Dr. Phil Interviews the Reformers of the Second Great Awakening

Identify the Connection Between the Great Awakening and the Reform Spirit in

the early 1800s and the Key Reformers and Their Causes

Statue of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony, US Capitol

Objectives/Procedures

• The purpose of this play is to help students learn about how the Great Awakening led to a reforming spirit in the early 1800s.

• To get as many students involved as possible, ask some students to read the parts and others to fill in one section of the jot notes for one character.

• Once the play is complete, students who took notes will share with the reading students.

• After notes are taken and discussed, an exit slip checks for understanding.

• Another assignment that could follow it to ask students to work in groups and set up their own interviews based on their information and perform them to the class.

Jot Notes: Take notes on the reformers as we read.

Name Organization/Cause/Meeting/Profession/

Nicknames

Details (causes, reforms called for, etc).

Charles Grandison Finney

Peter Cartwright

Dorthea Dix

Horace Mann

Neal S. Dow

Susan B. Anthony

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Margaret Fuller

Amelia Bloomer

Dr. Phil Interview the Reformers of the Second Great Awakening Era

• Dr. Phil: “Good afternoon y’all, today we’ve got some special guests who started a revival that turned into an all out reform movement. Let’s welcome our first guests, the Second Great Awakening ministers, Charles Finney and Peter Cartwright.”

• APPLAUSE• Dr. Phil: “Let’s start with Mr. Cartwright. This industrial

age has hit people pretty hard. Why it would make a bishop mad enough to kick in stained-glass windows.”

• Cartwright: “That is true, Doctor. And, lots of people are turning to the church for relief.”

• Dr. Phil: “I hear you guys are a couple of rolling stones.”

• Cartwright: “Well, Dr. Phil, I have been holding revivals in several towns.”

• Dr. Phil: “That is putting it mildly. I reckon you are the best known preacher in the Second Great Awakening.”

• Cartwright: “Dr. Phil, pride is one of the worst sins. I am just glad the people are attending the services.”

• Finney: “Don’t be modest Cartwright, you’re revivals move people to tears and result in instant conversions.”

• Cartwright: “Thanks for your praise, Mr. Finney. I know you are the most famous preacher in New York. People come from miles around to hear you speak.”

• Dr. Phil: “In fact, y’all’s fire and brimstone preaching is so powerful that they’ve nicknamed New England the “burned over district.”

• Finney: “I am not very fond of that name, but yes, that is what they are calling it.”

• Dr. Phil: “In fact, some people get so fired up by your sermons that they break into tears and even pass out.”

• Cartwright: “The spirit is indeed powerful.”• Dr. Phil: “What reforms are you calling for?”

• Cartwright: “We want people to stop drinking and holding slaves.”

• Finney: “Yes, we believe that slave holders and drinkers should be thrown out of the church.”

• Dr. Phil: “Just hold your horses there, Chuck. I agree with the slave holding part, but what about a person just having a few drinks now and then?”

• Cartwright: “Absolutely not! There must be complete temperance. No drinking whatsoever.”

• Dr. Phil: “Whew, that is going to cause many people to get their pants in a wad. Your movement has been powerful and has led to many more reforms though. Let’s welcome a few more guests to the show who have been inspired to get society on the straight and narrow. Here are Dorthea Dix, Horace Mann, and Neal S. Dow.”

• APPLAUSE• Dr. Phil: “Alright, everybody, what are you all

fighting for?”• Dix: “Dr. Phil I am trying to get prison reform and

mental health hospitals.”

• Mann: “I am working for more public education.”

• Dow: “I have founded a society to stop drinking called ‘The American Temperance Union.’”

• Dr. Phil: “Wow, you all sound busier than an moth in a mitten. Dorthea, what in the world is wrong with the prison system?”

• Dix: “Prisoners are treated like animals. They are put in jails and fed terrible, rotten food. When they come out of prison, they are much worse than when they went in.”

• Dr. Phil: “Why should I give a hoot about that?”• Dix: “Doctor! You should care if a prisoner comes

out meaner than a snake because they will only commit worse crimes!”

• Dr. Phil: “I guess I see your point. And, what are your beliefs about the mentally ill?”

• Dix: “I want to get those who are truly sick away from the criminals in prison. Just because you’ve got a few mental problems doesn’t mean you deserve to be imprisoned with violent people. Mentally ill people should have their own hospitals.”

• APPLAUSE

• Dr. Phil: “Amen to that one sister. Now, let’s get Mr. Mann in on this. What changes are you trying to promote with education?”

• Mann: “I want every American child to be able to get a free public education.”

• Dr. Phil: “Well, who could argue with that? But how are you going to manage to pay for it? Most people are so cheap that they squeeze a quarter hard enough to make the eagle scream.”

• Mann: “I believe the government should help pay for education. I mean, how can the government expect people to participate and obey written laws if they can’t read?”

