The March to Reform Reasons for Reform Temperance and The Bottle Prison and Asylum Education and Leadership

The Age of Reform Reasons: The Great Awakening sparked interest that the individual could control their destiny and that “good deeds” will make the nation a better place The middle-class feel that they should be models of behavior for the “unmannered and ill-behaved” Finally, women are driving forces for reform because they are no longer kept at home and now have a voice (predominantly in the church)

The Temperance Movement Lyman Beecher, a minister preached that drinking led to adultery, poverty and crime Under Beecher millions of Americans confess they “have fallen into the hands of sin” and pledge to stop drinking

The Temperance Movement In 1830, Americans drink an average of 5 gallons of liquor a year Reformers argue that drinking causes domestic violence, public rowdiness and loss of family income The real problem is Americans have the habit of drinking all day

Asylums and Prison Reform Dorothea Dix addressed how the insane were treated She found that the insane were “degraded, beaten, naked and chained” in prisons with criminals She urged lawmakers to build public asylums

Asylums and Prison Reform Dorothea also discovered that people were placed in prisons for debt, people were subjected to cruel punishment and children were not treated any different than adults She is responsible for helping eliminate sentencing for debt, ending cruel punishment and getting states to establish juvenile court systems She argues that people can change if they are placed in proper environments and given an education

Asylums and Prison Reform The Female Reform Moral Society set up homes to find work for women in order to end prostitution. The society in 1834 also attempted to reform men who frequented prostitutes by publishing their names in newspapers.