Reforming America in the 19th Century

Question 1

America in 1848

Answer 1

After Mexican-American War, the country doubled in side. Ongoing issues: Slavery, temperance, women’s rights, education, and prison/asylum reform

Question 2

Women’s voices in the 19th century

Answer 2

Women started voicing their concerns and desires to change/reform the many issues plaguing 19th century America; wanted to prove that they should have the same voting right as men and that they could also be “political”

Question 3

First Wave of Immigration (1830-1860)

Answer 3

• The demand for unskilled labor grew as the industry grew through the North.
• Those who argued for better working conditions were replaced by German, Irish, and Chinese immigrants.

Question 4

Problems of Immigration

Answer 4

Social: Nativism = growing feeling among Americans of their anger toward immigrants
Economic: whenever social class gap widens --> economic downturn = ressesion or depression

Question 5

Development of Cities

Answer 5

• Immigration turns cities into “Melting Pots” as customs and cultural beliefs spread.
• Housing communites in the cities became poor, run-down, and unsanitary.

Question 6

Economic Downfall Transform Cities

Answer 6

Panic of 1837 creates economic hardships but also:

1) Middle class starts to dwindle because factories only required low-skilled/low paying jobs
2) Factory owners pay immigrants less, resulting in naturally born citizens to lose their jobs
3) 70% of cities were consumed with low-wage factory working immigrant families

Question 7

Cities Begin to Decay

Answer 7

Poor living conditions:

1) Cities become filthy with dirty water bc of lack of sewers and garbage removal
2) Cholera, yellow fever, and typhus became epidemic in cities
3) City services were left in the hands of private companies who accommodated the middle and upper classes

Question 8

Basic Elements to Reform

Answer 8

1) Quaker/Evangelical Religion: religiously motivated to reform the problems of America
2) Belief in the basic goodness of man: believed that people were inherently good and would be receptive to reform
3) Moralistic Dogmatism: People were sinful, lazy, and intemperate, reformers must show them correct way to live

Question 9

Causes of Temperance Movement

Answer 9

• Factory workers worked long days and after a long day would go to bars or tavern to drink their daily wages away.
• Led to public drunkness, economic despair, and domestic violence.
• In 1830 people drank 7 drinks a day (on avg).

Question 10

Temperance Movement

Answer 10

• Drinking must be outlaws to truly reform the problems in America
• Factory workers drink their day’s wages away after work
• American Society for the Promotion of Temperance
• Over 200,000 memebers by 1830s
• Supported by many Whig Party members but opposed by Democrats

Question 11

Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound

Answer 11

marketed to women to help with menstrual side effects; 20% alcohol; medicines were not yet regulated

Question 12

Beginning of Public Education

Answer 12

• Massachusetts was the 1st to start Public Education
• Citizens paid taxes to support their local schools
• Teaching became the first universal profession for women
• Catherine Beecher began the 1st training school for women to become teachers in the U.S.

Question 13

Prison & Asylum Reform

Answer 13

• Were attempts to ‘help’ or ‘reform’ those who were mentally disabled.
• The mentally ill/disabled were put in jails along with actual criminals.
• Prisons and asylums were unclean and became brutal in nature.
• Dorothea Dix petitioned to end these cruel conditions.

Question 14

Dorthea Dix

Answer 14

• Activist for Women’s Suffrage Movement, the Abolitionist Movement, and the reformation of state asylums
• Traveled throughout the country visiting various “institutions” and finding horrible conditions
• First mental health hospital was created thanks to her.
• 125 nationwide facilities were created because of her.

Question 15

American Colonization Society

Answer 15

1816 by Robert Finley; believed that whites and African Americans couldn’t live harmoniously in the US and the only way African Americans could experince equality was by relocating to Africa; wanted to limit the number of freedmen

Question 16

William Lloyd Garrison

Answer 16

Started “The Liberator” which published articles by various authors who argued for the immediate end of slavery; worked with Fredrick Douglass

Question 17

Abolitionist Movement

Answer 17

Would attract thousands of followers, among them writers, politicians, and activits, who supported the immediate end of slavery

Question 18

John Quincy Adams (Reform)

Answer 18

Aligned himself with Henry Clay and the Whig Party, but Adams became primarily focused on defeating Jackson’s Democratic Party and abolishing of slavery, becoming a member of the Liberty Party

Question 19

Grimke Sisters

Answer 19

• Frequent contributors to “The Liberator”
• Sarah was the writer and Angelina was the speaker
• In 1838 Angelina spoke to the Massachusetts legislature on the evils of slavery
• In May, Philadelphia held the first ever Abolitionist Conference, in which Angelina spoke

Question 20

Fredrick Douglass

Answer 20

• Born into slavery in 1818
• Was taught how to read and taught other slaves
• Escaped at 16
• Worked with Garrison to organize their efforts to abolish slavery
• In 1845 he published “Narrative of the Life of Fredrink Douglass, An American Slave” which detailed his life as a slave, its hardships, and his escape
• Prominent figure of the Abolition movement
• Published “The North Star”, where he discussed African American AND women’s rights
• Only African American participant in the Seneca Falls Convention

Question 21

Sojourner Truth

Answer 21

• Born as a slave in NY.
• Became a powerful speaker and renamed herself Sojurner Truth.
• Couldn’t read or write.
• In 1853 she began another speaking tour “Aint I A Woman?” which challenged gender and racial inequalities.

Question 22

The “Free Soil” Party

Answer 22

• A “One Party Issue” party
• Issue: the abolishment of slavery
• Dominated politics from 1848-1854

Question 23

Women’s Suffrage Movement

Answer 23

Give women the right to vote

Question 24

Second Great Awakening

Answer 24

Religion becomes a focal point/influencer in American issues

Question 25

Susan B. Anthony

Answer 25

• Activist for Women’s Rights, the Abolitionist Movement, and the Temperance Movement
• Published a Newspaper called “The Revolution” which helped spread the ideals of women’s rights across the country
• Created the National American Women’s Suffrage Association

Question 26

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Answer 26

• Outspoken leader for Women’s Rights and the Abolitionist Movement
• Vowed with Lucrietta Mott to create their own Women’s Suffrage Convention in America
• Worked closely with Susan B. Anthony and helped create the National Women’s Suffrage Association

Question 27

Lucretia Mott

Answer 27

• Outspoken leader for women’s rights and abolitionist movement
• Founding member of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society in 1833
• Worked closely with William Lloyd Garrison and Fredrick Douglass

Question 28

Seneca Falls Convention

Answer 28

In 1848, men and women gathered at the Seneca Falls in NY to hold the first ever Women’s Suffrage Convention in which several prominent speakers argued for the advancement of women’s rights in America

Question 29

Declaration of Sentiments

Answer 29

• Written by Elizabeth Cady Staton
• She modeled her argument in the same model as Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence
• Became one of the most important and influential human rights doctrines in human history