Name: ______________________________________________
Social Reform Movements of the 1800s
Reform means to make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse (mistreatment or
neglect) and injustices (discrimination or unfairness). It is also a change for the better as a
result of correcting those abuses. Reform (change or improvement) movements mainly took
place in the North. These movements held universal (common or widespread) themes of selfdetermination, freedom, religion, nature, common man, democracy and history.
Other changes in society: Art, music and literature lead to unique (exclusive or distinctive)
developments in American culture such as the Hudson River School of artists, John James Audubon,
“Battle Hymn of the Republic”, transcendentalism, poetry, literature, and other cultural activities in the
history of the United States. Slave spirituals and gospel music grew during this time period. The Red
Cross was started during the Civil War to improve the treatment of wounded soldiers. There were many
great things that came out of this movement.
Second Great Awakening
Dorothea Dix
Horace Mann
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Many people felt that they
had lost their faith in God,
they were too occupied with
other things such as making
money.
Dix discovered that many
mentally ill people were
being treated very bad and
living in horrible conditions.
Mann realized that only
wealthy children were going
to school. He believed that
the poor children were
unfairly denied an
education.
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People all over the country began
to attend outdoor religious
services. Also,they began to
believe that they could change
things that they believed were
unfair and against God’s wishes
which encouraged social reform
movements, such as prison,
women’s rights, temperance
(control of alcohol), abolition
(ending slavery) and mental health.
Dix wrote a detailed report to
the government. 13 new
hospitals for the mentally ill
were opened in the U.S. and
treatment for such people
improved greatly.
Mann opened the first public
school in the country in
Massachusetts. He called
education “the great equalizer”
and public schools spread all
over the nation.
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Temperance Movement
Fredrick Douglass
Sojourner Truth
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Many men were drinking
too much alcohol and
spending money their
families needed to survive.
Douglass was a runaway
slave that went to the North.
He became an abolitionist
and a women’s rights
supporter. He began to
speak out against slavery.
Truth was a runaway slave
that went to the North. She
became an abolitionist and a
women’s rights supporter.
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Mostly women began to protest
the selling of alcohol. This
movement gained the support of
business owners. In all, 14
states passed anti-alcohol laws.
He wrote a famous
autobiography describing his
experiences as a slave. He also
began an anti-slavery
newspaper. His public speeches
attracted huge crowds of
abolitionists.
Truth spoke her famous “Aint I
a woman?” speech at the
Seneca Falls Convention. Her
public speeches attracted huge
crowds of people.
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William L. Garrison
Harriet Tubman
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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Garrison was an abolitionist
from Massachusetts that
helped many runaway
slaves get to Canada. He
was also a supporter of
women’s rights.
Tubman was a runaway
slave that went to the North.
There she became a
“conductor” in the
Underground Railroad.
Stanton believed that men
had no right to deny women
basic civil rights. She
helped to organize the
Seneca Falls Convention of
1848.
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Garrison published the famous
abolitionist newspaper called
“The Liberator”. He also spoke
at the Seneca Falls Convention.
He helped many people to
become abolitionists.
Tubman became known as the
“Moses” of her time because
she risked her life helping over
300 runaway slaves reach the
North.
She helped to write the
Declaration of Sentiments
which declared that “all men
and women are created equal”.
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Lucretia Mott
Susan B. Anthony
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Mott believed that men had
no right to deny women
basic civil rights. She
helped to organize the
Seneca Falls Convention of
1848.
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Mott helped to write the
Declaration of Sentiments
which declared that “all men
and women are created equal”.
She was also an abolitionist
speaker.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
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Anthony spoke out against
unfair treatment of women.
She also was in the
Temperance and abolitionist
movements. She also argued
that women should have the
right to vote (suffrage).
Stowe became an
abolitionist after observing
how horrible slvery was to
people. She wrote the
famous book “Uncle Tom’s
Cabin” to expose the cruelty
of slavery.
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By 1865, 29 states had passed
laws that gave women greater
rights over their wages and their
property. Yet the right to vote
didn’t happen until 1920.
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” became
the best-selling book in the
United States and around the
world. Many people read it and
became abolitionists. In the
South, the book was banned and
was destroyed in public
burnings.
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