The Age of Reform (1820 – 1860)

America During the 1800s, many Americans began to try to reform the nation’s problems. Social Reform: An organized attempt to improve what is unjust or imperfect in society.

Religious Reform The Second Great Awakening Predestination: That God decides in advance who goes to heaven. Revivals: Huge outdoor meetings that stir religious feelings.

Reforming Education School should be free and supported by taxes Trained teachers Requirement

Improving Education Problems with schools: few children attended school, run-down buildings, teachers poorly trained, students of all ages together (Horace Mann is on the left

Horace Mann’s Solution Got state $ for schools Build new schools Extended the school year Raised teachers’ pay Opened 3 teacher colleges to train teachers

The Temperance Movement “Battling Demon Rum” Problems caused by alcohol: domestic battery, child abuse, diseases, bankruptcy Possible Solutions: getting people to drink less, banning the sale of alcohol (What was Carrie Nation’s solution?)

Henry David Thoreau Civil Disobedience Went to jail rather than pay a tax that supported the Mexican American War.

Abolitionists Worked to abolish slavery. Both white and black Quakers

Important Abolitionists: Frederick Douglass: Born into slavery in Maryland, taught himself to read, escaped to Boston, powerful speaker, publisher of the North Star newspaper

William Lloyd Garrison: published The Liberator, founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society, wrote that slavery is an evil that needs to end immediately

Speaking for Women’s rights and the Abolitionist movement Sojourner Truth “I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that?”

More Abolitionists Angelina and Sarah Grimke: Wealthy Southern daughters who moved North to fight slavery.

The Underground Railroad Harriet Tubman: A woman who escaped slavery and led more than 300 slaves to freedom. The Underground Railroad: A network of abolitionists who helped slaves escape North to freedom.

The Women’s Movement Seneca Falls Convention Suffrage – voting rights Declaration of Sentiments “all men and women are created equal” Suffrage – voting rights Coeducation 1920-women got the vote

Seeking Equal Rights Seneca Falls Convention: A Meeting called by Mott and Stanton to draw attention to the problems faced by women (met in Seneca Falls, New York!) Lucretia Mott: Persuasive speaker and organizer with a Quaker background.

More Women’s Rights Activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Athletic and smart when young, teased by men in her father’s law office, popular speaker and proclaimer of women’s rights, close friend of Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony Tireless traveler and speaker Would finish her speeches even when heckled and eggs were thrown at her Played a key role in gaining women the vote in 1920

Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo Emerson: Leading Transcendentalist who taught that the human spirit is reflected in nature Walt Whitman: Poet who wrote about democracy and the common man Emily Dickinson: Gained respect as one of Americas greatest poets Hudson River School: NOT A SCHOOL A new style of art developed by Americans that focused on New York landscapes

More Transcendentalists Nathaniel Hawthorne: Drew from the history of America for his stories Edgar Allan Poe: Became famous for his tales of horror and mystery Women writers: Many women wrote stories about experiences of widows, orphans, and women who succeeded by working hard

Write your answers on a sheet of paper! Pop Quiz! Write your answers on a sheet of paper!

Review Questions 1. Who want to extended the school year and provide training for teachers? 2. Define: Temperance 3. Name the religious event in American reform era. 4. Author of the Liberator. 5. The document drafted at the Seneca Falls Convention? 6. Abolitionist who owned the North Star. 7. Poet who wrote about horror and mystery. 8. Define: Transcendentalism