Section 4 - Reforms and Reformers Chapter 8 The Northeast Section 4 - Reforms and Reformers

Looking Back, Looking Ahead In the last section, you learned about what life was like in the Northern cities. In Section 4, you will learn about how reformers worked to make life better for many Americans.

Focusing on the Main Ideas Religious and philosophical ideas inspired various reform movements. Reformers wanted to make education accessible to all citizens. A new wave of literature that was distinctly American swept the United States.

People to Know Henry David Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson Horace Mann Thomas Gallaudet Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe Dorothea Dix Margaret Fuller Emily Dickinson

Vocabulary to Know Utopia Revival Temperance Normal School Transcendentalist

Did You Know? Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, was made famous by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau lived there for two years, writing about his life. Today Walden Pond is a popular tourist attraction, where people can visit Thoreau’s one-room cabin.

What Was a Reformer? Henry David Thoreau was a writer who represented a new spirit of reform in America. People who led the reform movement believed the nation’s ideals of liberty and equality should extend to all Americans. Reformers sought to improve society by forming utopias, communities based on a vision of a perfect society.

What Was the Second Great Awakening? A wave of religious fervor known as the Second Great Awakening began in the early 1800s with revivals, or frontier camp meetings. People traveled for miles to hear preachers and to pray, sing, and shout. Religious leaders preached against alcohol, and reformers blamed alcohol for poverty, crime, and insanity. They called for temperance, drinking little or no alcohol. Soon states began passing laws to ban the manufacture and sale of alcohol.

Discussion Question Why did reformers want to ban alcohol? (Reformers blamed alcohol for many of society’s problems, including poverty, crime, the breakup of families, and insanity.)

How Was Education Reformed? In the early 1800s, many reformers began pushing for a system of public education. Horace Mann, a lawyer who became head of the Massachusetts Board of Education, was a leader in educational reform. Massachusetts founded the first normal school, a school for training high-school graduates to become teachers. New colleges were created during the age of reform, but most admitted only men. African Americans and women began to have some access to higher education.

Who Led Other Education Reform? Thomas Gallaudet developed a method to educate people who were hearing impaired. He opened the Hartford School for the Deaf in 1817. Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe developed books with raised letters that people with visual impairments could read with their fingers. Dorothea Dix educated the public about the poor conditions for both the mentally ill and for prisoners.

Discussion Questions What education did women typically receive in the mid-1800s? (Most women received a limited education. Daughters were kept from school and taught to be good mothers and wives. When girls did go to school, they often studied music or needlework instead of science, mathematics, and history.)

Who Were the Transcendentalists? The transcendentalists were people who stressed the relationship between humans and nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau were writers and leading transcendentalists.

What American Writers Emerged? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote narrative, or story, poems about American subjects. Walt Whitman wrote about nature, the common people, and American democracy in his volume of poetry called Leaves of Grass. Emily Dickinson, the best-remembered woman poet of the era, wrote simple, personal, deeply emotional poetry. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the most successful best-selling novel of the 1800s called Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This work explored the injustice of slavery.

Discussion Question How did writers contribute to the spirit of reform? (Margaret Fuller voiced her support for women’s rights in her writing. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that people should listen to the inner voice of conscience to avoid prejudice, and Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about the injustice of slavery.)

Section 4 Review pg. 407 1. What did Horace Mann accomplish? 2. How did Thoreau act on his beliefs? What impact might such acts have had on the government? 4. Who was Horace Mann, and what was his contribution to public education? How were women and African Americans able to have access to education? Summarize your conclusions in a short essay.