American reform movements of 1825-1850 Essay

In the period from 1825-1850, a majority of the unsnarl apparent move ments in the coupled States sought to hyperbolize democratic ideals. However, some did so indirectly and unintentionally.The re produce movements were spurred by the sulphur Great Awakening, which began in in the altogether England in the late 1790s, and would eventually spread throughout the field. The Second GA differed from the First in that hatful were now believed to be able to deal whether or non to believe in God, as opposed to preceding(prenominal) ideals based on calvinism and predestination.According to Charles G. Finney, the procedure of the church is to reform society. In 1834, he said, When the churches areawakened and reformed, the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow. Finney had been influenced by Second Great Awakening ideals. He goes on to say that drunkards, harlots, and infidels would as well be converted do to reform by the church. In this sense, the Second Great Awakeni ng helped expand democratic ideals by bettering the moral exemplifications of the parking area man.In 1835, Patrick Reason created an engraving depicting a black womanly slave in chains. Above her is the quote, Am I not a woman and a sister This reflects how the abolition and womens movements often level(p) into one another. Both of these movements helped expand democratic ideals in that they desired increase rights (specifically suffrage) for minorities. However, women and blacks were simply trying to increase their own influence in society, and were not otherwise looking to expand democratic ideals for the benefit of everyone (Native Americans, Irish immigrants, etc.).The Grimke sisters (Angelina & Sarah) were southerly abolitionists who besides compete a role in the Womens Movement. Susan B. Anthony, a Quaker, and therefore opposed to slavery on moral grounds, excessively contend a role in both movements. Anthony was a disciple of Eliizabeth Cady Stanton.Nativism was also an important reform movement of this time period. Nativism was the belief that only sporty Anglo-Saxon Protestants should be allowed suffrage and other rights. People believed this partly from devotion of aCatholic takeover, and partly because they did not want foreign immigrants competing with them for jobs.Samuel international Morse code was a key supporter of nativism. In his Imminent Dangers to the Free Institutions of the United States, written in 1835, he stated that no foreigner who comes into the country after the law is passed shall ever be allowed the right of suffrage. The law he referred to was a proposed law to replace the current Naturalization Law of the time. This movement did not stress to expand democratic ideals.Education reform was also an important movement of this period. Universal manhood suffrage created the need for study reform. The common laborer began to demand education for his children. This movement sought to expand democratic ideals in that more e ducated people meant more people would be able to be productive members of society. Emma Willard played a role in this movement as well as the Womens Movement. She heart-to-heart the Troy Female Seminary in 1821, which trained women to be members of the clergy.William H. McGuffey invented the McGuffey Reader. This was a standard reader that all children read based on their grade. In a passage from a McGuffey Reader from 1836, a poor young boy discusses how his parents are very good to save some of their money in order that I may learn to read and write. He is referring to tax-supported state-supported schools, which were a result of the education reform movement.Alcohol abuse was decorous widespread throughout the early 1800s. This was due in part to Elijah Craigs invention of bourbon in 1789. Alcohol abuse led to decreased efficiency of labor, which was a problem for businessmen and consumers alike. The Temperance Movement began in an childbed to end alcohol abuse. The Americ an Temperance Society was formed in Boston in 1826, and urged people to give up alcohol. Neal Dow supported prohibition, and is considered the yield of Prohibition. He supported the Maine Law of 1851, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. William Lloyd post was an abolitionist who also supported temperance.An 1846 cartoon entitled The Drunkards Progress. From The First supply To The Grave shows what a detrimental effect alcohol had on the career of the common laborer. The Temperance Movement sought to expand democratic ideals in that it protected the common man from himself. It improved the common mans productivity as well as his well-being by discourage him from the evils of alcohol.The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 sought to expand democratic ideals more vigilently and radically than perhaps any other event of any movement. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton both played important roles in the convention. They produced a Declaration of Sentiments which stated that all men and women are created equal. They also produced a resolution formally demanding womens suffrage.In an excerpt from the Seneca Falls Declaration (August 2, 1848), Stanton states that the women are assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governedto introduce our right to be free as man is free. Here she refers to the government-by-social contract philosophy of John Locke. She goes on to declare that strange as it may seem, we now demand our right to vote according to the declaration of the government under which we live. Here she refers to the Declaration of freedom of 1776, which stated that all men are created equal.Dorothia Dix travelled over 60,000 miles touring asylums crossways America. Her journals would help spread the idea that crazy people were actually mentally ill, and did not simply choose to be crazy. Her work led to 15 new hospitals and improved conditions in current hospitals of the time. While she did not seek to expand democratic ideals, she did improve the conditions in asylums, which is an indirect increase in the rights of the mentally ill.In the period from 1825-1850, a majority of the reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals. However, some did so indirectly and unintentionally.