The period from the end of the Civil War (1865) to the beginning of World War 1(1914) was the great era of American Spiritualism. Suddenly, Americans went mad for seances, trances, Ouija boards, and trances. Why? And why then?
There are three answers. The first is the most important – the Civil War. More Americans died in the War than either the first or Second World War. Of course, this was because all the deaths on both sides were American. Families everywhere grieved over lost loved ones. Sons from childhood through teen-age years were killed. People longed to feel that their sons were not completely gone. They longed to talk to them one last time. They longed to feel that they were at peace.
Communicating with the dead had overwhelming appeal. In parlors all over the country, lights were dimmed, candles lit, crystal balls were consulted and spirit-mediums went into trances. They offer the mourning families solace and comfort.
The second factor that made spiritualism and seances popular was the recent change in the role of women. Early in the 1800s, women were still thought of as “the daughters of Eve” who brought sin into the world. They were thought of as more “animal-like,” less civilized, and less good.
After the Civil War, the Victorian woman, on a pedestal, pure and delicate, was a force for good in the family. Late Victorian women were thought too delicate for public life. A nice woman couldn’t go on the stage, couldn’t sing or dance, couldn’t appear in public or have her name mentioned in the newspapers. What could a woman do who wanted public attention? Who wanted to be famous? She could become a spirit-medium.
The third factor that allowed spiritualism to flourish was a change in religion. Believing that the souls of dead relatives were inhabiting a “parallel plane” of existence is neither a Christian nor a Jewish view of the afterlife. After Charles Darwin and the advances of science in the 19th century, there was a crisis of faith in the country. Americans turned to lots of new religions like Mormonism, Christian Science, Theosophy, Seventh Day Adventism, and Spiritualism.