Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj4D5YS40Yg&feature=youtu.be
Group 3A
DBQ: Reformers
Prompt: Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals. Assess the validity
of this statement with specific reference to the years 1825-1850.
During the time period, from 1825-1850, America was defined through the
democratic ideals of equality and liberty. These two ideals were the cornerstone of the
‘American Dream’ and lured millions of immigrants into the country as they too attempted
to ascertain and attain their dreams. However, as a reaction to the developing society,
reformers felt that the direction in which America was venturing toward was one filled
with despair and corruption, and sought to change society through various movements.
Although some movements attempted to limit political freedoms of some, the period from
1825-1850 holistically represents an expansion of democratic ideals because of rising
equality and liberty due to social reforms, institutional reforms, religious reforms, and
abolitionist reforms, which all culminated into the advent of a more, non-secular America,
grounded in righteousness and the further advancement of both equality, and liberty.
In 1800, Massachusetts was the only state within the United States that required
public schooling to be funded through community funds. As more states began to integrate
the community into schools, reformers called for a restructuring of the American
educational system in anticipation of the growing population. In order to modernize
schooling, Horace Mann created a state board of education in Massachusetts, along with a
minimum school year. From then onward, states began to revolutionize their educational
system, with the most progressive reforms coming from the Northeast, while inversely, the
least progressive reforms originated from the South, because southern planters
vehemently opposed paying taxes to educate poor, white children. During this time, even
women’s educational rights were expanded. The creation of Oberlin College in 1833 in Ohio
led to the first American coeducational college, and in 1837 Massachusetts founded Mount
Holyoke, the country’s first all-female university.
In reaction to the growth of educational opportunities, some citizens relented
against the new system. Men, such as William H. McGuffey, would write in publications
about the necessity of maintaining the status quo, and that not everyone should aim to be
educated (Doc E), because God had already deemed who belonged in each socioeconomic
echelon by the wealth of one’s parents. This notion was not widely supported, and instead
of listening to McGuffey’s words, many citizens in residential areas would go on to become
urbane, refined members of society through the advancements that Mann had initiated. The
educational opportunities present to children in America would augment their ability to
climb the social ladder, leading to an increase in equality and liberty due to the fact that
people did could now educate themselves and more easily shape their future.
The most prominent social issue of the time would undoubtedly be the struggle for
women’s rights. The Women’s Rights Movement was determined and resilient; the women
that tried to change men’s perception of females were unrelenting in that they did not tire
in their pursuit for equality. Ever since the inception of the idea of republican motherhood,
women had been constantly confined to select occupations, and only given select rights.
Men acted under the notion that women were meant to stay at home, and instruct the
children as to how to properly behave in society, while at the same time laying out
specifications as to the role of each gender, further perpetuating gender stereotypes in the
antebellum society. Holistically, the entire process came to be christened the ‘Cult of
Domesticity’. In order to combat the restrictive nature of society, women, such as Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, protested against the injustices that contradicted with the thought of
‘equality’. In order to streamline the Women’s Rights Movement, the aforementioned
reformer enlisted the help of Lucretia Motts and Lucy Stone with the goal of making a
women’s rights convention on behalf of all women struggling within society. This
convention would later be called the ‘Seneca Falls Convention’, and would take place in
Seneca Falls, New York, in July of 1848. There, Elizabeth Cady Stanton addressed all the
women present with the convention’s very own constitution, the Seneca Falls Declaration,
or colloquially known as the ‘Declaration of Sentiments’. The Declaration resembled the
Declaration of Independence in form, and outlined the key issues that women felt were
prevalent in society: the fact that the government did not have the consent of the governed,
as women were individuals, thought to be created by God, but were not given a voice in
government (Doc I). The lack of regard for women became so apparent that women around
America had to resort to extreme measures, especially because they too, like everyone else,
desired the right to be treated equally, and the right to pursue happiness and attain liberty,
just as the Constitution of the United States entails.
The prominence of alcohol in early-mid 19th century America led many reformers to
try to combat the dangers of drinking that corrupted society. The Temperance Movement
was started as an effort to curb the popular culture phenomenon that consuming alcohol
had become. Citizens, both rich and poor, were becoming increasingly addicted to being
inebriated, and social reformers felt it to be their responsibility to inculcate the masses.
