1. Chapter 8 An Age of Reform
Chapter focus question: HOW DID REFORMERS AND WRITERS INSPIRE CHANGE AND SPARK CONTROVERSY?

2. I. Improving Society Section Focus Question:
How did Key people bring about reform in education and society?

3. A. The Reforming Spirit
The expansion of democracy in the 1830s encouraged social reform
In the Second Great Awakening, Charles Finney taught that people’s actions determined their salvation
Some reformers established Utopian communities

4. B. Social Reformers at Work
Alcoholism was a major problem in the U.S., which led to temperance movements and in some cases, calls for prohibition
Prisons were harsh and housed debtors, children, and the mentally ill with violent criminals
Dorothea Dix fought to improve prison conditions, and for the creation of asylums for those with mental illnesses

5. C. Education Reform
By the early 1800s, Massachusetts was the only state to require public schools
Reformers, such as Horace Mann, argued that public education was necessary to sustain a working democracy
Public schools were slow to develop in the South and the West
African American students were segregated and did not receive the same opportunities as whites