Jacksonian Democracy and
Social Reform
TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF A
CHANGING WORLD
1795
1861
President Andrew Jackson
 Andrew Jackson won the
Presidency in 1828
 With his status as a war hero and
a “common man” become popular
with less elite individuals.
 He was born relatively poor and
did not receive a first class
education.
 Became known as “Old Hickory”
for his stubbornness and refusal
to bend to opposition.
Universal Suffrage
As a “common man” Jackson took
issue with the typical upper class
politician
The founding fathers decided that
only white males with land should
vote.
Landed white males would elect
Congressman to the House of Rep.
and then they would select the
Senate and Electoral College.
 This is gov’t as a republic
 Jackson felt that all white males should have suffrage to
elect people more representative of the “common folk”
 This represents a shift towards a more democratic idea of
gov’t.
The Second Great Awakening
 In addition to gov’t reforms the 1800’s sees many social
reforms
 Many are sparked by a second nationwide revival
movement
 The Second Great
Awakening
 Traveling preachers and
large “camp meetings”
made people want to make
the world a better place
through Christian ideals
 They start a Reform Era
 Let us READ!
The Reform Era
The Temperance Movement
 Temperance means
“moderation”
 Activists involved in the
Temperance Movement
wanted to eliminate or
lessen the use of alcoholic
beverages
 They wrote of the “evils of
alcohol”
 They linked alcohol use to
sickness, poverty, crime,
and the breakup of
families
The Reform Era
Education Reform
 Another area of focus for reformers was the education
system
 In the 1800s not all children attended school
 Those “common schools” that were available free to the
public focused on teaching
the three basic “Rs”
“Reading, Writing, and
Arithmetic”
 Reformers felt that a better
educated person made better
decisions
 Widespread education is vital
to democratic society
The Reform Era
Prison Reform
 Prisons in the 1800s tended to
be inhumane places
 Prisoners were often held in
overcrowded and unsanitary
conditions
 Mentally ill prisoners could be held with no treatment in
what we would call torture devices to isolate them from
their surroundings
 Dorothea Dix wrote an exposé and gave speeches about
these conditions after she visited a jail in Massachusetts
 She and her supporters ushered in an age of prison
reform in Massachusetts and other states in the union
The Reform Era
Transcendentalism
 A new philosphical outlook also develops in New
England during this time.
 Transcendentalism is the belief that knowledge is not
found only by observation but also through reason,
intuition, and personal spiritual experiences.
Key transcendentalists of the period
were Ralph Waldo
Emerson and
Henry David
Thoreau
Urban Reform
 With industrialization and immigration the country
begins experiencing urbanization
 This leads to very crowed cities throughout the north
 Due to the crowding
living conditions in many
places deteriorate rapidly
 Tenements became the
most common home for
many working poor families
Urban Reform
 Conditions were severely
crowded and unsanitary
 Some reform efforts begin that
establish health boards in some
cities, but conditions stay bad
for most of the 19th century
 We also begin to see urban
workers come together to form
labor unions
 Unions were often seen as anti-industry and nearly
terroristic in nature. While mostly unsuccessful we do see
the beginning of a limited 10 hour work day for some
jobs.
Women’s Rights
 Seneca Falls Convention in
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Seneca Falls NY 1848
Organized by Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, who would later work
with Susan B. Anthony, and
Lucretia Mott the convention
Created the Declaration of
Sentiments
This document, signed by a mix of 100 woman and men laid out
what they felt the most grievous injustices against women were.
Chief amongst their concerns was the fact that women could not
vote or hold public office.
While not achieving much directly the convention is a launching
point for women’s rights activists for years to come.
Abolitionism
 The rise of an abolition movement shows a
changing perspective on slavery
 Efforts in the south were often focused on helping
slaves escape
 The Underground Railroad, with people like
Harriet Tubman, was a network of individuals who
focused on getting slaves out of the South
 In the North speakers and writers
formed anti-slavery leagues and tried to
influence political direction
 While many abolitionists in the North were middleclass white Christians, many were former slaves.
 Frederick Douglas, born into slavery, became one of
the most famous and influential abolitionist
speakers of the time.