1. CHAPTER 14 THE AGE OF REFORM (1820-1860) SOCIAL REFORM

2. RELIGION Religious camp meetings (revivals) were common in the early 1800s Known as the Second Great Awakening This led to a new spirit of reform Brought changes to American religion, education, and literature utopias Some reformers sought to improve society by forming utopias (Perfect society) Few were able to establish lasting communities (Mormons) They were founded on impractical ideas

3. THE RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE Attending revivals made men and women eager to reform both their lives and the world Among these were people who wanted to ban alcohol temperance Lyman Beecher, a Connecticut minister, crusaded against the use of alcohol (temperance) lectures Beecher and other reformers used lectures, pamphlets, and revival style rallies to warn people of the dangers of liquor temperance movement The temperance movement led to some victories when Maine and other states passed laws banning to manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages Most of these laws were later repealed

4. REFORMING EDUCATION In the mid-1850’s, most schools were poorly funded Teachers lacked training Restrictions were placed on who could attend schools (Girls and African Americans) Massachusetts lawyer Horace Mann called for educational reforms normal school 1839- Massachusetts created the nation’s first state-supported normal school to train teachers

5. REFORMING EDUCATION CONTINUED During the age of reform, many new colleges and universities were created Most accepted only men Gradually, higher education became available to groups that had been denied the opportunity Oberlin College of Ohio was founded in 1833 Oberlin admitted both women and African Americans

6. PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Some reformers focused on the problem of teaching people with disabilities Thomas Gallaudet developed a method to educate people who were hearing impaired Samuel Gridley Howe developed books with large raised letters to help the visually impaired Schoolteacher Dorothea Dix worked for prison reforms after seeing prisoners chained to walls She also found that some people were not guilty of crimes, but were mentally ill She made it her life’s work to educate the public about poor conditions for prisoners and the mentally ill

7. CULTURAL TRENDS Changes in American society also influenced art and literature American artists developed their own style and explored American themes starting in the 1820s transcendentalists The spirit of reform influenced the transcendentalists Stressed the relationship between humans and nature and the importance of the individual conscience The leading transcendentalists were Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau

8. CULTURAL TRENDS CONTINUED Fuller supported women’s rights Emerson urged people to listen to the inner voice of conscience and to overcome prejudice civil disobedience Thoreau practiced civil disobedience by refusing to obey laws he considered unjust 1846 Thoreau went to jail rather than pay a tax to support the Mexican War Many American poets created great works (Henry Wadsworth, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson) During this time, women were the authors of the most popular fiction Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin which explored the injustice of slavery