The "Angel Delusion" of 1806-1811: Frustration and Fantasy in Northern New England

The Rise of 19th-Century American Spiritualism, 1854-1873

“…Several factors combined to make Spiritualism a viable new source of comfort and assurance during this period. The mid‐19th century was a time of social and geographic mobility, encounter with immigrant groups, industrialization, and intense revivalism; all of these engendered bold individualism and normless anomie (Juster and Hartigan‐O’Connor 2002:403; Nelson 1969:69–70). Unsettled by secular developments, freed from traditional norms, and individually empowered, many Americans were attracted to Spiritualism's “radical individualism” (Braude 1990:406).…”