While some citizens of the United States, between 1825 and 1850, believed that reform was foolish and that the nation should stick to its old conduct, reformists in this time period still sought to make the United States a more ideally democratic nation. This was an age of nationalism and pride, and where there was pride in one’s country, there was the aspiration to improve one’s country even further. Many new reformist and abolitionist groups began to form, all attempting to change aspects of the United States that the respective groups thought to be unfair or unjust. Some groups, such as lower and middle class women and immigrants, sought to improve rights within the county, while other reformers aspired to change the American education system into a more efficient way of teaching the county’s youth. Still other reform groups, particularly involved in the church and the second great awakening, wanted to change society as a whole. This was a time and age of change, and all these reforms were intended to contribute to the democratic way our country operated. Perhaps the most crucial reformists of the time period were those battling to obtain their God-given rights. Many lower class workers, such as African Americans, women, and immigrants, sought after the opportunity to vote, work it certain facilities, and be accepted in society as a whole. An engraving by Patrick Reason depicts an African American female in chains; with the inscription ‘Am I not a Woman and a Sister?’(Doc C) The woman shown is crying out, begging to be heard and listened to. Many males of the time period did not take female reformists seriously, or listen to them at all. On August 2nd, 1848, through the Seneca Falls Declaration, Elizabeth Cady Stanton prote... ... middle of paper ... ...e are, which Brownson metaphorically refers to as our mother, seeing as mothers make men and women who they are. He claims that changing our ways and values, and reforming the country, is going against our ‘mother’, and as he says, ‘He is a bad son who curses his own mother, and no good can come from him.’ Change is crucial, however, but he is correct in that some values taught to us, be it from our mother or from those before us, must be kept in mind and kept throughout time. To summarize, for the most part, the reformists of the early 1800’s sought to make America an idealistic democratic nation. Some fought for their rights, some fought for reform of society, and some battled for the sake of the future through education; but all reformists had one idea in mind, and that was to make the United States a more fair and democratic nation for everyone to appreciate.
Some of the evils that the reformers of the period 1820-1860 were attempting to eliminate was the increased alcohol usage in that time period. The temperance movement was important because many people living in the northern United States were operating machinery and factory owners did not want their employees drunk while operating heavy machinery. Another evil that the reformers of the period were trying to eliminate was slavery. Many of the abolitionist came from the northern United States and believed that blacks should have equal rights to whites. Another evil that the reformers were attempting to eliminate was the inequality of women. Similar to slavery, many reformers believed that women should have equal rights to males in terms of pay for work, political rights, and social conventions. Next, the reformers were attempting to reform the education system. The reformers were attempting to make the education more public and with a more comprehensive curriculum. Lastly, another reform was a religious reform in which preachers were attempting to spread Christianity and inspire people to become more involved in Christianity.
“The connection between the revivals of the Second Great Awakening and abolition was so strong that it would hardly be an overstatement to say that the revivals were responsible for antislavery becoming a radical national movement.” During the time period, evangelical religion underlay the culture of America to such an extent that the revivals of the 1830s resulted in “tangible” structures for social reform — the revivals touched many aspects of political and social life. The revivals implicitly created political obligations and led to a demand for an activist
However, the writers of the Constitution had omitted women in that pivotal statement which left women to be denied these “unalienable” rights given to every countryman. Gaining the support of many, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leader of the Women’s Rights Movement declared at Seneca Falls that women had the same rights as men including the right to vote and be a part of government. The Women’s Rights movement gained support due to the years of abuse women endured. For years, men had “the power to chastise and imprison his wife…” and they were tired of suffering (Doc I). The new concept of the cult of domesticity supported women’s roles in society but created greater divisions between men and women.
In closing this is what Jacksonian democracy incorporated; pretty much any reform that happened within the country during Andrew Jackson’s presidency.
The Antebellum period was a time of reform and improvement. After the War of 1812, America went through a period of westward expansion, patriotism and an economic emergence as a world power. Their new found power as a country inspired reformation. Abolitionists worked to end the institution of slavery through protests, rallies, and the formation of societies; women’s rights activists advocated in a similar way. Simultaneously, many Americans supported the government’s efforts to remove Native Americans from their own land. Americans during the Antebellum period were ambitious, but contradictory in their activism; while many activists fought for the rights of slaves and women, others sought to curtail rights of Native Americans.
In the 1840’s, most of American women were beginning to become agitated by the morals and values that were expected of womanhood. “Historians have named this the ’Cult of True Womanhood’: that is, the idea that the only ‘true’ woman was a pious, submissive wife and mother concerned exclusively with home and family” (History.com). Voting was only the right of men, but women were on the brink to let their voices be heard. Women pioneers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott wrote eleven resolutions in The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments; this historical document demanded abolishment of any laws that authorized unequal treatment of women and to allow for passage of a suffrage amendment.
