Chapter 6, Lesson 3: Reforming Society Flashcards
What were some of the special institutions that were created following the Second Great Awakening?
(1) Prison reforms, leading to the creation of special institutions called Asylums, for the mentally ill. (Dorothea Dix)
(2) Benevolent Societies: Associations focused on spreading word of God, which later began to solve social problems
Describe the role of women during this time
The reform effort was overwhelming constituted by women - many of them unmarried (who found a foundation in religion to build their lives).
What was the Temperance Movement?
Focused on alcohol addiction as the source of crime, disorder, and poverty. Members advocated Temperance (moderation in consumption of alcohol), and many groups united to form the American Temperance Union - which pushed for laws prohibiting the sale of liquor (prohibition laws)
What were the key elements of Prison Reform?
(1) Better facilities for prisoners, insane and poor
(2) Rehabilitating prisoners vs. locking them away
(3) “Penitentiaries” - places with solitary confinement and imposition of silence to help prisoners a chance to mediate and think about their wrongdoing
What were the key elements of Educational Reform?
The establishment of government-funded schools to provide public education to ensure the electorate were well educated (to also cover for the new immigrants). Horace Mann created the state board of education in 1837 in Massachusetts - training schools for teachers, established schools and created the mandatory school attendance loa in 1852. Schools were supported by local and state taxes and tuition
Describe Women’s Education during this time
While the officials focused on men for the public education, women also seized the opportunity and founded girl’s schools. Prominent schools included Vermont (started by Emma Willard), Emerson School for Girls in Boston and the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, Massachusetts
Who was Elizabeth Blackwell?
The first woman to earn a medical degree in 1849. She founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857 - which was fully staffed by women.
Describe the Early Women’s Movement
During the mid-1800s, the rise of factories separated the workplace from home. Men left home to go to work, and women stayed back. Workplace was considered more dangerous, immoral, vs. home, and women were expected to be models of virtue and take responsibilities for their children (a concepts called true womanhood - including a book called the Treatise on Domestic Economy). This led to the emergence of the first woman’s movement.
How was “true womanhood” tied to political rights?
Many women believed that true womanhood ideas implied that they were partners of their husbands and morally superior to them, as a virtuous home would extend to a virtuous society. To expand their influence, as moral crusaders, women sought greater political rights to spread their ideas. Key leader: Margaret Fuller
What was the Seneca Falls Convention?
Gathering of women reformers organized in 1848 by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Lady Stanton, who were active in the antislavery movement. The convention issued the “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” - it was significant for the focus on right to vote, and sowed the seeds for the Women’s Suffrage movement
