Social Reform Dbq

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.

During the 1820s-1850s, lots of change and chaos was going on in the very young United States. Along with this chaos, many people wanted different things to change in the country, which caused many reform movements to occur. From slavery to healthier prisons, these movements helped shape the US before the Civil War. American reform movements sought for the expansion of democratic ideas, however, some reform movements were radical at the time and did not do as successful as others. The most well known reform movement was the anti-slavery campaign.

During the time from the 1890s to the 1920s a period of social and political reform took place in the United States known as the Progressive Era. “The era saw the expansion of political and economic freedom through the reinvigoration of the moment for woman suffrage, the use of political power to expand workers rights’ and efforts to improve democratic government by weakening the power of the city bosses and giving ordinary citizens more influence on legislation.” The progressive reformers from this time gained a majority of their support from the education middle-class of urban areas. Another term used to describe these reformers is Muckrakers.

The second wave had a social impact, generating popular support for sobriety, the abolishment of slavery, and other social reforms. Before the reform the schools were small and experienced very limited educational opportunity. The school reform wanted to amend their education system, which would assist in their children becoming more responsible. Horace Mann of Massachusetts passed the common school movement that caused public schools to be funded by local property taxes. Horace Man would set a list of six principles for public education: ignorance and freedom will not be upheld by the citizens, the public should pay for the training, as well controlled and preserved, the schools should accept all children, the instruction should be nonsectarian, it should be prepared by means of the tenets of a free society, and teachers must be professional and well-groomed. (Horace Mann Biography, 2016)

Going along with this the reformers actually sort of worked together to achieve their goals. Many people were advocated for two or more of the movements and others at least agreed with or supported the other reformers. Something else that tied these people together was their use of nonviolence. Of course there are a few exceptions, but most of the reformers followed this principle. Lastly, all reformers sought after the common goal of ridding their lives of immorality. Everything the reformers wanted to get rid of was seen by them as immoral. All wanted a Utopian society.

The Age of Reform started in 1820 and ended in 1860. The reform was to try to get rid discrimination against many things or to improve conditions of life. People wanted life to become more fair and everyone to be equal. In the Age of Jackson democracy became more popular, democracy is what influenced the reform. Without these movements the US would not be the same today.

The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act eradicated the previous systems of relief offered to the poor in Victorian England before 1834. This legislation was written up and passed with relatively little difficulty and a lot of parliamentary support. The gist of the amendment was to decrease the amount of impoverished citizens. This was the ultimate goal without providing any actual help for the poor themselves. The 1834 amendment reformed poor laws across the country while also establishing a wide network of workhouses as was fashioned in the amendment.

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.

Throughout history, political, social, and economical issues have erupted and caused society to reform. These reform movements are created in order for the people of America to have the ability to resolve the issues they see in their communities. Some of the movements that have been most prominent in the united States during the early 19th century are the Women’s Reform Movement, the Prison Reform and the Education reform. All of these developments allowed awareness to be created about the problems that everyday citizens were experiencing and how they were going those change problems into resolutions.

The 2nd Great Awakening occurred within the 1800-1840’s and it helped revive the idea of religious ideas. During the 2nd Great Awakening, many were beginning to participate in public meeting. This helped with the formation of the reform movements because the reform movements were social movements that showed how many people decided to get involved for their own benefit, and took matters into their own hands for example, all the movements that began, which shows democracy because democracy is power to the people. Reform movement in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals such as equality, organizing and petitioning a cause, and religious

In the farming society of the early 1800’s, education was not possible for many children. Horace Mann, a farm boy himself and an early advocate for educational reform, saw the deficiencies in the educational system. He pushed for “common schools” that would retain local control, be co-educational and revolve around the agricultural year. Mann’s ideas began to be adopted around the country in the second half of the nineteenth century. By the start of the twentieth century, mandatory public schooling was the norm. This was the height of the industrial revolution. As Davidson notes in “Project Classroom Makeover”, “Public Education was seen as the most efficient way to train potential workers for labor in the newly urbanized factories (197).” Schools began to work like an assembly line with a focus on efficiency, attention to detail, memorization of facts and staying on task. Curriculum became standardized and states began to replace the local management of education. Critically thinking outside the box was less valued. Regardless of ability, children started school at the same age and were moved through their education in a regulated process.

Horace Mann was an early 18th century politician and a visionary in the area of education reform. He is credited as the person responsible promoting the belief that education not only be free, but should be available to all. Horace Mann’s concept for equality in education ensures “that everyone receives an education that will allow them to compete for wealth on equal terms.” (Spring, 2014 p. 58.)

Whether or not the reform schools of the time had a religious sponsor, they all promoted religious instruction, studying the Bible, attending religious services on Sunday, and becoming morally strong. Children were also compelled to work long hours in trades, sometimes in factory-like settings. While reformatories were in theory designed to be more humane and caring than penitentiaries and other punitive institutions for adults, in reality they were

What would happen if the government made changes to the welfare system? There are approximately 110,489,000 of Americans on welfare. Many people benefit from what the system has to offer: food stamps, housing, health insurance, day care, and unemployment. Taxpayers often argue that the individuals who benefit from the system, abuse the system; however, this is not entirely true. Many of the people who receive benefits really and truly need the help. Even though some people believe welfare should be reformed, welfare should not be reformed because 40% of single mothers are poor, some elderly people do not have a support system, and college students can not afford to take extra loans.