The 19th century in America began with a wave of Democratic reforms and ended with a wave of different (in cause) reforms. Temperance and mental illness were more prominent in the beginnings, but the spoils system and labor unions were more prominent later on. They sought to solve unruly and dangerous and ineffective aspects of society. In both waves of reforms, people found unity together to initiate reforms, but in the later 1800s a larger population of people were involved in initiating and effectuating reforms and more involved overall to promote democratic ideals rather than using words less intense methods in the early 1800s. The reforms of the 1800s were smaller scale and mellow and through words. The Second Great Awakening of the …show more content…
The period’s politics, economy, and society were plagued by corruption, the working conditions of laborers being active. In the Homestead Strike, the workers were being paid barely enough to survive, and they protested by pausing their work. This was broken up by violence. During the Great Railroad Strike, in 1877, workers who were not paid enough stopped letting cars by. The company paid the protesters more to stop the strike. The political corruption of the later 1800s was challenged by the Populist Party, having evolved from the Grange and Farmers’ Alliance largely farmers and factory workers who were struggling economically and financially. They met in 1888 in Omaha, NE to elect Congressmen Weaver from Iowa to the presidency and created party platform involving backing money with silver and crops, and direct elections. Although no Populist won the White House, their elections to state legislatures and the national government prompted changes. The Pendleton Act of 1883 prevented somebody from losing their political office for political reasons. Settlement homes like Hull House were set up to fight poverty by helping folks stricken by it and thought household skills like cookery, and nursery enhancing senses of community. Women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton also set to grant women suffrage by voting illegally in the 1872 presidential election and protested and her …show more content…
In the earlier days, words were used to initiate reform, but towards the end of the century, people took to actions to bring those reforms to fruition. Both were done with people limited by a specific cause. The reforms of the 1800s are similar to the pilgrims and Puritans journey to America in the 1600s to settle as colonies of England, where they were persecuted for their religion Both parties in both periods were met with unfavorable conditions and treatment and took to bettering the situation through change. The Pilgrims and Puritans sought reform in England first, but took the action of voyaging across the Atlantic to start a colony and new life in the 1600s. During both centuries, reform through words preceded the reforms of action. Upon arrival in America they set up a colony with government, societal system and religious system, like how the Populist party of the 1800s created their political party. The pattern of oppression, words taken as first initiations of change and action as the following effort for democratic ways are seen in the Puritans and Pilgrims in their persecution in England leading to the settlement of colonies in America. The reforms of the 1800s were word-centered early on, but in the late 1800s were often done through actions. None of these endeavors would have not been accomplished without a unified body of people bound by a common issue.
During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.
There were a myriad of differences between Great Britain and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but these differences can be divided into three basic categories: economic, social, and political. The original American settlers came to the colonies for varied reasons, but a common trait among these settlers was that they still considered themselves British subjects. However, as time passed, the colonists grew disenfranchised from England. Separated from the king by three thousand miles and living in a primitive environment where obtaining simple necessities was a struggle, pragmatism became the common thread throughout all daily life in the colonies. It was this pragmatism that led the colonists to create their own society with a unique culture and system of economics and politics.
Various reform movements and revolutions occurred in the time period between the years 1825 through 1850. Justice, freedom, liberty, equality, and the purist of happiness are all democratic values considered to enforce the reform movements of this time period. The democratic ideals tried to cut the social separation and discordance present in America mainly between the south and north sections. Originating from the Second Great Awaking with vast religious reinforcement democratic ideals spread through the new reform movements. Main movements that supported the democratic views included the Second Great Awaking revival, antislavery reform and more equal rights movements for women and men.
The Effects of American Reform Movements in the 1900s Living in the United States of America is all about opportunity. The opportunity to get a good job, make money, and lead a life of good quality; in other words, the opportunity to live, live, and live the Pursuit of Happiness. However, the opportunity for many people was not around throughout the 1800s. Certain groups of people did not hold the basic rights that were guaranteed by the Constitution. In fact, most of the people that had opportunity were the wealthy white men, and few other people ever had any chance to lead a good life.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the economy was booming, new technology flourished. The rapid industrialization brought achievement to the United States, however, it also caused several social problems. Wealth and power were concentrated in the hands of a few, and poverty and political corruption were widespread. As people became aware of these problems, a new reform group was created. Unlike populism, which had been a group of farmers grown desperate as the economy submerged into depression, the new reform movement arose from the educated middle class. These people were known as the progressives. The Progressive Movement was a movement that aimed at solving political, economic, and social problems. The Progressives were people from the middle class who had confidence that they could achieve social progress through political reform. The Progressives sought after changes and improvements in the society through laws and other federal actions.
