?From about 1825 until the outbreak of the civil war in 1861, the atmosphere in the nation was one of reform? (Boardman, 122).
There were five major reform movements present in 19th century America. There was the Utopianism/Communitarian Movement, which established an ideal society away from present politics. Educational reforms were important in the fact of creating taxes to support the public school system, higher education for adults, and mandatory education and attendance. The Temperance Movement preached of abstinence from alcohol and the Woman?s Rights Movement was to improve the life of women politically, socially, and economically. It also included the strive for women?s suffrage rights. Humanitarianism was improving the lives of those less fortunate. This movement also included and was closely related to the Abolition Movement. A great deal of the spirit to reform could be credited to the Enlightenment period of the 18th century, which was still influential in America. More recent though, was the period of Romanticism, which emphasized the goodness of nature and human kind. ?To all this was added the democratic spirit of equality and the goal of Utilitarianism: the achievement of the greatest happiness for the greatest number? (Boardman, 123).
Secular communities arose in the mid 1800?s. The goal of these communities was to establish a new social order in society. They were religious and secular colonies where the entire population of the community shared property and work. They used idealistics as their model rather than radical doctrines.
The Essay on Esther A Great Woman
Esther By the accident of her beauty and the accident of the former queens dismissal, Esther found herself queen of one of the largest powers in the entire world. Then, when all seemed to be going fairly well, her crucial moment to stand for what she believed in came. This is the story of Esther. King Xerxes ruled over many provinces stretching from India to Cush. He owned huge amounts of gold and ...
The Harmony Society was originally established in 1805 in the county Butler, Pennsylvania. Later, in 1814, the society moved to Indiana, and then moved again to Economy, Pennsylvania in 1825. Robert Owen founded the Society of New New Harmony, Indiana in 1825. This colony was to be a self-sufficient community, which was to exist without any currency. Other similar non-religious societies were Nashoba, Tennessee (1825) and the Zoar Community, which was founded in 1817 and lasted until 1898.
The majority of these communal societies were religiously affiliated. John Humphrey Noyes founded the Perfectionists in 1839 in Vermont. They later moved to Onieda, New York where they were most prosperous in the business of steel and silverware. The Hopedale Community was founded in Massachusetts in 1842 and lasted until 1932. Bishop Hill Colony in Illinois dates from 1848-1862. The Mormon Community, which was the most successful of the religious communal societies has a long history starting with Joseph Smith and his unearthing of the gold tablets. He used these tablets to write the Book of Mormon in 1827, and later in 1830 he founded a church in Kirtland, Ohio. Shortly after they relocated to Independence, Missouri where they met hostile feelings causing them to move once more to Nauvoo, Illinois. By 1844, Nauvoo was the largest city and most prosperous in Illinois. But feelings of distrust surfaced once again and in June of 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother were arrested after they proclaimed the doctrine of polygamy as part of the Mormon order a year before. A mob broke out and Smith and his brother were lynched. Brigham Young took control of the Mormon society after their deaths and began to move his people to Great Salt Lake, Utah.
By the fall of 1847, 1,800 people had arrived in their new location. When Congress created the Utah territory shortly after in 1850, they named Young the presiding governor there. During the mid- 1800?s the European theorist Charles Fourier was inspiring America. He was a French social philosopher. He believed in organizing people in to economic units called phalanxes with an agricultural basis. Albert Brisbane, who studied under Fourier for some time, founded the community of Red Bank, New Jersey. This was a society where the members chose their salaries according to the ?repulsiveness? of the occupation. This meant that a privy cleaner would earn more than a schoolteacher. But the most famous of the Fourieristic Societies was Brook Farm founded by George Ripley, which lasted from 1841-1847 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Brook Farm was transcendentalist in orientation and it rejected society standards and enlightenment thought. The individual and the mystery of nature were important in the society and it was modeled around the thoughts of famous thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. Nathaniel Hawthorne was once a member of the experiment for a short time and he used his experience for a novel he later wrote, The Blithedale Romance (1852).
