Reform Movements in the 1800s

1. Ch 18: An Era of Reform

2. Second Great Awakening • Led by Charles Finney • Preachers told people that everyone could go to heaven, and one way was to do good works • Attracted large following in the West and North • Inspired people to improve society • Many started to actively oppose slavery

3. Second Great Awakening

4. Transcendentalism • Philosophy that taught how people could ‘transcend’, or go beyond logical thinking to reach true understanding with the help of emotion and intuition • Said people could find answers to life’s mysteries by trusting their emotions and intuition • Told people to question society’s rules and institutions • Practiced by men like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau

5. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau

6. Model Communities • Communities started to try to create a perfect society • Examples: Brook Farm, Oneida, Amana • Most only lasted a few years

7. Brook Farm • Based in MA from 1841-1847 • Every person paid equally and people could work the jobs they wanted to work • Never financially stable • Main building burned down and it never recovered

8. Oneida Community • Based in NY, existed from 1848-1881 • Oneida Silverware originated from this community

9. Amana Colonies • Based in Iowa from 1855-1932 • Completely self-sufficient—little outside contact with the outside world • Famous today for its refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, etc.

10. Prisoners and Mentally Ill • During mid-1800s, many prisoners used to be bound in chains and locked in cages • Children accused of minor thefts were jailed with adults • Most in debtors’ prisons owed less than $20, but could not earn money to repay their debts, so they stayed in jail for years • Mentally ill were locked away in dirty and crowded jail cells • Misbehavior was dealt with through whipping

11. Example of how mentally ill were treated

12. Dorothea Dix • Dorothea Dix gathered information and wrote a report for the MA state legislature • As a result of her work, public asylums for the mentally ill were created • Dix visited prisons in other states, helping bring about change in those states as well • By the time Dix died, many more changes took place • debtors were no longer put in prison • Special justice systems for children in trouble • Cruel punishments, such as branding people with hot irons, had been banned

13. Dorothea Dix

14. Education • In the early 1800s, few children had access to school • In MA, Puritans had schools • Wealthy send their children to private school or hired tutors • On the frontier, 60 children could go to a one-room school, part-time • In the cities, some poor children stole, destroyed property, and set fires • Reformers thought education could help these children escape poverty and become good citizens

15. Horace Mann • Mann grew up going to school only 10 weeks/year • Later became MA supervisor of education • Spoke in support of public schools (schools funded by taxes) • Citizens voted to pay taxes to build better schools, pay teachers better, and establish training schools for teachers • By 1850, many states in the North and West used these ideas • Most white children, esp. boys, attended free public schools

16. Horace Mann

17. Education for African Americans and Females • Though most white boys could go to public schools, girls and African Americans couldn’t • Girls couldn’t go to high school/college • 1837—Oberlin College became first college to admit men and women • African Americans in the North had to go to separate, poorer schools • In the South, few girls and no African Americans could go to school

18. Anti-Slavery Movements • Even during the Revolutionary War, some Americans opposed slavery • When slave trade ended, interest in slavery began dying down in the North • Abolitionists (those who wanted to end slavery) had different ideas on ending slavery • Some wanted the slaves to revolt • Others wanted to end it peacefully • Still others wanted to give slaveholders time to develop farming methods that didn’t require slaves

19. Abolitionists • Blacks and whites worked in the abolition movement • William Lloyd Garrison started the Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper • Frederick Douglass, former slave, became a leader in the abolitionist movement—started a newspaper, North Star • Angelina and Sarah Grimke were abolitionists who grew up in a slaveholding family in S.C. • Sojourner Truth, former slave, was an outstanding speaker

20. The Liberator

21. Me with Frederick Douglass’s Statue in Baltimore

22. Sojourner Truth

23. Women and Their Lack of Rights • Women had few rights in the 1800s: • could not vote or hold office • could not speak at conventions, give speeches in public • Could not control their money or property • Could not divorce their husbands easily (if they were being beat by them) • Could not practice certain professions, like medicine or law

24. Seneca Falls • Organized movement for women’s rights began in 1848 • Seneca Falls Convention was where women met and gave the Declaration of Sentiments (based on Declaration of Independence) • Attended by women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Blackwell • Passed resolutions attempting to correct the injustices, including the right to vote

25. Seneca Falls

26. Effects of Seneca Falls • New York gave women control over their property and wages • Massachusetts and Indiana passed more liberal divorce laws • Elizabeth Blackwell started her own hospital