Initially started by clergymen, such as Lyman Beecher, the movement gained allies across
the nation, especially after the creation of the American Temperance Society in 1826, which
spread awareness of alcohol and sought volunteers to abstain from the consumption of
alcohol. Many women’s rights activists also dabbled with the temperance advocacy,
including Lucretia Mott. The Temperance Movement also utilized literature and
propaganda in an effort to persuade others to join the cause, with the most notable
example being T.S. Arthur’s ’10 Nights in a Bar Room: And What I Saw There’. The
movement became so influential that the state of Maine passed a bill in 1849 to impose a
prohibition of alcohol onto itself, and would further be signed into law by Neal Dow in 1851
as the ‘Maine Law of 1851’. The Temperance Movement attempted to eliminate alcohol
after seeing the dangers of intoxication in men during the early 19th century, and acted
under the rationale that if one were to not subject themselves to the involuntary torment of
alcoholism and addiction, they too could attain liberation from the evils of drinking, and
then go on to be an equal in society and not to be looked down upon as an alcoholic from
birth to death (Doc H).
As the country began to foster beneficial democratic deliberation over the future of
social issues, such as the abolition of slavery, or women’s rights, America’s treatment of
criminals, the mentally retarded, and the ill were gradually ebbing. In order to change the
perception of those who did not fit into the ‘norm’ of society, Dorothea Dix, a Boston
schoolteacher, led the ‘Asylum Movement’ to fix the treatment of those in asylums. She
preached about the horrors that the mentally retarded and inmates of penitentiary’s were
subject to in the 1840s, and advocated for immediate reform within the institutional
system. In large thanks to her efforts, 28 states changed their standards for asylums before
the Civil War, and began to maintain proper mental institutions, while at the same time
raising the standards of many prisons. Not only that, but she helped change the focus of
institutions from ‘Containment’ to ‘Rehabilitation’ (Doc A). The latter would include
reforming personal character and developing oneself as a productive member of society,
whereas before, in the former, the institution would stoically lock away inmates and the
mentally retarded. Former inmates and the mentally ill reached new pinnacles of equality
and liberty, as they were now being treated as human beings, and not rejects of society,
cast away by the masses to be forgotten.
The Second Great Awakening began in the early 1800s, but rose in popularity during
the 1820s, as religious fervor soon swept the nation. Americans felt that they needed to
have a stronger connection with God, as a result of the wave of uncertainty that citizens
had just experienced during the Jacksonian Era because of the fluctuating economic
expansions and depressions. People soon began to pray more to God in hopes of having a
stable life, and thus, a religious ‘revival’ rooted society, and brought along a sense of unity
and peace. During this time, more and more individuals began defecting from their nonreligious lifestyle, and joined the Protestant Church, making Evangelical Protestantism the
most dominant form of Christianity in America. The Second Great Awakening was
spearheaded by Charles Finney who rejected the notion of ‘Predestination’ in the Doctrine
of Calvinism, and instead, formed the idea that people had an inherent free will to sin, and
that salvation could be blessed upon anyone (Doc B).
Religion did become somewhat diverse through the Second Great Awakening, such
as the creation of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints by Joseph Smith, whose followers
became known as Mormons. However, those who were a part of other, established
Churches failed to recognize the Mormon culture, which attempted to uphold the standards
of middle-class America, and instill values of hard work and self-control into those who
followed the Book of Mormon. America ultimately rejected Smith’s unorthodox teachings,
and ran him out of New York to the West, in Utah. In fact, persecution extended past
religion and to nationality as well. Nativists, and other members of the ‘Know-Nothing
Party’, resented the new waves of new German and Irish immigrants (Doc D) on the basis
of not only religion, but also because dissenters felt that they were diluting the WASP
culture that had been cultivated within America for decades because of their practice of
Catholicism and other social issues prevalent with immigrants, such as drinking. However,
the resentment towards both religious and ethnic minorities only strengthened the ties of
Protestants, and created a deeper feeling of brotherhood throughout America. Although
religious and nationalistic persecution occurred during the time period of 1825-1850, the
Second Great Awakening ushered in a wave of religious homogeneity within America, and
allowed for a more equal society as everyone saw each other as ‘siblings’ because of the
shared religious belief in Protestantism.