The Second Great Awakening was extremely influential in sparking the idea of reform in the minds of people across America. Most people in America just accepted things the way they were until this time. Reforms took place due to the increase of industrial growth, increasing immigration, and new ways of communication throughout the United States. Charles Grandison Finney was one of the main reasons the Second Great Awakening was such a great success. “Much of the impulse towards reform was rooted in the revivals of the broad religious movement that swept the Untied State after 1790” (Danzer, Klor de Alva, Krieger, Wilson, and Woloch 240). Revivals during the Second Great Awakening awakened the faith of people during the 1790s with emotional preaching from Charles Finney and many other influential preachers, which later helped influence the reforms of the mid-1800s throughout America.
During the late 19th and early 20th century both the Populist Party and Progressive movement wanted to preserve some things, while also addressing the need for reform. Although many of the ideas and goals of these “Third parties” were initially not legislated and considered far-fetched, many of these ideas later became fundamental laws throughout American history. The Populists and Progressives were both grass roots movements, and addressed the needs of the poor and powerless, for the Populists it was farmers and for the Progressives it was urban lower and middle class workers. These two movements attempted to bring the powerless peoples issues to national politics. The Populists and Progressives wanted to preserve some American ideals of the past, such as a sense of community and the ability for farmers and workers to live happily without economic strains. Populists were more oriented to the plight of the farmer while the Progressives included women's rights, and protection of the consumer and labor.
The reforms of the 1800s were similar to the reforms of the New Deal and the Progressive Era. The Progressive Era reforms mainly focused on improving American life, these ideas were also comparable to the 1800s. The New Deal reforms and the Reforms of the 1800s both provided direct relief to those who struggled during both time periods.
Reform movements including religion, temperance, abolition, and women's rights sought to expand democratic ideals in the years 1825 to 1850. However, certain movements, such as nativism and utopias, failed to show the American emphasis on a democratic society. The reform movements were spurred by the Second Great Awakening, which began in New England in the late 1790's, and would eventually spread throughout the country. The Second Great Awakening differed from the First in that people were now believed to be able to choose whether or not to believe in God, as opposed to previous ideals based on Calvinism and predestination.
At the time of the 19th century, the 1800s had brought rapid social, economic, and technological changes, which laid out the format for the reformation. The Second Great Awakening brought forth individual responsibility and perfection. Temperance was made to abstain from alcohol. Antebellum America, though, was characterized by the rise of abolition and the gradual polarization of the country between abolitionists and supporters of slavery. Douglass helped put an end to slavery by reaching out to his fellow slaves and encouraging them to fight for
Democracy in the United States became prominent in the early to mid 19th century. Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States, was inaugurated in 1829 and was best known as the person who mainstreamed democracy in America. Because he came from a humble background, he was the “genuine common man.” (Foner, pg. 303) He claimed he recognized the needs of the people and spoke on behalf of the majority [farmers, laborers]. However, critics of Jackson and democracy called him “King Andrew I” because of his apparent abuse of presidential power [vetoing]. These critics believed he favored the majority so much that it violated the U.S. constitution, and they stated he was straying too far away from the plan originally set for the United States. Because of the extreme shift of power to the majority, the limiting of rights of the few [merchants, industrialists] and the abuse of power under Jackson’s democracy, the foundational documents set in the constitution was violated, and the work of the preceding presidents were all but lost.
The Age of Reform throughout 1825-1850 was a great turning point for American society. The ideas and beliefs throughout the reform movements greatly expanded the democratic ideals. Reform movements in the United States sought to express ideas through religion and education, start movements through abolition and temperance acts, expand beliefs by caring for the insane, and take a stand by speaking up for personal rights .
"United States can be seen as the first liberal democracy. The United States Constitution, adopted in 1788, provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties. On the American frontier, democracy became a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political equality. The system gradually evolved, from Jeffersonian Democracy or the First Party System to Jacksonian Democracy or the Second Party System and later to the Third Party System. In Reconstruction after the Civil War (late 1860s) the newly freed slaves became citizens, and they were given the vote as well." (Web, 1)
but now had as few as ten inhabitants still had two MPs in the House
”, By Ryan Cox provides a theoretical framework for understanding the connection between democracy and how the education system plays a role in that of a democratic society. This article opens with the introduction section speaking about the distribution of government spending and its relationship between public and private schooling, one of the main points made in the opening paragraph of the introduction section is that the overall focus of government spending is based on the taxpayers “right” to choose how their children are educated and talks about the efficiency and the viability of the economics involved in generating a skilled workforce