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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 non- religious 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. 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. II. Social Reforms a. Educational Reforms a.i. Advent of public education- funding provided by communities a.ii. Reforms wanted to restructure lax educational standards a.ii.1. Horace Mann of Massachusetts institutes progressive reforms to fund educational system, and create a minimum school year, among more a.ii.2. Northeast performs most reforms, South conducts the least a.iii. Expansion of Women’s educational opportunities a.iii.1. Oberlin College in 1833- First coeducational college a.iii.2. Mount Holyoke in 1837- First all-female college a.iv. Dissenters a.iv.1. William H. McGuffey a.iv.1.a. Status quo is perfectly fine, no need to change the system. a.iv.1.b. Doc E a.v. Conclusion a.v.1. Leads to an increase in both equality and liberty because people have an increase in educational opportunities b. Women’s Rights b.i. Pre-Reform Thoughts b.i.1. Republican Motherhood and Cult of Domesticity dictated that the Women’s Sphere was in the home, tending to her children b.ii. Seneca Falls Convention b.ii.1. Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivers the Seneca Falls Declaration, or the Declaration of Sentiments b.ii.2. Outlined the key issues that women had b.iii. Conclusion b.iii.1. The government in charge did not have consent of the governed, the women should have a voice in that b.iii.2. Doc I c. Temperance Movement c.i. Clergymen tried to purge society from alcohol c.i.1. Lyman Beecher c.ii. American Temperance Society c.ii.1. Spread awareness of cause and popularity of movement c.ii.2. Volunteers pledged to abstain from the consumption of alcohol c.iii. 10 Nights in a Bar Room: And What I Saw There c.iii.1. Highly influential, exposed dangers of alcohol and created lasting stigma against those who consume c.iv. Conclusion c.iv.1. Increased equality because no one would be looked down upon for the consumption of alcohol if no one consumed c.iv.1.a. Doc H c.iv.2. Those addicted were liberated from their clutches of alcohol, could not become model citizen in society III. Institutional Reforms a. Asylum and Prison Reform a.i. America had twisted view of criminals and the mentally retarded a.i.1. Horrible living conditions in asylums and prisons a.ii. Dorothea Dix a.ii.1. Boston schoolteacher who advocated for reform in these institutions a.ii.2. Preached about horrors that mentally retarded are subject to in asylums a.ii.3. Helped to raise standards- 28 states created mental institutions were set standards in antebellum period because of what she told the public a.iii. Rehabilitation a.iii.1. Shift from a ‘Containment’ Policy (one where you treat these individuals as animals), to one of Rehabilitation a.iii.2. Sought to better individuals and help them become productive members of society after leaving a.iii.3. Doc A a.iv. Conclusion a.iv.1. Greater equality and liberty for those subjected to the mistreatment of the institutions. IV. Religious Reforms a. Second Great Awakening a.i. Extremely popular religious movement swept America a.ii. Gave something stable after a time of instability in America due to the economic expansions and depressions in Jacksonian Era a.iii. Evangelical Protestantism became dominant Christian religion a.iv. Charles Finney a.iv.1. Everyone had right to Salvation a.iv.2. Doc B b. Oppression b.i. Church of the Latter-Day Saints b.i.1. Known as Mormons b.i.2. Subjected to persecution by other religious individuals b.i.3. Forced to move to Utah from New York City b.ii. Natavists b.ii.1. Hated the new waves of German and Irish immigrants flooding into America b.ii.1.a. Doc D b.ii.2. Know-Nothing Party b.ii.3. Thought immigrants dilute WASP values and WASP culture within America, wanted a pure nation b.ii.4. Did not like Catholicism, most immigrants were though c. Conclusion c.i. Increase in members of the Protestant Church, combined with oppression of minorities created homogenous America V. Abolitionist Movement a. Slavery a.i. North generally thought immoral, South did not a.i.1. Doc C b. Abolitionist Organizations b.i. American Colonization Society b.i.1. Wanted to bring blacks back to Africa in order to have freedom b.ii. Underground Railroad b.ii.1. Conductors led passengers on a journey through different black sympathizers houses to Canada in order to give them freedom b.ii.2. Harriet Tubman c. Abolitionists c.i. William Lloyd Garrison c.i.1. Used his newspaper, The Liberator, to influence people in America c.ii. Others c.ii.1. Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Grimke Sisters d. Conclusion d.i. The Constitution reads that all men were created equal, which includes blacks d.i.1. Race should not factor into one’s respect of another human being VI. Conclusion a. Democratic Ideals a.i. Reform movements clearly expanded both equality and liberty b. Future Effects b.i. Social injustice was present in 1825-1850, and is present in the modern day era. b.i.1. Reformers will always stand up against this injustice, even when others will not.

Explanation of Documents:

Document Letter Category Significance

A Institutional Reform America needs to implement a system of Rehabilitation into its asylums and prisons. People can be saved from their vices. B Religious Reform 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 C Abolitionist Movement 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

D Anti-Immigration 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 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. F Anti-Educational Reform 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 G Social Reform 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 H Social Reform- Temperance 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 I Social Reform- Women’s Women deserve an equal voice in Rights 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.