Chapter 9.2: Movements for Reform “Working for Reform” Chapter 9.2: Movements for Reform

Objectives: What motivated temperance reformers? Why did some women believe it was important to become involved in reform movements? How did educational opportunities change in the early 1800s? How and why did reformers work to improve prisons and other institutions?

The Second Great Awakening “Spiritual Reform From Within” [Religious Revivalism] Social Reforms & Redefining the Ideal of Equality Temperance Education Abolitionism Asylum & Penal Reform Women’s Rights

Temperance Reformers Wanted to reduce criminal behavior, family violence, and poverty Desired a more disciplined workforce Wanted to preserve the family Led largely by clergy, it first focused on drunkeness and did not oppose moderate drinking The American Temperence Society was founded in 1826, taking voluntary abstinence as its goal

Temperance Leaders Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) Neal Dow (1804-1897)

The Drunkard’s Progress From the first glass to the grave, 1846

Results!! During the next decade approximately 5000 local temperance societies were founded As the movement gained momentum, annual per capita consumption of alcohol dropped sharply

Life for 19th Women Unable to vote. Legal status of a minor. Single/Widow --> could own her own property. Married --> no control over her property or her children. Could not initiate divorce. Couldn’t make wills, sign a contract, or bring suit in court without her husband’s permission.

Women and reform Many women believed that they had a duty to become involved in reform since they were expected to instill values of good citizenship in their children and serve as the moral voice in their household- Cult of Womanhood.

Educational Reform Expansion of public education Starts in Massachusetts-1830s Horace Mann was leader-Secretary of State Creates a state board of education and adopted a minimum-length school year Provided for training of teachers Expanded the curriculum to include subjects such as history and geography Opening of first public high school Expansion of opportunities for women and African Americans to receive a college education

Reform of Jails and Prisons Reformers created the penitentiary system, built more prisons, and established reform schools to deal with the imprisonment of juveniles with adult offenders.

Poorhouses Reformers established a network of poorhouses, where the able-bodied poor would be required to work and where poor children could be educated.

Mental Hospitals Rehabilitation hospitals were established to get mentally ill people out of jails and poorhouses. Dorothea Dix, a Boston schoolteacher advocated for state-supported asylums for the mentally ill. She attracted much attention to the movement by her report detailing the horrors to which the mentally ill were subjected-being chained, kept in closets, beaten with rods in prisons with criminals. In response to her efforts, 28 states created and maintained mental institutions by 1860.