1. Reforms & Reformers
Attempts at Change

2. The Reforming Spirit
The men and women who led the reform movements of the 1800s wanted to extend the nation’s ideals of liberty and equality to all Americans.
They believed the nation should live up to the noble goals stated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

3. Religious and Philosophical Ideas
The Second Great Awakening (c.1800 – c.1830)
A wave of religious fervor
Increased church membership and inspired many to do missionary work and take part in reform movements. Americans were also inspired by American clergymen (preachers like Charles Finney c.1830)
The Temperance Movement
Alcohol was blamed for poverty, the breakup of families and crime.
Reformers called for temperance, drinking little or no alcohol.

4. Utopian Ideals
Utopias - communities based on a vision of a perfect society.
Philosophers throughout history have described utopias (e.g. Plato The Republic, Sir Thomas More Utopia)

5. "father of American public education."
Reforming Education
Reformers pushed for public education. School years were lengthened to six months, curriculum was improved, teachers’ salaries were doubled and teachers were trained.
first normal school (school to train teachers) founded in Massachusetts.
Chico Normal School opens.
Horace Mann
"father of American public education."

6. Changes in Education
By the 1850’s most states accepted 3 basic principles:
Schools should be free and supported by taxes.
Teachers should be trained.
Students should be required to attend.
Females received a limited education
Some believed a woman’s role was to become a wife and mother.
Subjects like science, math and history were “men’s” subjects.

7. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. " 'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door — Only this, and nothing more….."    

8. Cultural Trends
Changes in American society influenced art and literature.
Beginning in the 1820’s American writers and artists developed their own style and explored uniquely American themes.

9. The Transcendentalists
Transcendentalists stressed the relationship between humans and nature, as well as the importance of the individual conscience.
Who were they?

10. To name a few… Margaret Fuller Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau
Supported women’s rights through writings.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Urged people to break the bond of prejudice.
Henry David Thoreau
Practiced “Civil Disobedience” by going to jail rather than pay a tax to support the Mexican War.

11. The Women’s Movement
Many women believed they should have the same rights as men, and they organized to gain these rights.
Much of the Women’s Movement came from women who while fighting to end slavery began to recognize their own bondage.
(Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony)
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

12. Women and Reform The Seneca Falls Convention (1848)
First women’s rights convention
200 women and 40 men attended
Issued a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions modeled after the Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men AND women are created equal”.
Called for an end to all laws that discriminated against women
Included a demand for Women’s suffrage

13. The Women’s Rights Movement
Many reformers—male and female— joined the movement.
For much of the century these reformers worked win women the right to vote, equal pay, opportunities for education and to break down other gender barriers.
These reformers had just begun the long struggle to achieve their goals.

14. The Abolitionists
The spirit of reform was not limited to improving education and expanding the arts.
By the early 1800’s, a growing number of American’s had begun to demand an immediate end to slavery in the South.

15. Early Efforts to End Slavery
Constitutional Convention
The importation of Africans would end in 1808
1787 – Northwest Ordinance
No slavery in the Northwest Territories
1816 – American Colonization Society
Private citizens purchased slaves from their owners
Beginning in 1822 emancipated slaves were sent to Liberia
Liberia becomes an independent country in 1847

16. The New Abolitionists
Beginning in the 1830s, the issue of slavery became the most pressing social issue for reformers. Most Americans had a moderate view toward slavery.
Reformers realized that the gradual approach to ending slavery had failed.

17. The Radicals (Extremists)
William Lloyd Garrison
Operated the abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator
The Grimke Sisters
Among the first women to speak out against slavery
Frederick Douglass
Former slave
Edited the antislavery newspaper, The North Star
Sojourner Truth
Dedicated her life to abolition and women’s rights
The Grimke Sisters
William Lloyd Garrison
Frederick Douglass

18. The Underground Railroad
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required all citizens to help catch runaways.
More people in the North were convinced of the evils of slavery.
Abolitionists established a network of routes and risked their lives to help African Americans escape slavery.
Harriet Tubman, a former slave, was known as “Moses” for her efforts of leading slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.