A Push for Reform Ch 3 sec 2

I. Religion Sparks Reform In the 1820’s there was a Second Great Awakening, when people returned to their religious roots and started going to church again. This movement stressed doing God’s work by working hard and living a good life they could create a heaven on earth. There was more to living well than just going to church on Sunday.

I. Religion Sparks Reform The Second Great Awakening made people look at the problems in society and to do something to change them. There was the temperance movement that sought to end people’s dependence on alcohol. They linked many of society’s problems to the abuse of alcohol.

I. Religion Sparks Reform Public education became a priority as well. The reformers wanted to give more children an education and to make their education the same in every school, to make democracy stronger in the country. The prison systems also underwent reform. Before, the mentally ill were jailed with the criminal element in overcrowded prisons. The mentally ill were eventually put into separate institutions for treatment.

I. Religion Sparks Reform A new philosophical movement arose from this reform era as well. Transcendentalism promoted the idea that we can learn all we need to know from nature and reason and personal religious experience, and rejected the Puritan ideas of New England.

II. Early Immigration and Urban Reform Immigration to the United States increased during the early 1800s. Most came from Ireland and Germany, and many of them were poor and uneducated. They struggled to survive in the densely populated cities along the East Coast.

II. Early Immigration and Urban Reform The rise in immigration caused an increase in anti-immigrant sentiment. A secret group called the Know-Nothings rose up and eventually founded a political party, the American Party, that was founded on anti- immigrant ideas. The Irish immigrants were treated harshly because the majority were poor, uneducated, and Catholic.

II. Early Immigration and Urban Reform The German immigrants weren’t treated as harshly because they weren’t as poor, and were Protestant. They were able to spread out west more so than the Irish. Immigrants as well as Americans were moving to cities to work because of the increase in factory jobs. This led to many new problems and more reforms were needed.

II. Early Immigration and Urban Reform Living conditions were hazardous. People were crowded into tenements which were unsanitary, and this led to epidemics that spread quickly through the cities. It would take decades before any real progress was made on living conditions for the poor.

II. Early Immigration and Urban Reform There were more workers wanting a job than job openings, so the factory owners were able to take advantage of that and make working conditions deplorable. Workers had to work long hours with no breaks, no sick leave, and in extremely dangerous conditions.

II. Early Immigration and Urban Reform There were no child labor laws, and children as young as 4 were working in factories and mines. Workers began to organize and push for better wages and working conditions, however, the factory owners were very resistant to any changes. Labor unions were illegal until the 1930s, so many of the changes would not be made until then.

Assignment In groups of 4, you will discuss reforms that need to be made here at school. Make a list of the reforms for school, and explain why these reforms are needed. Make a poster with the reforms and the reasons why, and then present them to the class.