One of the most essential, and influential, reform movements that took during the
early-mid 19th century was the Abolitionist Movement. The debate over slavery was
paramount to most everyone, as most in the North opposed it, taking the stance of morality,
while those in the South rejoiced over the institution, claiming that blacks were not humans
(Doc C), and only through state’s rights may it be outlawed. The Abolitionist Movement
quickly expanded after the founding of the American Colonization Society, which wanted to
return blacks to Africa in search of greater freedoms. However, that course of action was
not the most feasible, and so reformers sought to modernize America and abolish the
institution of slavery. William Lloyd Garrison was among the most influential, through his
newspaper, ‘The Liberator’, Garrison was able to augment the amount of abolitionists
across America, as propaganda quickly changed the perception of the malleable mind of
young adults and the new generation. The Movement quickly gained speed with
individuals like Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and the Grimke Sisters all speaking
out against the injustice that slavery was, and to persuade citizens not to buy into the
façade that slaves were not real people. In order to guarantee the safety of slaves,
abolitionists and reformers who were aligned with the interests of the Movement created a
system of links between safety houses in what became to be known as the Underground
Railroad. It’s most influential ‘conductor’, was Harriet Tubman, who conducted over 19
‘trains’ from America to Canada. Slavery confined and degraded oneself into believing that
he or she was worth less than another human being, and the movement to abolish slavery
sought to change the thinking of individuals across America, and to instill the perception
that all men were truly created equal and deserved to be treated so, and the color of one’s
skin could not interfere with that.
The time period between 1825-1850 clearly demonstrates that reform movements
acted in the capacity to bolster democratic ideals and expand the cornerstones of
democracy, equality, and liberty. America was deeply rooted in the non-secular world, and
because of that, purified much of the immoral wrongdoings of society, which led to reform
movements trying to better the nation. The issues over rights was never solved in this time
period, and in fact, some movements, like the Abolitionist Movement, would not see racial
equality until the 1960s, but the process was streamlined through the efforts of the various
reformers in the antebellum society. America has always experienced social injustice and
will continue to, but individuals, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and William Lloyd
Garrison, will always rise to fight against the injustice, even when others will not.
SFI List
1) Second Great Awakening
2) Evangelical Protestantism
3) Charles Finney
4) Predestination
5) Calvinism
6) Religious Revival
7) Church of Latter-Day Saints
8) The Book of Mormon
9) Nativism
10)Know-Nothing Party
11)WASP Culture
12)Temperance Movement
13)American Temperance Society
14) Lyman Beecher
15) Lucretia Mott
16) Educational Reform
17) Horace Mann
18) Oberlin College
19) Rehabilitation
20) Dorothea Dix
21) Republican Motherhood
22)Cult of Domesticity
23) Slavery
24) Women’s Rights Movement
25) Seneca Falls Convention
26) “Declaration of Sentiments”
27) Elizabeth Cady Stanton
28) Seneca Falls Declaration
29) Abolitionism
30)Sojourner Truth
31) Frederick Douglass
32) William Lloyd Garrison
33) “The Liberator”
34) The Underground Railroad
35) Harriet Tubman
Outline:
I.
II.
Introduction
a. Define ‘Democratic Ideals’ as 1) Equality and 2) Liberty
b. Thesis: Although some movements attempted to limit political freedoms of
some, the period from 1825-1850 holistically represents an expansion of
democratic ideals because of rising equality and liberty due to social reforms,
institutional reforms, religious reforms, and abolitionist reforms, which all
culminated into the advent of a more, non-secular America, grounded in
righteousness and the further advancement of both equality, and liberty.
Social Reforms
a. Educational Reforms
i. Advent of public education- funding provided by communities
ii. Reforms wanted to restructure lax educational standards
1. Horace Mann of Massachusetts institutes progressive reforms
to fund educational system, and create a minimum school year,
among more
2. Northeast performs most reforms, South conducts the least
iii. Expansion of Women’s educational opportunities
1. Oberlin College in 1833- First coeducational college
2. Mount Holyoke in 1837- First all-female college
iv. Dissenters
1. William H. McGuffey
a. Status quo is perfectly fine, no need to change the
system.
b. Doc E
III.
v. Conclusion
1. Leads to an increase in both equality and liberty because
people have an increase in educational opportunities
b. Women’s Rights
i. Pre-Reform Thoughts
1. Republican Motherhood and Cult of Domesticity dictated that
the Women’s Sphere was in the home, tending to her children
ii. Seneca Falls Convention
1. Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivers the Seneca Falls Declaration,
or the Declaration of Sentiments
2. Outlined the key issues that women had
iii. Conclusion
1. The government in charge did not have consent of the
governed, the women should have a voice in that
2. Doc I
c. Temperance Movement
i. Clergymen tried to purge society from alcohol
1. Lyman Beecher
ii. American Temperance Society
1. Spread awareness of cause and popularity of movement
2. Volunteers pledged to abstain from the consumption of alcohol
iii. 10 Nights in a Bar Room: And What I Saw There
1. Highly influential, exposed dangers of alcohol and created
lasting stigma against those who consume
iv. Conclusion
1. Increased equality because no one would be looked down upon
for the consumption of alcohol if no one consumed
a. Doc H
2. Those addicted were liberated from their clutches of alcohol,
could not become model citizen in society
Institutional Reforms
a. Asylum and Prison Reform
i. America had twisted view of criminals and the mentally retarded
1. Horrible living conditions in asylums and prisons
ii. Dorothea Dix
1. Boston schoolteacher who advocated for reform in these
institutions
2. Preached about horrors that mentally retarded are subject to
in asylums
3. Helped to raise standards- 28 states created mental
institutions were set standards in antebellum period because
of what she told the public
iii. Rehabilitation
1. Shift from a ‘Containment’ Policy (one where you treat these
individuals as animals), to one of Rehabilitation
IV.