Reform Judaism started as a response to the Enlightenment that occurred in the late 17th and the early 18th century. The Jewish people needed to determine how to best combine new ideologies with their religious practices. The Jewish people suddenly had a new, non-Jewish world that they could be apart of. Some started to lose interest in religion. The Reform Judaism movement was created to adapt to these changes in society. The movement’s fundamental belief was that religious change is good (Kaplan 183). Platforms were created to define the boundaries for Reform Judaism and show how the Reform Movement is different than the traditional form of Judaism (Meyer & Plaut 195). The Reform movement has undergone many significant changes of their ideologies including Israel and the Halacha. These changes display their core idea of adapting Judaism to the social environments but simultaneously always keeping the Jewish community bound together. These changes are made from 1885 to 1999 with the Pittsburgh Platform, Columbus Principles, and Statement of Principles.
The United States was in a period of social and political adjustment in the early 1800s. Reform movements during this time period aimed to increase public awareness about their issues and to create social and political change. Groups such as blacks and women continued to be oppressed, so they created The Abolitionist Movement and The Women’s Rights Movement respectively, which aimed to fight for the rights that political leaders in the 19th century neglected. In the 1800s, the democratic values that most reform movements planned to obtain were free voting and public education. Most reform movements in the United States sought to achieve core democratic values such as liberty in different ways. The Abolitionist Movement aimed to emancipate all
Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the history of the women 's movement to actually construct the movement, and thus, history. Tetrault studies the politics within the suffrage movement at the time of the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, and posits that the constructed "mythology" continues to define American history. Tetrault shows that the prevailing narrative ignores Lucy Stone 's work and the efforts of women of color, male suffragists, and other reformers. Tetrault 's viewpoint aligns with those scholars in this reading list arguing the need for reform to the waves metaphor and periodization
Women spent majority of their day ironing, washing clothes, baking, sewing clothes and raising their children (page 17). Religion also added to women’s lesser status (page 18). Religion was at the core life of Americans, female submission was decreed to be part of God’s order (page 18). Lucretia Mott soon pointed out that many scriptures celebrated female strength and independence (page 18). As a young girl Elizabeth Cady Stanton learned about laws that limited rights of wives and as an adult found ways to reform marriage and divorce laws (page 23). Things were looking up for women, by 1850 female wage workers made up nearly a quarter of the manufacturing labor work force (page 30). Women were still excluded from occupations such as the military, ministry, law, medicine and jobs felt inappropriate for women (page 32). During this antebellum period women were starting to rise up and realize they deserved to have the same rights and privileges men received. This gave women hope that things could change. By the second quarter of the 19th century few positive changes for women pushed Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B Anthony, Lucy Stone and others to challenge injustices and reform efforts (page
Roark, J.L., Johnson, M.P., Cohen, P.C., Stage, S., Lawson, A., Hartmann, S.M. (2009). The american promise: A history of the united states (4th ed.), The New West and Free North 1840-1860, The slave south, 1820-1860, The house divided 1846-1861 (Vol. 1, pp. 279-354).
[3] Additionally, serious drink problem haunted the nation. Seeing the serious threat to the United States, many reformers vowed to save the society as a whole from alcoholism. Consequently, the American Temperance Society was formed in 1826 to educate people the perils of drink. The consumption of alcohol decreased immensely. [4] As the nation was developing, the crime rate was increasing at the same time. Worried the spread of the evils, the reformers began to establish correctional institutions to help those committed crimes with rehabilitation. [5] Based on evangelicalism, the reformers strongly opposed slavery and openly supported abolitionism. For them, slavery contrasted what they believed in the American spirit. Despite facing many obstacles, the abolitionists gradually made some progress denouncing slavery. [6] The reformers were also convinced that a perfect society was built upon justice and morality. To achieve such a perfect society, they built more than forty communities of a cooperative and communistic nature. For example, Robert Owen established a communal society at New Harmony in 1825 to promote happiness based on principles of equal rights and righteous
No time in America's history has seen greater efforts to reform society than the four decades preceding the Civil War. During those years, a variety of social problems came under attack. Many of Americans worked tirelessly to establish pubic schooling, reform the criminal justice system, improve care of the infirm and mentally ill, promote women's rights, and battle poverty and drunkenness. By the 1840's and 1850's, abolitionism, the attempt to end slavery, had become the greatest of these antebellum reform movements. There was, it seemed, an almost frantic effort during the antebellum years to perfect America and its people, to right wrongs and eradicate evils. There were many ideas and forces that motivated people to reform American society
Karen, O'Connor. Essentials of American Government Roots and Reform. 2009 Edition. New York: Longman, 2009. 150-155. Print.
In the 19th century, the political climate could be closely related to a tooth gritting earthquake or a tremendous volcanic eruption. As Europe transitioned into Romanticism, socialists and classical liberals started rising from all over Europe with many different ideas. In America, slavery and social reforms were a hotbed of debate sparking many controversy’s, one of which almost lead to the secession of South Carolina. No one besides Charles Fourier, Alexis de Tocqueville, and John C. Calhoun represented the potent cocktail of varying social ideas and political theory of the 19th century better. These three were unique in their ideas and have a very impacting legacy.