The Age of Reform 1820-1860 (On Level)
Abolitionism
Problem/Issue- What did
the reformers want to
change?
 Some people objected

Women’s Rights


Important Names –Leaders of this reform
movement

to slavery on moral
grounds believing it
was wrong for one
human to own
another.
John Brown-best known for the raid on
Harper’s Ferry Arsenal to oppose slavery

Frederick Douglass- Fought for both the
rights of slaves and women

With the invention of
the cotton gin and
“King Cotton”, the use
of slave labor was
increasing.
Sarah and Angelina Grimke- developed
anti-slavery feelings and fought for
women’s rights

Harriet Beecher Stowe-best known for
her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin that showed
the horrors of slavery

Harriet Tubman- a famous conductor of
the Underground Railroad

William Lloyd Garrison-edited The
Liberator to oppose slavery

Sojourner Truth-Gave a speech titled “Ain’t
I a Woman?” and
fought for women’s rights

Susan B. Anthony- led the National
American Women’s Suffrage Association
to fight for women’s suffrage

Elizabeth Cady Stanton- held the famous
Seneca Falls Convention and fought for
women’s suffrage
In the middle 1800’s,
men held most
positions of authority
in American society.
Women began to see
this lack of equality
and opportunity as a
serious problem that
also needed reform.
Goals/AimsWhat did they hope to accomplish?


The main goal of the
Abolitionist Movement was to
end slavery completely.

The first early Abolitionist
group were the Quakers of
Pennsylvania.

Leaders organized the Seneca 
Falls Convention in New York
in 1848. This convention
passed the Declaration of
Sentiments for women
modeled after the Declaration
of Independence
After the Seneca Falls
Convention, the focus of
Women’s Rights Movement
quickly turned to securing
suffrage (right to vote.)

Outcome
It was not until the 13th
amendment in 1865 that
slavery was officially
Outlawed
Although opportunities for
women increased in the late
1800’s, it was not until the
19th amendment in 1920
that women officially gained
the right to vote.
Temperance
Problem/Issue- What did
the reformers want to change?
 Many men under the
influence of alcohol would
abuse their families or
abandon them altogether.
 It was common for a man
to get paid on Friday and
spend all of his pay on
alcohol without ever going
home to his wife and
children.
Important Names –Leaders of this
reform movement
 Christian Women’s Temperance
Union- main supporters of the
Temperance movement


Prison/Mentally
Ill
Education



Most schools had little
money, and many
teachers lacked training.
Also, some people
opposed the idea of
required education.
Within jails, criminals and
the seriously mentally ill
were all housed together in
unheated, unfurnished,
and foul-smelling quarters.
Some inmates were guilty
of no crime. Instead, they
were suffering from mental
illnesses.
Goals/AimsWhat did they hope to accomplish?

This was a movement to lessen
the use of alcohol.
Outcome



Horace Mann- promoted public
education
and “normal schools” to train
teachers; felt everyone deserved a
freed education
and it should be mandatory for all




Dorothea Dix- devoted to the welfare 
of the mentally ill; she helped build
safe asylums in the U.S.
Mann believed education was a
key to wealth and economic
opportunity for all.
He wanted to ensure that every
child could receive a basic
education
He also worked for the
development of teacher training
schools, the improvement of the
quality of education offered in
rural schools and the recruitment
of women into the ranks of
teachers.

Dorothea Dix made it her life's
work to educate the public
about the poor conditions for
prisoners and the mentally ill



In 1919 the Temperance
Movement finally gained its
victory with the passage of the
18th Amendment.
This amendment banned the
manufacture, sale, and
transportation of alcohol
within the United States.
The amendment was repealed
in 1933.
More states took up the
idea of universal schooling
Although most schools
admitted only white men,
other groups also began
winning access to higher
education.
Oberlin College of Ohio
which was founded in 1833,
admitted both both women
and African-Americans
Her efforts resulted in states’
improving prisons and
mental facilities