations, strikes, and boycotts of Japanese goods, the government gave way and refused to sign the peace treaty with Germany. The movement spurred the successful reorganization of the Nationalist Party and gave birth to the Chinese Communist Party. Seealso Treaty of Versailles.

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Coalition of U.S. farmers, mainly in the Midwest, that fought monopolistic grain-transport practices in the 1870s. Oliver H. Kelley (1826–1913), a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee, organized the Patrons of Husbandry in 1867 to bring farmers together to learn new farming methods. By the mid-1870s almost every state had at least one branch, or Grange, and national membership passed 800,000. The Grangers influenced some states to pass regulatory legislation to counter the price-fixing by railroads and grain-storage facilities. Outgrowths of the Granger movement included the Greenback and Populist movements. The Grangers dropped to about 100,000 members by 1880; they rebounded in the early 20th century, but declined again subsequently.

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Irish nationalist society active chiefly in Ireland, the U.S., and Britain, especially in the 1860s. The name derived from the Fianna Éireann, a legendary band of Irish warriors led by Finn MacCumhaill. Plans for a rising against British rule in Ireland miscarried, but in the U.S., Fenians staged abortive raids into British Canada and caused friction between the U.S. and British governments. The Irish wing was sometimes called the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and as such continued after Fenianism died out in the early 1870s. Seealso Sinn Féin.

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American social and literary movement of the 1950s and '60s. It is associated with artists' communities in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Its adherents expressed alienation from conventional society and advocated personal release and illumination through heightened sensory awareness and altered states of consciousness. Beat poets, including Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso (1930–2001), and Gary Snyder, sought to liberate poetry from academic refinement, creating verse that was vernacular, sometimes sprinkled with obscenities, but often powerful and moving. Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs developed an unstructured, spontaneous, sometimes hallucinatory approach to prose writing that was designed to convey the immediacy of experience. The Beat movement had faded by circa 1970, though its influence continued to be felt decades later.

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Civil rights organization founded in 1968, originally to help urban American Indians displaced by government programs. It later broadened its efforts to include demands for economic independence, autonomy over tribal areas, restoration of illegally seized lands, and protection of Indian legal rights and traditional culture. Some of its protest activities involved violence and were highly publicized (see Wounded Knee). Internal strife and the imprisonment of some leaders led to the disbanding of its national leadership in 1978, though local groups have continued to function.

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