Private Schools Public Education School
Private Schools The first position of chapter three is supportive of private schools. This position feels that private schools prevent the public schools from having a total monopoly over education by offering the community an alternative choice. This choice also produces competition with public schools for student enrollment. This position views public schools as something a student must accept ...
In 1844, Albert Bisbane convinced Ripley to turn his experiment into a phalanx. The building for the Brook Farm community was underway when in 1846 it burned to the ground. A year later the Brook Farm Community ended. Very few of these communal societies lasted throughout the 1850?s. Those that did were prosperous and well governed. The communal societies in the early 19th century based their colonies on the utopian and socialist ideas that had emerged earlier in Europe. ?The quarter century ending in 1850 was a significant one in the field of education. Many changes took place, and in education the groundwork was laid for a complete system of free education? (Boardman, 140).
The struggle for free public schools, the abolition of tuition, and the passing of state laws for tax-supporting public schools were in effect as of the mid- 1800?s. It was absolutely crucial to set up educational systems in all states to keep up with the growing population. Many obstacles though, prevented such reformers to achieve their goals for some time. Obstacles such as the control of the government and their overwhelming power; the opposition that property owners had for paying taxes for schools they were not attending; the disagreement of prominent public figures; and the competition with private schools.
Nevertheless, the long hull would have to continue. As labor groups demanded for a public school system, the pressure being exerted by governmental, cultural, educational leaders, and humanitarians grew, and the progress of education in Europe was being reported, progress in education in America was inevitable. The North had a public elementary school system already, but only New England had a tax-supporting school system. The Middle States had charity schools set up for the poor. The developing West school system was very inadequate. All the money that was to be used for improving the schools was mismanaged. Those families in the West that did chose to send their children to school were often discriminated for such ?book learning.? Labor unions fought against the charity schools in the Middle States because they saw them as defective for learning. Wishing to reform them, they pushed for tax-supporting schools. Which is where another problem arose. Wealthy landowners, most that sent their children to private schools, didn?t want to pay taxes to public schools that they weren?t patronizing. But in 1832, New York set up a public elementary school system that lessened the taint of charity.
The Essay on Education Public Morality In Australia
ter> The Influence of Education & Public Morality in Australia during 1788-1900 While Christianity played a crucial part in all aspects of Australian society throughout the pre-federation years 1788 to 1900, it had a significant impact on education and public morality. Th influence of Christianity in education was evident through the establishment of a separate education system and, in ...
Horace Mann and James Gordon Carter (both from Massachusetts), Henry Barnard (Connecticut), John D. Pierce (Michigan), and Calvin H Wiley (North Carolina) were some of the many men who campaigned for free education. The efforts of people like this date back even to the beginning of the century. The Free (later the Public) School Society of New York City offered free educational opportunities from 1805 until it merged with the city?s Board of Education in 1852. In 1827, a society was founded for the Promotion of Public Schools of Philadelphia. That same year, the Massachusetts Law of 1827 was passed. It stated that local taxes would be paid for local public schools, but only for those districts that had 500 families or more. Those schools that didn?t receive local taxes found other sources of revenue. Sometimes lotteries would take place, which were short lived since the moral attitudes of citizens changed frequently. Other sources were license fees, direct state appropriations, fines, and the sale of public lands. In private schools, the number of children that were attending that school at one time determined the tuition.
The Essay on The Different Schools of Philosophy Which Affect Education
Philosophy and education are closely related for philosophy is the basis of education. The strengths and weakness of philosophical system are explored in terms of their relations to education. Philosophy is made of two major divisions, namely; metaphysics and epistemology. Metaphysics is a subdivision of philosophy which systematically analyzes the question of the ultimate reality. During the ...