• Dr. Phil: “I agree. You cannot expect people to run a government if they don’t have the sense that God gave a goose. So, what were the other changes you mentioned?”

• Mann: “I am asking for school boards to be organized to manage schools locally and decide how money will be spent.”

• Dr. Phil: “I hear they are calling you the ‘Father of Public Education’ for your ideas. You are walking in high cotton.”

• Mann: “Thanks Doctor. I hope my ideas will make this a greater nation.”

• Dr. Phil: “Now, how about Mr. Dow. What are you fighting for?”

• Dow: “I founded the American Temperance Union to stop drinking.”

• Dr. Phil: “I hear you’ve even gotten the children involved.”• Dow: “Yes, we have children take the ‘Cold Water Pledge’ to

stop drinking and also we’ve created pamphlets.”

• Dr. Phil: “Are you getting people to support you? I mean seems like a tough cause. Some people think alcohol is a food group.”

• Dow: “Well, mostly women are supporting us, but we are making progress. That novel, Ten Nights in a Barroom, is opening up people’s eyes to the dangers of drinking.”

• Dr. Phil: “I wish you luck, Mr. Dow. Now we have a few more guests here who are working for women’s rights. Let’s welcome Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Fuller, and Amelia Bloomer.”

• Dr. Phil: “Mrs. Stanton, I heard you had a meeting. What in the Sam Hill was it all about?”

• Stanton: “We held a convention, Doctor, at Seneca Falls.”Dr. Phil: “Oh, a convention. Did you make a list of rights you ladies wanted?”

• Anthony: “You bet your sweet bippy. We rewrote the Declaration of Independence to say ‘All men AND women are created equal.’”

• Dr. Phil: “Whoa, didn’t y’all worry that you might give somebody a duck fit?”

• Stanton: “Dr. Phil, we don’t care if people get angry. Women should not have been left out of the Declaration.”

• Dr. Phil: “I just hope you realize that some men will get a burr in their saddles over that one. What else do you want for rights?”

• Anthony: “We are asking for the right to vote.”• Fuller: “And, we are calling for an end to slavery.” • Dr. Phil: “You ladies are as feisty as a cat on a hot

tin roof! I sure do wish you luck in your adventures.”

• Bloomer: “Dr. Phil, I am for women’s rights too, and I am for changing the way women dress.”

• Stanton: “Dr. Phil, we don’t care if people get angry. Women should not have been left out of the Declaration.”

• Dr. Phil: “I just hope you realize that some men will get a burr in their saddles over that one. What else do you want for rights?”

• Anthony: “We are asking for the right to vote.”• Fuller: “And, we are calling for an end to slavery.” • Dr. Phil: “You ladies are as feisty as a cat on a hot

tin roof! I sure do wish you luck in your adventures. We still haven’t heard from Ms. Bloomer.”

• Bloomer: “Dr. Phil, I am for women’s rights too, and I am for changing the way women dress.”

• Dr. Phil: “Well, alrighty then! What changes do you want to make?”

• Bloomer: “The skirts women wear are so long and big that they are always causing us problems. We are always tripping and falling and getting them caught on something. I think we should wear shorter skirts. Here, check out my new one.”

• Dr. Phil: “Lawd, you can almost see to Christmas!”

• Finney: “You're gonna have old and new-monia dressed like that!”

• Dr. Phil: “Well, that’s how you end a show with a bang and not a whimper! We’ll see y’all next time when we’ll be talking to the people involved in the secession crisis. Some of those folks are about as useful as a steering wheel on a mule.”

Exit Slip1 What was the 2nd Great Awakening?2 What other 2 reforms grew from the 2nd

Great Awakening that Dow and Fuller also advocated?

3 What were Stanton and Anthony fighting for?4 What did Dorthea Dix want to change?5 Which reforms were the people NOT ready

for?

Exit Slip Answers1 Series of church revivals that caused great

emotion among listeners2 ending slavery and drinking3 Women’s rights, the vote, equality4 Prisons and mental hospitals5 Women’s short skirts (bloomers)

Jot Notes Answers

Name Organization/Cause/Meeting/Profession/Nicknames

Details (causes, reforms called for, etc).

Charles Grandison Finney 2nd Great Awakening Preacher Most famous preacher in New York

Peter Cartwright 2nd Great Awakening Preacher Wanted to end drinking and slavery;Most famous preacher of Second Great Awakening

Dorthea Dix Reformer Prison reform, not house mentally ill with criminals

Horace Mann Father of Public Education Free education for all; government funding of education; school boards

Neal S. Dow American Temperance Union Wanted to end drinking. Children joined “Cold Water Army” pledging not to drink; wrote pamphlets against drinking.

Susan B. Anthony Seneca Falls Convention Right to vote, equality, women’s rights

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Seneca Falls Convention Right to vote, equality, women’s rights

Margaret Fuller Abolition Wanted to end slavery

Amelia Bloomer Women’s rights Wanted to change dress to make it less dangerous and constrictive