Reform and the

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Chapter 15
Reform and the Amerian Culture
American Nation textbook, pages 432-454
Powerpoint by Mr. Zindman
Newgate Prison had terrible conditions
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1. Reforming the Spirit Social Reform is an
organized to attempt to improve what is unjust in
society. Their was a political and religious
movement toward social reform. Reformers wanted
to change the conditions of the United States.
During the colonial era, many American
Protestants believed in predestination. According
to this idea, God decided in advance who would
attain salvation after death. The Second Great
Awakening occurred in the late 1800s
1839 Methodist camp meeting
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During the Second Great Awakening , leaders
stressed free will rather predestination to stir
religious feelings. Preachers held revivals or
huge outdoor meetings.
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Hospitals and prisons were reformed by Dorothea
Dix worked hard to reform conditions in mental
hospitals and prisons. Five out of six people in
northerners in prisons were debtors, or people
who could not pay the money they owed. Soon cruel
punishments were banned and debtors were not
placed in prison.
Dorothea Dix
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Alcohol abuse was widely spread in the 1800s,
Men, women, and children drank to heavily at
weddings, parties, funerals, etc. Alcohol cold be
purchased almost anywhere without limits.
The Temperance Movement soon began. People,
especially women, campaigned against the abuse of
alcohol.
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Education was improved. States set up taxes that
supported school districts. Other schools follow
New York's lead in education.
What is the name of this school?
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Separate schools were set up for African
Americans. These schools received less money than
white schools.
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2. Opposing Slavery Religious beliefs led some
Americans to oppose slavery in the United States.
The American Colonization Society proposed to end
slavery by setting up an independent colony in
Africa for freed slaves.
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A growing number of reformers, known as
abolitionists, wanted to end slavery in the
United States.
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Frederick Douglass was the best known
abolitionist. Douglas was born into slavery and
became a free man. He became very famous as a
public speaker against slavery. Douglass wrote a
newspaper called the North Star.
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William Lloyd Garrison wrote The Liberator, the
most influential antislavery newspaper.
William Lloyd Garrison
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The Underground Railroad was a network of black
and white abolitionists who secretly helped black
slaves to freedom. Harriet Tubman escaped to
freedom and returned back down south nineteen
times to help others escape to freedom.
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3. A Call for Womens Rights Women had few
political rights in the 1800s. Women could not
own property. They lacked social and political
rights.
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Sojourner Truth was born a slave was a great
public speaker against slavery.
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Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton took up the fight against
slavery. At the Seneca Falls Convention women
demanded equality with men at work, school and
church. This convention led to the womens right
movement, led by Susan B. Anthony. Together they
fought for the womans right to vote.
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The End