APUSH Socail Reformation

Faith Evans Mr.
Funk-3A APUSH 20 November 2013 Essay Question, #3 Many things contributed to the encouragement of social reform in the 1800's. Although scholars such Ralph Waldo Emerson or Edgar Allen Poe helped lead the reform era, the most important ideals that encouraged social reform were the Second Great Awakening, Industrialization, and nostalgia for the past. All three played a very important role in social reform and had key elements within them which led to social reformation. It was widely known and accepted in the 1800s that it was time for a change, and Americans knew they had to do something about it, which when the Second Great Awakening surfaced. Led by Charles Grandison Finney, Peter Cartwright, and Lyman Beecher, the Second Great Awakening really did awaken the people of the United States to refocus and make religion a major part of everyday life, and try to make a difference. Revivals everywhere, inspired by the aforementioned leaders, encouraged evangelicalism that earned its way into a number of areas in American life, including prison reform, the temperance movement, the womens rights movement, and the abolition of slavery. Prison reform was started by Dorthea Dix to help not only women, but also the mentally ill out of the same prisons, and receive better treatment and living conditions. Dorthea found that people with insanity were treated worse than normal criminals. Secondly, the Temperance movement was an attempt to reduce the amount of alcohol
consumed, due to the outrageous yearly amount of hard alcohol consumed by Americans. The different religious revivals that were taking place were a great effect on why this movement came into effect. It was mainly lead by Christian woman that wanted alcohol gone because of the domestic and sometimes sexual violence that was going on. It was also led by owners of factories because employees were easily injured when under the influence, and the outcome of that was also the fact that sometimes products were ruined and wasted, which was a loss of money. The Second Great Awakening also led to a womens rights reformation. The womens rights reformation was directed towards getting women freedoms which were ignored or suppressed by law, custom, and behavior in their society. Women did not have the rights: to vote; to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. Another major step for the Second Great Awakening was how it lead to the abolition of slavery, which began during the Second Great Awakening and grew to large proportions in the United States. The Second Great Awakening contributed in major ways with all of the movements that went on during this period. All aspects, small or large, were vital to social reformation. Industrialization helped develop social reform. It helped the economy develop from a bad economy with hardly any money coming in, to a good economy with lots of money coming in. It also led to many people getting jobs because of all the factories that were springing up all over the United States. It led to people being financially stable and being able to support themselves. Many Americans wanted to reduce poverty and improve the living conditions of the poor. It led people to become better workers and led to many great economic inventions that changed the world forever.
Nostalgia had many effects that lead to social reform. It makes people look back in the past and see how they lived in the poor conditions and suffered like they did in the time they were currently living in. It led to people like Dorthea Dix, who wanted to help the mentally ill because they were getting mistreated in prisons. It also encouraged people to take a stand on womens suffrage. They could look back a long time and see how woman were not allowed to vote or even own land. The anti-slavery movement was also a huge ordeal. People looking back on how bad the blacks had been treated and how they were looked upon were getting people upset. It encouraged people like Harriet Tubman to start the Underground Railroad to help free blacks from horrible circumstances in the south. Although many elements led to social reform, the three key movements that made it happen were the Second Great Awakening, with prison reform, the temperance movement, the womens rights movement, and the abolition of slavery, Industrialization, with building a sound economy, and nostalgia for the past, which was purely the individual power of Americans which led to internal inspiration.

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Faith Evans Mr.

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