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?
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)
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