DBQ Reforms in the Second Great Awakening
Americans wanted their citizens to be more upright, God-fearing, literate, and upright. In the early years of the Republic, Americans began to devote more and more energy to religious reforms and revivals. The realities of democracy disappointed some Americans. Reformers called for more public education and the rights of women. Societies against alcohol and slavery were formed. Religious reforms changed the role of religion in American society and encouraged believers to improve the world. The Second Great Awakening ignited innovative reforms that pushed democratic ideals in both the social and political realms.
Horace Mann’s education reform was a bid to provide public education to all children to ensure they had the same opportunity to learn and succeed. Horace Mann (1796-1859), a leading advocate for the tax-supported public school, led the movement to create a common (public) education. Horace made an effort in 1846 to ensure that every child could receive an education without charge. The “duty of every government” was to make sure that all children could receive an education (doc 3). The majority of white middle-class boys were able attend school during the 19thcentury. Many girls were not considered bright enough to attend school and were instead used as slaves on plantations. Some poor boys went to school. Some poor boys attended school. Horace’s efforts and those of other reformers led to free public education for all children, paid for through state taxes. Dorothea Dix was the leader of the Rehabilitation Reform movement, which fought against the poor treatment and care provided to mentally handicapped asylum inmates and improved rehabilitation programs for inmates in federal prisons. The reason for this is that people were restrained by “strait-waistcoat…fastened to the upper part of the bedstead with chains…and their feet with iron leg locks or chains” in mental hospitals (doc 5). These inhumane, unconstitutional conditions were imposed on the mentally sick. Dix supporters fought to improve the treatment for mentally disabled patients. Because of this movement, many new asylums and improvements were built in different parts of the country. In addition to prisons, rehabilitation programs helped convicts reintegrate into society.
Abolitionists helped the suffrage cause because slavery united women for a different cause. Despite the fact that they were both fighting for the abolitionist cause, they experienced oppression by men. The women began to fight their own democratic ideas, leading to prominent suffragists including Susan B. Anthony. The suffrage campaign suffered a second setback in 1840 when the World Anti-Slavery Convention, which was not open to women abolitionists, took place. Seneca Falls Convention was a women’s rights convention that took place in Seneca Falls in 1848. Its goal was to increase awareness of women’s issues. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments at this convention, calling for women to have democratic rights like Americans. This declaration was addressed to the United States Federal Government, stating “We hold this truth as self-evident. All men and women are equal.” It was because the government had a responsibility to protect the rights of people, and not watch women being denied their natural rights. Women of this period were denied their natural rights due to the belief that “women can’t work as hard” as men. The 19th century saw girl women treated differently to men. Men were expected by society to be public, whether they worked in factories, attended meetings or clubs, or went out with their friends. Women, on the other hand, were expected mostly to stay home, do all of the cleaning, cooking and childcare. While women were expected to stay at home, they would be responsible for the cooking, cleaning and child rearing.
In large part due to these pre-19th-century expectations, women did not have the same access to education as their male counterparts. Women’s education was viewed by many as a form of subversion and perversion. Women were completely excluded from political life as they could not vote. Women’s Rights Movement was successful in the end, although it didn’t happen until 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment prohibits the denial of voting rights to any United States citizen based on gender. The 19th amendment was ratified 18 August 1920. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others were not around to witness the ratification of the amendment that they first drafted. However, their decades-long dedication was rewarded. Women’s Rights Movement led to a shift in the perception of women as being a “second-class race”. They were now seen as being on par with males, both politically and socially. The women’s movement and the Temperance movements were closely connected in the nineteenth century. As the women gained more freedom, they fought alongside organizations like The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance. The women believed that alcohol contributed to poverty, crime, death, and other issues (doc 4). The government was eventually approached by this group as well as others to stop alcohol sales. Alcoholism is also thought to have a connection to family disintegration, since drunkenness leads to an increase in household abuse. The people who wanted this law wanted it to be a blanket prohibition of alcohol throughout society.
The Second Great Awakening was the primary reason for the powerful abolitionists movement. The abolitionists movement was one that had a lot of influential leaders, including William Garrison as editor of The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper. These men, and many others, fought for the unconditional and immediate emancipation from slavery of all the slaves in America and in the newly acquired territories. William Lloyd Garrison believes that slavery was inhumane. He is also a deeply religious man. Garrison, in the Declaration of the National Anti-Slavery Convention of 1833 emphasized many important points such as the treatment of African Americans like “marketable commodity” (doc 1) Slavery was treated inhumanly, as slaves were punished most often who lived and worked on plantations. Plantation owners or masters, their wives, children, or drivers were all capable of administering punishment. The slave overseers had the authority to punish and whip their slaves. The abolitionist movement and slavery’s issue remained prominent during the Civil War, even though abolition did not occur. From 1825 to 1850, many reform movements gained popularity by promoting the spread of America’s democratic ideals.
The Second Great Awakening marked a time of great change in America for its minority communities. Women, children and slaves as well as criminals had the opportunity to express their views publicly. Through social and political participation, the minorities were given democratic rights and representation. Americans started to recognize equality as an important human trait that must be pursued. The society in America began to demand equality and change for minorities, thanks to the influence of influential individuals. A reform similar to these is the child labor reforms from the 20thcentury. The National Child Labor Committee coordinated the movement against child exploitation. By 1910, most states had passed laws regulating the age at which children can legally work (between the ages of 12 and 16), as well as the maximum number of hours per day and week.
