Reform Notes Study Guide
Important People:
Charles Finney - American Congregationalist/Presbyterian minister and leader in the
Second Great Awakening; called The Father of Modern Revivalism.
Charles Goodyear – invented a new rubber product that didn’t freeze or melt
Cyrus McCormick – inventor of the mechanical reaper; the mechanical reaper did the
work of five farm workers, speeding up production time and cutting down on labor
cost
Dorothea Dix – emphasized rehabilitation for mentally ill and those imprisoned to
help them re-enter society
Elias Howe – invented the sewing machine; sewing machines helped to significantly
speed up the production of clothing
Elizabeth Blackwell – opened the New York Infirmary for Women; was the first
woman to graduate from medical college
Emma Willard – opened up one of America’s first academically rigorous schools for
girls, the Troy Female Seminary, in Troy, New York
Francis Cabot Lowell – Boston merchant; helped form the Boston Manufacturing
Company
Henry David Thoreau – New England writer who practiced transcendentalism and
civil disobedience
Horace Mann – leader in the public school reform movement; believed in preparing
children to become good citizens and in enriching young minds with knowledge for the
sake of our country
John Deere – inventor of the steel plow; the steel plow cut through heavy soil much
more easily than existing plows, requiring less animal power to pull
Lucrecia Mott – advocate of women’s rights; together with Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention
Ralph Waldo Emerson – American writer and author of the essay, “Self-Reliance”,
which argued that each individual should avoid conformity and, rather, follow one’s
own instincts; Leader of the transcendentalism movement
Richard Allen – assembled the Bethel African Church in Philadelphia (later, the
African Methodist Episcopal Church); organized the first black national convention
Robert Fulton – inventor of the steam boat; the steam boat carried freight and
passengers; helped unite economic life of North and South
Samuel F.B. Morse – inventor of the telegraph; telegraph was a device used to
electrically transmit coded messages over wires, dramatically increasing the speed of
communication over long distances
Sojourner Truth – former slave woman who, after becoming legally free, became a
travelling preacher dedicated to pacifism, abolitionism, and equality
Terms to Know:
“Cult of domesticity” – based on prevailing customs, the “cult of domesticity” was
the belief that women should stay at home, as servants to their family, and to not do
any work outside of the home.
“Mill Girls” - female workers who worked in the textile factories in Lowell,
Massachusetts; most workers in textile factories were young women
Apprentice – a worker learning a trade or craft, typically under the supervision of a
master
Civil disobedience – refusal to obey laws which are seen as unjust; effort to change
government policy using peaceful resistance
Commonwealth -v- Hunt - Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling on the subject of
labor unions; established that workers had the right to form unions; Chief Justice Lemuel
Shaw ruled on the case
Cottage Industry – business or manufacturing activity carried out in a person’s home
Erie Canal – a canal in New York running from Albany to Buffalo, designed to create a
water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes
Journeyman – skilled worker employed by a master
Master- skilled artisan; often owns a business and employs other workers
Second Great Awakening – religious movement emphasizing individual responsibility
for seeking salvation; emphasized need for personal and social improvement;
Seneca Falls Convention – women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York
Temperance movement – organized effort to prevent drinking alcoholic beverages
Transcendentalism – movement that emphasized living a simple life; valued truth
found in nature, personal emotion and imagination