Reform Movements

DBEQ

Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals. The country was undergoing a major period of change and each reform was critical to the shape of American society today. First we must define democratic ideals in order to have a concrete base. Democratic ideals are concepts that stress the importance of the individual and his rights within the structure of a government. They attempt to equalize the inequalities that exist within the economic and political structure. They run off of the basics of honesty, respect, peace, and justice.

The second Great Awakening was what started the everlasting spark of inspiration to the many. In this period, the United States was a very religious country where about three quarters of the people attended church regularly. The Calvinistic concept of religion was very strict and foreboding. In reaction to this cold view of life, more optimistic religions and thinkers were spawned. Deism was the main forerunner of this change. It relied on reason rather than faith to guide people. A religion which best exemplified this change was the Unitarian faith. Unitarians believed that god existed in only one person not a pantheon of gods. They believed that we achieve happiness and salvation through goodness towards others. Because of this belief many reformists were uplifted by good deeds towards humanity. However, the less educated and more numerous people embraced revivalistic religions which employed dancing, and other theatrical behavior to gain membership. Methodists and Baptists were examples of this genre. This all relates to document B.

In the Age of Reform one of the first practical aspects of improvement was creating the House of Refuge which segregated youthful offenders from more hardened older criminals. This is found in document A. Prior to this reform, these children were not benefiting from incarceration. They were only becoming more sophisticated in the skills of criminal activity. Debtor's prisons were for people who owned money and were confined for as little as a dollar in indebtedness. These were gradually eliminated through the political process. The number of death penalty offenses was reduced and medieval punishments such as whipping and branding were also decreasing. Also, people suffering from insanity were abjectly treated by being chained in jails or put in poor houses with sane people. Dorathea Dix was a pioneer in the reform of treatment for the deranged.

Women's rights in the 19th century were very limited. They could not vote, retain title to their property, and could be beaten by their husbands. The general perception of women was that they were physically and emotionally inferior to men. They were also perceived to be refined and artistically inclined. They were considered the more moral of the two sexes. However, during this time they began to participate in reform movements. There again their rights were restricted. They could only be a listener; they could not vocalize their beliefs. Because of this, they stopped addressing those issues and focused on their own rights. The Grimke sisters were a perfect example of this. Although women did not gain the right to vote until