Reform

By Brian Ho and Teja Gutti

ANTI SLAVERY MOVEMENT

ON THE ROAD TO THE 13TH AMENDMENT: The Second Great Awakening encouraged many northerners to view slavery as a sin American Colonization Society o Founded in 1817 on the idea of transporting freed slaves to an African colony o Popular among antislavery reformers and politicians who disliked slavery but did not want free African Americans in the US o 1822 established the a settlement in Monrovia, Liberia o The movement was unsuccessful Growth in the slave population made it impractical: from 1820 to 1860 the number of slaves increased from 1.5 to nearly 4 million Only 12,000 African Americans were resettled in Africa between 1820 & 1860 The American Antislavery Society o 1831 William Lloyd Garrison began publishing The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper o Garrison advocated the immediate abolition of slavery in every state, with no compensation for slave owners o 1833 Garrison and other abolitionists formed the American Antislavery Society Believed in taking direct action to end slavery rather than waiting for a political solution Burned copies of the Constitution as a proslavery document Advocated breaking of from slave states and forming an antislavery nation

Continued
Liberty Party o Less radical than the American Antislavery Society o Pledged to bring an end to slavery by political and legal means o Nominated James Birney in the 1840 Presidential election Black Abolitionists o Fredrick Douglas Former slave Advocated political and direct action to end slavery and racial prejudice 1847 started the antislavery journal The North Star The Underground Railroad Secret organization that assisted fugitive slaves escape to free territory in the north or Canada David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet: argued that slaves should take action themselves by rising up in revolt o Nat Turners Rebellion (1831) Turner, a Virginia slave, led a revolt that killed 55 whites In retaliation whites killed hundreds of slaves in retaliation Fear of similar slave revolts ended antislavery movements in the south

WOMENS RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Women reformers, especially those in the antislavery movement, resented the secondary roles assigned to women Sarah and Angelina Grimke o Objected to male opposition to their antislavery activities o 1837 Sarah Grimke wrote Letter on the Condition of Women and the Equality of the Sexes Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton began campaigning for womens rights after being barred from campaigning at a antislavery convention The Seneca Falls Convention o Meeting of leading feminists at Seneca Falls, NY in 1848 o First womens rights convention in US History o Issued the Declaration of Sentiments Closely modeled on the Declaration of Independence Declared all men and women created equally Listed disagreements against discriminating laws and customs Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony led a campaign for womens voting rights, legal rights and property rights after Seneca Falls In the 1850s the movement was overshadowed by the crisis over slavery

EDUCATION
The increased number of people voting during the Age of Jackson led to a belief in the need for an educated electorate Laborers and employers generally agreed on the benefits of an educated workforce Horace Mann (1769-1859): advocated tax-supported schools, compulsory attendance for all children, longer school years and improved teacher training in Massachusetts McGuffey Readers: series of elementary school textbooks developed by William Holmes McGuffey that became widely used for reading and moral instruction (hard work, preciseness, manners etc.) Higher Education: The Second Great Awakening sparked an increase in religious colleges, especially in the western states Some of these new schools accepted women

PRISON
1. Reformers believed that structure and

discipline could bring moral reform 2. Pennsylvania began constructing prisons that placed prisoners in solitary confinement to reflect on their sins and repent. Was later dropped due to high suicide rates 3. The Auburn System in NY enforced rigid rules while providing moral instruction and work programs

MOVEMENT FOR PUBLIC ASYLUMS

Advocated the creation of state supported prisons, mental hospitals and poorhouses Hoped to cure antisocial behavior Mental Hospitals Dorothea Dix: former Massachusetts school teacher Began a movement to remove the mentally ill from prisons Traveled nation wide convincing state legislatures to build mental institutions Mental treatment at state expense

 Temperance movement: anti-alcohol o Switched from publicly shaming the evils of alcohol to political action o 1826 Protestant ministers formed the American Temperance Society: tried to use moral arguments to persuade people to stop drinking o Another temperance society, the Washingtonians, argued in the 1840s that alcoholism was a disease that needed to be treated o Temperance societies had greater than one million members by the 1840s o Factory owners got involved to increase worker production o Politicians got involved to reduce crime and poverty related to drinking o 1851 Maine became the first state to ban the manufacturing and sale of liquor o Temperance lost popularity during the Civil War, but made a comeback in the 1870s, with the Womens Christian Temperance Movement

TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

 Early nineteenth century religious revival movement Charles G. Finney Presbyterian Minister in NY 1823 began started a more radical form of revivals Abandoned rational argument and appealed to emotion and fear of damnation (hell-fire and brimstone) Message of salvation through faith and hard work Middle class appeal Baptists & Methodists o Traveling circuit preachers traveled the south and western frontier, converted lot of non church people to become active church goers o By 1850 became the largest protestant groups in the country Millennialism Belief that the impending second coming of Christ meant the end of the world was near William Miller gained tens of thousands of followers by predicting a specific date (10-21-1844) Later became the Seven Day Adventists Mormons Also called the Church of Latter Day Saints Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 Mormons moved from NY to Ohio to Missouri and finally to Illinois where Smith was murdered To escape persecution, Brigham Young led the Mormons west where they found New Zion on the Great Salt Lake in present day Utah Polygamists

RELIGIOUS REFORM

Transcendentalists
Questioned organized religion, materialism, and capitalism Believed in an intuitive way of thinking as a means for discovering truth and god, not through reason, but through introspection and exposure to nature Believed artistic expression was more important that material wealth Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Best known transcendentalist Nationalism: urged Americans not to imitate European Culture, but to create an American culture Self-reliance: advocated individualism and independent thinking 1850s became a leading critic of slavery Supported the Union during the Civil War Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Friend of Emerson Thoreaus book Walden Written while living in the woods alone for two years Used time alone to observe nature and introspect on truth On Civil Disobedience Advocated non-violent protest Argued people should not obey unjust laws Arrested for refusing to pay taxes that might be used to support an unjust war with Mexico Inspired later non-violent movements of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.