C18: An Era of Reform
C18.2 The Spirit of Reform
Second Great Awakening religious movement Leader – Charles Finney (preacher)
Beliefs: Everyone can gain forgiveness Do good works Build heaven on Earth
Achievements got people working to improve society inspired some to oppose slavery
Transcendentalism
Leaders of Transcendentalism Ralph Waldo EmersonHenry David Thoreau
Beliefs people have unlimited potential can “transcend” (go beyond) logical thinking trust your emotions and intuition question society’s rules do not conform
Accomplishments created model communities (utopian societies) – shared labor – lived together – no competition Example: Brook Farm, MA
C18.3 Reforming the Treatment of Prisoners and the Mentally Ill
Leader - Dorothea Dix
Problems prisoners in chains some locked in cages children jailed with adults debtors put in prison mentally ill locked up, beaten
Beliefs prisoners should be treated better separate children and adults keep debtors out of prisons treat the mentally ill, don’t punish
Achievements Removed debtors from prisons Special justice system for children Outlawed cruel punishment Hospitals for the mentally ill
C18.4 Improving Education
Leader - Horace Mann “The Father of American Public Schools”
Problems Few children attended school Teachers had little education, poorly paid Less education for girls African Americans banned from most schools
Beliefs make education available education helps children escape poverty, be good citizens
Achievements NY set up elementary schools in all towns MA paid taxes to improve schools, teachers’ pay, training 1850: most white kids in North and West went to school 1837: Oberlin College admitted women
C18.5 Abolition (fighting slavery)
Abolitionists (abolition leaders) QuakersWilliam Lloyd Garrison
Abolitionists Frederick Douglass
Abolitionists Angelina & Sarah GrimkeSojourner Truth
Problems People supported slavery for cheap cotton Slavery was cruel Abolitionists disagreed on how to end slavery
Beliefs slavery didn’t fit land of the free radical abolitionists wanted slaves to rebel others said end slavery peacefully moderates said give slaveholders time to adjust to no slaves
Partial Achievement: Slavery ended in the North but not in the South.
C18.6-7: Women’s Rights
Leaders Lucretia MottElizabeth Cady Stanton
Leaders Lucy StoneElizabeth Blackwell
Leaders Frederick DouglassSojourner Truth
Susan B. Anthony
Problems Women couldn’t vote, hold public office Money & property controlled by men Couldn’t speak publicly Banned from most jobs, colleges Husbands could beat wives
Beliefs women should vote equal treatment equal opportunities
Achievements Seneca Falls Convention, NY, 1848 wrote “Declaration of Sentiments” created women’s rights movement NY gave women control of property, wages MA & IN passed divorce laws Elizabeth Blackwell set up a hospital & medical school