An Era of Reform

 Reformer – devoted themselves to causes like women’s rights, education, and slavery  Second Great Awakening – a revival of religious feeling and beliefs in the 1820s and 30s  Public Schools – schools paid for by taxes  Abolitionists – those who favored ending slavery  Declaration of Sentiments – a formal statement of injustices suffered by women

 The reform era came during The Second Great Awakening  Preachers told people they could get forgiveness of their sins  The message that people could earn salvation by good works, prompted people to work to improve society  The movement inspired many women to become preachers and missionaries

 Writers urged people to follow their hearts and help others  Henry David Thoreau said, “IF a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears.”  President Andrew Jackson was proof that people could rise to leadership and chance society for the better

 Dorothea Dix was a Sunday School teacher at a jail. What she witnessed changed her life.  Inmates were bound in chains, children and adult criminals jailed together  Dix visited hundreds of prisons throughout Massachusettes  Over 75,000 prisoners were debtors, and most of them owed less than $20. Yet, couldn’t earn money while in jail, so they stayed in there for years.

 The mentally ill were treated as “insane” and locked away in dirty, crowded prisons  If they misbehaved, they were whipped  Dix believed that insanity should be treated as a disease and not a crime  MA had one asylum, which only the wealthy could afford. Even so, it was overflowing  Asylums were much better than putting them in prison, but MA needed more!

 Dix prepared a detailed report for the MA state legislature, and lawmakers agreed  Public asylums were created to help the mentally ill  Dix visited other states as well, demanding justice for the mentally ill, and was successful there also  Dix continued until she died in 1887  Dix demonstrated that reformers, including women, could lead society to make changes

 Horace Mann made the movement to help more children get an education  As a child, Mann attended school only 10 weeks a year, as he had to help on the family farm  Wealthy families sent children to private schools or hired tutors  On the frontier, there may be 60 students to a one room school  Teachers had very limited resources and received very little pay

 In cities, poor children stole, destroyed property, and set fires  Reformers believed that an education would help children escape poverty and become good citizens  New York was the first to set up public school  Mann became the education supervisor for MA, expressing the need for public schools  MA citizens voted to pay taxes to set up schooling, pay teachers higher salaries, and set up training for teachers

 By 1850, many states in the north and west used Mann’s ideas.  Most white children, especially boys, went to public school  Still, much room for more reform, as most high schools and colleges did not admit girls  African Americans had separate schools with less funding, if they were allowed to attend  Horance Mann saw much more was needed for equality of women and blacks

 Abolitionists wanted to end slavery  Although slavery ended in the North by the early 1800s, many northerners still accepted southern slavery  Arguments over how to end slavery Peaceful? Revolt?  Both blacks and whites worked in the abolitionist movements  William Lloyd Garrison started a newspaper called the Liberator, and spoke truth against slavery

 Quickly became a leader in the abolitionist movement, being an escaped slave himself  Spoke of cruel treatment of slave children and told stories that made others cry  His autobiography became an instant bestseller, eventually own newspaper called North Star and wrote: “Right is of no sex – Truth is of no color – God is the father of us all, and we are all Brethren.”

 Angelina Grimke, a former slave, spoke against slavery  Protesters threw stones and burned buildings  Her and her sister, Sarah, began speaking out against poverty, first to women, then to large groups of men and women  They led they way for other women to speak in public.

 Sojourner Truth, also a former slave, preached throughout the North  When she met Douglass and Garrison, they inspired her to speak out about slavery  She was an outstanding speaker, and argued that God would end slavery peacefully  These abolitionists helped change northerners attitudes about slavery and paved the way for the next generation

 The movement was sparked by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who met in 1840 at an Anti-Slavery convention  Mott – 47 yrs old and mother of 4, Stanton – 25 yrs old and newly married  At the conference, women could not speak, and were put in the balcony to sit behind a curtain  This is where the women met, and decided something must change

 Even with an education, women could not speak, vote, hold office, or control money  Lucy Stone – graduated top of her class in college, and though she wrote her speech, could not give it  Elizabeth Blackwell – rejected by 29 medical schools, then after finally being accepted and graduating at the top of her class, no one would hire her. (First female doctor!)  Women and slaves had too much in common!

 After an 8 year break, Mott and Stanton met again, to promote a women’s convention  On July 19, 1848, almost 300 people (40 men) arrived for the convention  They proposed the “Declaration of Sentiments”, saying “all men and women are created equal.”

 The convention passed resolutions correcting injustices to women.  Stanton then demanded the right to vote!  Many though this step was too radical  Stanton and Douglass fought for voting rights for both blacks and women  The convention voted narrowly to approve this last request

 Prominent movement participants like Sojourner Truth, Stanton, and another reformer Susan B. Anthony made many gains for women  States slowly gave women control over their property and money  Elizabeth Blackwell started her own hospital, including a medical school to train female doctors  Of all the convention attendees, only one lived long enough to vote for president legally – Charlotte Woodward

Elizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Blackwell Sojournor Truth Susan B. Anthony