 The reform movements of the mid-1800’s stemmed in large part from the revival of religious fervor (Second Great Awakening) › Revivalist preached the power of individuals to improve themselves and their world  Lyman Beecher -believed that it was the nation’s citizens who would build a better nation  benevolent societies emerged  1 st Wanted to spread the word of God to nonbelievers and 2 nd combat social problems

 Many of the reformers who made up the reform effort were women, most of whom were unmarried › Issues targeted by reform groups were excessive drinking, prisons, and education

 Alcohol= crime, poverty, and disorder  Alcoholism was widespread during the early 1800s › New reformers energized the temperance movement=forming of temperance groups  Preached the evils of alcohol  Formed American Temperance Union (1833)  Pushed for laws to prohibit the sale of liquor  Maine in 1851 passed 1 st state prohibition law

 Reformers also considered ways to improve the prison system › Inmates= violent offenders, debtors, and mentally ill › By 1816, states began to provide new facilities which created a better environment for inmates › Main Prison reform=rehabilitating prisoners rather than just locking them up  Established discipline through rigorous work  new prisons= penitentiaries

 In early 1800’s reformers pushed for a system of public education › Gov’t funded and opened to all citizens  Horace Mann- leader of public education movement (MA senator) › Passed bill creating a state board of education for Massachusetts  MA quickly became the model for the public school system in America

 Calvin Wiley = Horace Mann of South (NC) › Provided government support to establish schools locally (through taxpayers) › By 1860, 2/3 of NC’s white children attended school part of the year  Only about 1/3 throughout the whole South  African American children were excluded almost entirely in the South

 Women’s Education › Educating=only men › Women took advantage of the reform movement to create more opportunities for themselves  Emma Willard- founded a girls boarding school in Vermont  Consisted of cooking and etiquette, and academic subjects  Mary Lyon- opened 1 st institution of higher education for women=Mount Holyoke Female Seminary  Elizabeth Blackwell- 1 st woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S. or Europe  Founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children=staffed entirely by women

Emma Willard Elizabeth Blackwell

 Read pg. 281 & 282  Describe “True Womanhood”  Catherine Beecher -  Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady-  Seneca Fall Convention-