Reform Movements
Abolitionist Movement
• They wanted to end slavery
• Impact
– Led to disagreement over slavery in new
territories
– People began to question the morality of
slavery
– Led to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860
Labor Movement
• Wanted to reform poor working conditions
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Low wages
Long hours
Lack of job security
Poor safety conditions
Child labor
• Impact
– Creation of labor unions
• Knights of Labor (1869)
• American Federation of Labor (1886)
– Labor Strikes
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Great Railway Strike (1877)
Haymarket Riot (1886)
Homestead Strike (1892)
Pullman Strike (1894)
Lawrence Textile Strike (1912)- IWW
– Dept. of Labor created (1913)
– New laws->Wagner Act (1935)
– Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
• Minimum wage
• 40 hour week
Temperance Movement
• Wanted to ban the manufacture and sale of alcohol
[prohibition]
• Began in the 1820s
• In 1874, Frances Willard formed the Women's
Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
• Impact
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Adoption of the 18th Amendment in 1919
Law was unenforceable
It stimulated crime-smuggling and bootlegging
Repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933
Women’s Rights Movement
• Women’s suffrage was main goal of
women’s rights movement from early 1800s
to 1920
• Wanted more educational opportunities
• Equality economically and socially for all
women
• Impact
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1848 Seneca Falls Convention
Women gained more access to college education
19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote
WWI and WWII-women had more employment
opportunities
1963, The Feminine Mystique argued against the
traditional roles of women
Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress in 1972,
but never ratified
Equal Opportunity Act (1972)- equal pay for equal
work
Title IX (1972)- helped female athletes
Populist Party
• Farmers created the Populist Party to
promote the following goals
– Graduated income tax
– Direct election of U.S. Senators
– Government ownership of railroads, telegraphs
and telephones
– Secret ballot
• Impact
– During election of 1896, Populist candidate
William Jennings Bryan believed that the free
coinage of silver would make it easier for
farmers to pay off their debts
– Many of their ideas were adopted by other
political parties and made into law
– Illustrates the role of third parties in American
politics
Progressive Movement 1890s to 1920
• Wanted to correct political, economic, and
social abuses of industrialization
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Political bosses
Monopolies
Working conditions in factories
Life for the urban poor
• Impact
– Muckrakers- exposed problems to the public
– Social settlement movement
• Hull House
– Reform of city and state governments
• Initiatives, Referendum, and Recall
– Consumer protection
• Creation of FDA
– Regulation of business
• Anti-trust legislation
– Improved labor conditions
– Conservation
• Creation of national parks
Civil Rights Movement
• African Americans moved toward ending
racial segregation in the public schools and
other public places (Jim Crow laws)
• Goal of obtaining equal civil rights as
promised in the 14th and 15th Amendments
• Impact
– 1909- creation of NAACP
– 1954- Brown v. Board of Education overturned
“Separate but equal”- schools desegregated
– 1955- Montgomery Bus Boycott- lead to end of
segregation in public transportation
– 24th Amendment-abolished poll tax
– Civil Rights Act of 1964
– Voting Right Act of 1965
– Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. (April
1968) and Robert F. Kennedy (June 1968)
Harlem Renaissance 1920s
• Wanted action against bigotry and an
expression of pride in African American
culture and identity
• Harlem became the center of African
American life
– Jazz music flourished [known as Jazz Age]
– Poets and writers expressed pride in heritage
and attacked racism
American Indian Movement
• Wanted to improve poor economic status
• Wanted more control over the Bureau of
Indian Affairs
• Impact
– the American Indian Movement (AIM) sought
greater pride and respect for their heritage
• Introduced term “Native American”
• Protested against racial biases and stereotypes in
media
• Militants took over Alcatraz Island in 1969 and
Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1973, and
occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1972
• Court decisions tried to correct treaty violationsmoney given as compensation for lost lands
• 1975- Act gave Native Americans more control over
reservations
Latino Movement
• Wanted to obtain civil rights in
– Employment
– Education
– Housing
• Impact
– Cesar Chavez organized migrant farm workers
into the United Farm Workers Union in 1962
• led to safer working conditions and more stringent
government regulations
• Raised the self-esteem of Latino population by
making their contributions more visible
Disabled Americans
• Wanted to gain their full rights in American
society
– Wider educational opportunities
– End to discrimination in employment, public
accommodations, transportation, and
telecommunication
• Impact
– Federal Government passed legislation setting
out new programs and policies for people with
disabilities
• 1973 act barred discrimination in programs and
activities that are federally funded
• 1975 Education law ensured free and appropriate
education of disabled children
• 1990-Americans with Disabilities Act-disabled
given access to public areas; prohibits
discrimination in employment and public
accommodations
Environmental Movement
• Wanted to preserve and protect the
environment for future generations
– setting aside wild lands and protected spaces.
• Impact
– Conservation Movement
• Progressive politicians such as Teddy Roosevelt set
up environmental protections and preserved wild
lands
– 1960s
• One of the most influential works of the 1960's
environmental resurgence was the book Silent
Spring by marine biologist Rachel Carson
published in 1962.
– Carson warned of a "silent spring" in which all birds had
been killed. She attacked the growing use of pesticides in
farming, especially the then-popular pesticide DDT which
would be banned from use in 1972.
– 1970s
• Earth Day
April 22, 1970 -the first "Earth Day" celebration.
– The nation-wide effort was designed to raise awareness
and concern among Americans for environmental issues
such as toxic wastes, air and water quality, and
environmental pollution.
– Modern Day
• The most significant environmental initiative of the
past 20 years has been the widespread adoption of
recycling
• The use of state and federal governments
Superfund monies have also helped to rehabilitate
lands once deemed unusable due to industrial
pollution.