V.
2. Sought to better individuals and help them become productive
members of society after leaving
3. Doc A
iv. Conclusion
1. Greater equality and liberty for those subjected to the
mistreatment of the institutions.
Religious Reforms
a. Second Great Awakening
i. Extremely popular religious movement swept America
ii. Gave something stable after a time of instability in America due to the
economic expansions and depressions in Jacksonian Era
iii. Evangelical Protestantism became dominant Christian religion
iv. Charles Finney
1. Everyone had right to Salvation
2. Doc B
b. Oppression
i. Church of the Latter-Day Saints
1. Known as Mormons
2. Subjected to persecution by other religious individuals
3. Forced to move to Utah from New York City
ii. Natavists
1. Hated the new waves of German and Irish immigrants flooding
into America
a. Doc D
2. Know-Nothing Party
3. Thought immigrants dilute WASP values and WASP culture
within America, wanted a pure nation
4. Did not like Catholicism, most immigrants were though
c. Conclusion
i. Increase in members of the Protestant Church, combined with
oppression of minorities created homogenous America
Abolitionist Movement
a. Slavery
i. North generally thought immoral, South did not
1. Doc C
b. Abolitionist Organizations
i. American Colonization Society
1. Wanted to bring blacks back to Africa in order to have freedom
ii. Underground Railroad
1. Conductors led passengers on a journey through different
black sympathizers houses to Canada in order to give them
freedom
2. Harriet Tubman
c. Abolitionists
i. William Lloyd Garrison
VI.
1. Used his newspaper, The Liberator, to influence people in
America
ii. Others
1. Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Grimke Sisters
d. Conclusion
i. The Constitution reads that all men were created equal, which
includes blacks
1. Race should not factor into one’s respect of another human
being
Conclusion
a. Democratic Ideals
i. Reform movements clearly expanded both equality and liberty
b. Future Effects
i. Social injustice was present in 1825-1850, and is present in the
modern day era.
1. Reformers will always stand up against this injustice, even
when others will not.
Explanation of Documents:
Document Letter
Category
Significance
A
Institutional Reform
B
Religious Reform
C
Abolitionist Movement
D
Anti-Immigration
America needs to implement a
system of Rehabilitation into its
asylums and prisons. People can be
saved from their vices.
Any individual can choose whether
or not to sin, and salvation may be
attained by anyone. Even those who
indulge in drinking may be saved
through reformation
America needs to recognize that
slaves are people too, who are also
men and women with families of
their own. It’s immoral to allow the
institution to continue
Immigrants are ruining the country,
and harming WASP values and
culture. The new waves of German
and Irish immigrants are also
bringing with them Catholicism,
which is not good.
E
Anti-Reform
F
Anti-Educational Reform
G
Social Reform
H
Social Reform- Temperance
I
Social Reform- Women’s
Rights
Reforming means to deny and spit
upon the events in the past because
one thinks they are not good enough
to be upheld in society, reform is
treasonous to culture.
Not every boy and girl needs to be
educated to the highest degree, God
has already decided who is to climb
the social ladder and who is not
supposed to. There is nothing wrong
with the way the education system is
run right now
Brook Farm was made in order to
create a just society in compliance
with God, and to promote moral,
physical, and intellectual education,
among discouraging competition
within society
Alcohol tempts men, and victimizes
the women and children left behind,
as the men struggle with their
alcoholism and addiction, and
ultimately waste all of their money
on it and ultimately commit suicide
because they can’t afford it anymore.
Used to persuade individuals to not
drink and be selfish
Women deserve an equal voice in
government in comparison to men.
The government needs to consent of
the governed, and the women have
not given their consent to this
government because they have no
political rights. It’s a necessity that
women deserve as citizens of the
United States of America.