Changing American Life in the 19th Century The Age of Reform Changing American Life in the 19th Century This is a picture from a Chartist movement (suffrage in Great Britain) in 1848.

People came to pray, sing, weep, & shout 2nd Great Awakening Religious movement using outdoor revivals to convince people to return to a strong faith People came to pray, sing, weep, & shout Men & women became eager to reform their lives & the world around them…led to new reform movements

Temperance Movement Organized groups called, societies, worked to try to stop the drinking of alcohol Alcohol was viewed as the cause of much of the misfortunes in the world Many women we concerned that men spent their wages on alcohol and not supporting their family at home

The slide has a link to a webpage that better explains the written words.

Industries & Labor Factories were noisy, unsafe, and work was boring Workers wanted better conditions They organized into trade unions Eventually organized into labor unions Other groups called for shorter hours and higher wages 140 strikes took place in 1835 & 1836 alone Example: Lowell girls went on strike in 1836 demanding lowered rent and better conditions Started in 1869, The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the workingman, rejected Socialism and radicalism, demanded the eight-hour day, and promoted the producers ethic of republicanism. In some cases it acted as a labor union, negotiating with employers, but it was never well organized, and after a rapid expansion in the mid-1880s, it suddenly lost its new members and became a small operation again. Seal for the Knights of Labor, first organized union in the United States

The English School, first public high school in America Reforming Education "Convinced that the people are the only safe depositories of their own liberty, and that they are not safe unless enlightened to a certain degree, I have looked on our present state of liberty as a short-lived possession unless the mass of the people could be informed to a certain degree." - Thomas Jefferson, 1805 The English School, first public high school in America

Education Reform The Great Equalizer By 1830s Americans began demanding better schools Horace Mann set up first State Education Board in Mass. Public schools began opening Primarily in the North Private grade schools and colleges also were opened by churches and other groups A larger educated population began to emerge as opportunities opened to more people

Caring for the Needy/Helpless Dorthea Dix led the movement to improve life for the unfortunate She helped reform jails, mental hospitals Thomas Gallaudet started a school for the deaf Samuel Howe began a school for the blind

The Abolitionist Movement in America Abolitionist movement began in late 1700s 1808 – International Slave Trade was banned Sarah and Angelina Grimke were southerners who moved north to speak out against slavery John Quincy Adams was a huge supporter of abolition Represented men accused of rebelling on a slave ship

Abolitionists in America William Lloyd Garrison White abolitionist who called for the “immediate & complete emancipation” Frederick Douglass Most widely known black abolitionist/former slave Sojourner Truth Used personal narratives and worked for abolitionism & women’s rights/former slave

The Underground Railroad Series of escape routes from the South to the North and to Mexico that were used by slaves to escape slavery Slaves usually travelled by foot , but sometimes wagons, boats and trains were used Most escaped slaves travelled at night to avoid detection and hid during the day in safe houses called “stations” Harriet Tubman was one of the most famous “conductors” risking her life numerous time to help numerous slaves

Seneca Falls Convention 1848 July 1848, -Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and others organized the first women’s right convention in Seneca Falls, New York. The convention, attended by women and men, issued a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions modeled on the Declaration of Independence.