THE AGE OF REFORM1820-1860

Social Reform

Essential Question: How did religion influence the social reforms in

the United States during the early and mid 1800s?

Religion and Reform

Revivals or religious camp meetings were popular

Missionary work Temperance movement: movement to

ban the manufacture and sale of alcohol

Reforming Education

Most schools were poorly funded Many teachers lacked training Many were not allowed to attend school

including girls and African Americans Higher education became more readily

available and teacher education training became more popular

People with Special Needs

Deaf and visually impaired Dorthea Dix

Educated the public about poor conditions for prisoners and the mentally ill

Cultural Trends

Transcendentalists Thinkers and writers who stressed the

relationship between humans and nature and individual conscience

Harriet Beecher Stowe – Uncle Tom’s Cabin Novel that explores the injustice of slavery

Henry David Thoreau Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Answer the Essential Question

How did religion influence the social reforms in the United States during the early and mid 1800s?

The Abolitionists

Essential Question: How did abolitionists influence the antislavery

movement?

Early Efforts to End Slavery

Efforts began before the Revolutionary War

Quakers American Colonization Society

transported African Americans to Liberia

The Movement Changes

Reformers realized that a gradual approach to end slavery had failed Cotton boom increased the number of enslaved

workers in the South William Lloyd Garrison started the antislavery

newspaper The Liberator Called for the immediate freeing of enslaved

people Led to formation of the American Anti-Slavery

Society The Grimke sisters collected firsthand accounts of life under slavery

African American Abolitionists

Mostly living in poverty in Northern cities Abolition of slavery was very important to

free African Americans in the North Challenged African Americans to rebel

and overthrow slavery

Frederick Douglass

Born as a slave in Maryland Taught himself to read and write Escaped to Massachusetts in 1838 Powerful speaker who traveled widely Newspaper editor for anti-slavery

newspaper 1847 – Friends helped him purchase his

freedom from the slaveholder from whom he fled

Sojourner Truth

Born a slave in New York Escaped in 1826 and was officially freed

in 1827 Traveled throughout the North speaking

of her experiences during slavery Active supporter of women’s rights

movement

The Underground Railroad

Some abolitionists risked prison or even death by helping African Americans escape slavery Underground Railroad Passengers travelled at night on foot to the

North Rested in barns, basements and attics during

the day Conductors were whites and African

Americans including Harriet Tubman Helped only a small fraction of enslaved

people but offered hope

MANY NORTHERNERS AND SOUTHERNERS OPPOSED ABOLITIONISM

Threatened South’s way of life Felt African Americans could never blend

into society Threat to the nation’s social order Feared it could begin a war between the

North and the South Northerners didn’t want to lose their jobs

to emancipated workers Led to violence against African Americans

and abolitionists

The South Defends Slavery

Argued that they treated enslaved workers well

Claimed Northern factory workers were worse off than slaves

System of slavery provided food, clothing and medical care

Many believed that African Americans were better off under white care than under their own (racism)

Answer the Essential Question

How did abolitionists influence the antislavery movement?

The Women’s Movement

Essential Question: What were the effects of the women’s rights movement of the middle to late 1800s?

Women and Reform

Women organized to win equal rights Lucretia Mott (Quaker)

Enjoyed some equality in her community Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Fought for women’s right to vote (suffrage)

The Seneca Falls Convention

First women’s rights convention (1848) Issued a Declaration of Sentiments and

Resolutions Called for an end to laws that discriminated

against women Demanded women be allowed to enter the all-

male world of trades, professions and businesses

Called for suffrage (right to vote)

Growth of the Women’s Movement

Susan B. Anthony Worked for women’s rights and temperance Equal pay College training for girls Coeducation – teaching of males and females

together Organized the Daughters of Temperance Worked closely with Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Education

In some states, women gained the ability to own property after their marriage

Some states permitted divorced women to share the guardianship of their children

Indiana allowed women to seek divorce if their husbands were chronic users of alcohol

Breaking Barriers

Elizabeth Blackwell Graduated first in her class as a doctor from

Geneva College Women remained limited by social

customs and expectations Long struggle to achieve their goal

Making Connections

Suffragist Movement Abolitionist Movement

Answer the Essential Question

What were the effects of the women’s rights movement of the middle to late 1800s?