Reform Movements in the United States Sought to Expand Democratic Ideals." Assess the Validity of This Statement with Specific Reference to the Years 1825 to 1850.

American Reformers, 1815-1860 goes into the social and political issues surrounding the Jackson Presidency. Ronald G. Walters effectively chronicalizes the reformation and radicalization of the main issues prevalent in early 19th century. These issues included slavery, alcoholism, women’s rights, religion and science. He explains how these issues led to the transformation of our country into what it is today and explains the reformers responsible for such radical change. He emphasizes the idea that every individual during this time period had some sense of radical reform ideology. These antebellum reformers worked to resolve the social and political issues plaguing the nation through reform and Ronald G. Walters eloquently depicts the reform movements of the early-mid 19th century. His work is very accurate and progressive in every sense.

The antebellum period was full of social reform movements based on the urge to eradicate evil and improve human conditions in society. Despite the attempt to deal with a wide variety of reforms to provide positive changes to society these reform movements were met with varying degrees of success. This essay will focus on five of the major social reform movements of that era discussing their accomplishments, failures and impacts on America as a whole. They are the reforms of abolition, women’s suffrage, temperance, institutional and educational reforms. The reform movements of the 1830’s and 1840’s were largely due to humanitarian reasons because of a period of Enlightenment in the previous century which emphasized rational over

The United States of America experienced several reform movements from 1825 to 1850. The reformers sought to improve religion, rehabilitation of criminals and mental patients, education, slavery, and women’s rights. Each demonstrated democratic ideals to the extent that the reformers sought to incorporate the values of liberty and equality into their reform movements to improve the quality of life but did so at the expense and dismay of others.

The validity of the statement, “Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals” can be assessed regarding many reformations in the time period of 1825-1850 including the American temperance movement, the women’s rights movement, and the abolitionist reform. All of which very much expanded core democratic ideology, such as equality, liberty for all, and the pursuit of happiness. All these reforms share the qualities necessary to attempt to make the United States a more civilized, utopian society. Social reform was a necessity when it came to expanding democratic ideals.

While attempting to change certain groups’ rights was crucial, an almost equally pressing issue of reform at the time was society. Across the country, increasing the morality and appearance of United States citizens had suddenly become a much more pressing issue, and various reform assemblies, and especially the church, struggled to improve society in ways they thought helpful. Due to the mass urbanization occurring so rapidly,

A government for the people, by the people, requires input from all its citizens. The American experiment is a great success that has inspired others to defend the voices of all its citizens. Yet, this was not always so. In the early years of our great democratic experiment we had reserved those unalienable rights to a select few. We discriminated based on race, gender, and color. Therefore, reformers began calling for changes. The reform movements of 1825-1855 in the U.S helped further develop democratic ideals by creating a new range of voters that were more educated, diverse, and healthy. It accomplished this by advocating towards women's suffrage, abolition, which would lead to African-American suffrage, progression towards a better educational

Reform movements generally sought to improve American society and reformers wanted to repair the social and political climate of the current day. The statement “Reform Movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals”, is valid in that movements like women’s rights, public school, abolitionism and prison reform sought to improve the tight wounds of society and expand the democratic nature of society to even more people. Inspired by the Second Great Awakening and the recent Transcendentalist movement, these reforms were key in expanding the social, cultural and political world between the years of 1825 and 1850.

Slavery in the United States of America started with the arrival of the first slaves from Africa in 1619. Slavery continued even after it was abolished; it greatly influenced the events in the country. From the very beginning, anti-slavery movement and slave resistance played a big role in the efforts to uphold the values of the new, rising nation and its belief that all men are equal. Advocates for the anti-slavery movement were not united from the start; some supported gradual emancipation of slaves, others were for immediate and radical abolishment, while free-soil activists argued for restriction of slavery to certain areas in order to prevent its spread across the country. Radical abolition movement was part of the reform movements related to religious revivals in an effort to create a righteous society that would fulfill the high ideals of America. These reforms were a response to economic and social changes which historians termed as “the market revolution” and the “transportation revolution”. After the 1812 war, a tremendous development occurred; improved roads improved transport and increased profits among many farm entrepreneurs, artisans, and manufacturers. In the eyes of many religious leaders, America was dominated and obsessed with materialism and greed and they started to question the fundamentals of human life, justice, and sinful motives. Before the 1930s, the anti-slavery movement was not what one would consider well-organized. However, at that time

American Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement which placed an emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and expressing oneself no matter the situation or consequence. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fully embraced these beliefs as their influence has allowed these

In my opinion, the most important reform during the Progressive Era was his antitrust policy. Monopolies and trust, most of the time are very bad for consumers. First, because their is only one company controlling them, they can set any price they choose regardless of the demand, because they know that the consumer has no other choice whatsoever. Considering this, they will raise cost for consumers leading to inflation. Now, one of the many problems caused by this marketing controlling, is that sadly, they have no economic reason to improve or revolutionize their product, which means that as long as they are up, consumers will not have any new product coming from them. Being so, when Teddy Roosevelt created the antitrust act, he immediately

Social reform was underway as well with a number of institutions and social movements being devoted to improving morals of individuals and society in general. Schools started to pop up around the country. Public tax supported schools set up by Whigs in the north. The school systems were centralized at the state level and made attendance mandatory. Temperance was also part of this reform, and this was the most sustained movement in social history. The good old crusade against the use of alcohol that began in 1820. The reason for this it was argued was that alcohol led to violence, personal and social disintegration and was associated with being out of control. This effort was headed up by the middle class (women mostly) that assumed poverty, crime, and every other thing wrong with society was a result

Transcendentalist has a handful of principals from self-reliance to the thought of technology is harmful.The main tenet throughout the paper will focus on the importance of nature. Transcendentalist views nature as a gateway to the spiritual world, a way to the Omnipower. Henry David Thoreau immersed himself into nature fully “The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it”(Thoreau II). Thoreau reveals how he has taken the time to observe nature to its fullest extent. He saw nature as a neighbor who was to be respected just as a man would treat another. Ralph Waldo Emerson a great transcendentalist, a mentor to Thoreau. Emerson’s point of view of nature showed how men and nature can become one to uplift themselves from the worldly shackles. Thoreau and Emerson both had a concept that nature was essentials to mankind, one sought out to respect it and the other viewed as a form of release.Nature is important to transcendentalism because it leads to spiritual connection and harmonization.

Transcendentalism was an early philosophical, intellectual, and literary movement that thrived in New England in the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was a collection of new ideas about literature, religion, and philosophy. It began as a squabble in the Unitarian church when intellectuals began questioning and reacting against many of the church’s orthodoxy ways regarding all of the aforementioned subjects: religion, culture, literature, social reform, and philosophy. They in turn developed their own faith focusing on the divinity of humanity and the innate world. Many of the Transcendentalists ideas were expressed heavily by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essays such as “Nature”, “Self Reliance”, and also in his poems such as “The

In the early mid-nineteenth century, a philosophical movement known as transcendentalism took root and flourished in America. It evolved into a predominantly literary expression which placed an emphasis on the corruptions of organized religion, political parties, and societal involvement; above all, the movement promoted the wonders of “nature” and its deep connection to the divine. The adherents through transcendentalism believed that knowledge could be arrived through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit rather than by the means of the senses. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embrace the principles of nature

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.