1. Ch 18: An Era of Reform

2. Second Great Awakening
Led by Charles Finney
Preachers told people that everyone could go to heaven, and one way was to do good works
Attracted large following in the West and North
Inspired people to improve society
Many started to actively oppose slavery

3. Second Great Awakening

4. Transcendentalism
Philosophy that taught how people could ‘transcend’, or go beyond logical thinking to reach true understanding with the help of emotion and intuition
Said people could find answers to life’s mysteries by trusting their emotions and intuition
Told people to question society’s rules and institutions
Practiced by men like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau

5. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau

6. Model Communities
Communities started to try to create a perfect society
Examples: Brook Farm, Oneida, Amana
Most only lasted a few years

7. Brook Farm Based in MA from 1841-1847
Every person paid equally and people could work the jobs they wanted to work
Never financially stable
Main building burned down and it never recovered

8. Oneida Community Based in NY, existed from 1848-1881
Oneida Silverware originated from this community

9. Amana Colonies Based in Iowa from 1855-1932
Completely self-sufficient—little outside contact with the outside world
Famous today for its refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, etc.

10. Prisoners and Mentally Ill
During mid-1800s, many prisoners used to be bound in chains and locked in cages
Children accused of minor thefts were jailed with adults
Most in debtors’ prisons owed less than $20, but could not earn money to repay their debts, so they stayed in jail for years
Mentally ill were locked away in dirty and crowded jail cells
Misbehavior was dealt with through whipping

11. Example of how mentally ill were treated

12. Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Dix gathered information and wrote a report for the MA state legislature
As a result of her work, public asylums for the mentally ill were created
Dix visited prisons in other states, helping bring about change in those states as well
By the time Dix died, many more changes took place
debtors were no longer put in prison
Special justice systems for children in trouble
Cruel punishments, such as branding people with hot irons, had been banned

13. Dorothea Dix

14. Education In the early 1800s, few children had access to school
In MA, Puritans had schools
Wealthy send their children to private school or hired tutors
On the frontier, 60 children could go to a one-room school, part-time
In the cities, some poor children stole, destroyed property, and set fires
Reformers thought education could help these children escape poverty and become good citizens

15. Horace Mann Mann grew up going to school only 10 weeks/year
Later became MA supervisor of education
Spoke in support of public schools (schools funded by taxes)
Citizens voted to pay taxes to build better schools, pay teachers better, and establish training schools for teachers
By 1850, many states in the North and West used these ideas
Most white children, esp. boys, attended free public schools

16. Horace Mann

17. Education for African Americans and Females
Though most white boys could go to public schools, girls and African Americans couldn’t
Girls couldn’t go to high school/college
1837—Oberlin College became first college to admit men and women
African Americans in the North had to go to separate, poorer schools
In the South, few girls and no African Americans could go to school

18. Anti-Slavery Movements
Even during the Revolutionary War, some Americans opposed slavery
When slave trade ended, interest in slavery began dying down in the North
Abolitionists (those who wanted to end slavery) had different ideas on ending slavery
Some wanted the slaves to revolt
Others wanted to end it peacefully
Still others wanted to give slaveholders time to develop farming methods that didn’t require slaves

19. Abolitionists Blacks and whites worked in the abolition movement
William Lloyd Garrison started the Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper
Frederick Douglass, former slave, became a leader in the abolitionist movement—started a newspaper, North Star
Angelina and Sarah Grimke were abolitionists who grew up in a slaveholding family in S.C.
Sojourner Truth, former slave, was an outstanding speaker

20. The Liberator

21. Me with Frederick Douglass’s Statue in Baltimore

22. Sojourner Truth

23. Women and Their Lack of Rights
Women had few rights in the 1800s:
could not vote or hold office
could not speak at conventions, give speeches in public
Could not control their money or property
Could not divorce their husbands easily (if they were being beat by them)
Could not practice certain professions, like medicine or law

24. Seneca Falls Organized movement for women’s rights began in 1848
Seneca Falls Convention was where women met and gave the Declaration of Sentiments (based on Declaration of Independence)
Attended by women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Blackwell
Passed resolutions attempting to correct the injustices, including the right to vote

25. Seneca Falls

26. Effects of Seneca Falls
New York gave women control over their property and wages
Massachusetts and Indiana passed more liberal divorce laws
Elizabeth Blackwell started her own hospital