In Elementary private school systems, the monitorial system was in effect. This is when older students teach the younger students. The monitorial system helped keep tuition at one dollar per year. In 1860, the first English speaking Kindergarten was opened by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody modeled after that of the German speaking Kindergarten opened shortly before. High Schools were first introduced to Boston in 1821. They were called the ?English Classical School? but later renamed ?English High School? in 1824. These high schools started supplementing the academies and they became an important part of the public school curriculum. High schools soon were the favorite form of secondary education. The Lyceum Movement originated in 1821 with Josiah Holbroke as the leader. These lyceums promoted adult education through lectures and forums. The first Lyceum was founded in Millbury, Massachusetts, 1826. In 1839, the National American Lyceum Organization was formed in 1831 and by 1834, there were over 3,000 lyceums which existed mostly in the north. School such as these provided an excellent education for literary reformists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. State Universities developed greatly in the mid 1800?s, and by 1830, an elective curriculum had developed. This change allowed for students to choose other courses than the core curriculum. Specialty (graduate) schools began to emerge as an effect. The American Medical Association was founded in 1847. Science became the important course in colleges. New Schools were founded specializing in the sciences: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institution in Troy, New York (1824), U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland (1845), The Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University and The Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University (both founded in 1847), and The Chandler School at Dartmouth University (1851).
As a result of the Supreme Court case of Dartmouth in 1819, 516 small colleges sprang up before 1860. Although they were inferior to the state universities, they provided an integrated education, which was important in disciplining the American character and establishing a respect for education.
By 1821, the Women?s Educational Movement was underway. The first all female college, Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, was established in 1832 by Mary Lyon. Other female colleges were founded in the years to follow: Elmira Female College in 1855 and Vassar Female College in 1865 both located in New York. Co-ed colleges began with Oberlin Collegiate Institute, Ohio in 1833, Antioch College, Ohio in 1853, State University of Utah in 1850, State University of Iowa in 1855, and the State University of Washington in 1861. It can be said that the most influential man in the period of educational reform is Horace Mann. Along with James Gordon Carter, Horace Mann was on the State Board of Education in Massachusetts and was the secretary in 1837 for about 12 years. During his time on the board, he extended school facilities, secularized the curriculum, raised teachers? salaries, suggested in-service training of teachers, and made their training more practical. In 1839, he founded the state-supported school in Massachusetts for teacher training. Horace Mann also believed that religion should not be taught in public schools and that the bible should only be read without comment, which created controversy with the clergy. Horace Mann was the most influential man of the century and affected education nationwide. Henry Barnard, also was a very important man for the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island by following in the footsteps of Mann.
The Term Paper on Living the Legacy: The Women’s Rights Movement 1848-1998
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” That was Margaret Mead’s conclusion after a lifetime of observing very diverse cultures around the world. Her insight has been borne out time and again throughout the development of this country of ours. Being allowed to live life in an atmosphere of religious ...
By the year of 1833, there were 1 million citizens between the ages of 5 and 15 they were not going to school. In 1852 Massachusetts was the first state to make attendance compulsory. And by the year of 1860, compulsory education was present in every state. In fact, the population was so overwhelming that they weren?t enough schools for everyone who wanted an education. In 1850, there were about 1 million white adult illiterates in the U.S. This started the Common School revival where thousands of new schools opened. Alcoholism in the 1800?s was seen as a major social problem. The word temperance means moderation. Used with alcohol, the Temperance Movement?s goal was to preach about the moderation of liquors. Societies first wanted to gain personal pledges from people for moderation, they then pushed for abstinence, and eventually prohibition by law. The movement at first was only for the moderation of distilled spirits but after 1836, it included all alcohol. The Temperance Movement also turned into a prohibition movement, as states wanted legislation to stop the sale of alcohol entirely. Mostly women who suffered the effects of their drunken husbands led this movement, but factory owners who suffered huge absentee lists on Mondays also supported it.
The Essay on Women Movement 19th Century
The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of intoxicating liquors or press for complete abstinence. The movement's ranks were mostly filled by women who, with their children, had endured the effects of uncontrolled drinking by many of their husbands. These organizations used many arguments to convince their ...
The church also participated in the movement because they felt that drinking on Sundays was a violation of the Sabbath. Billy J. Clark, a physician, founded the first temperance Society in Moreau, Saratoga County, New York in 1808. On February 13, 1826, the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance was founded in Boston. It was the first of National Temperance Organizations. Founded by 16 men, it included a body of clergy and laymen. The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance became nationwide. Their duty was to preach about abstinence of all strong liquors. After 1826, 11 journals were printed containing sermons on temperance and abstinence. By 1835, through books, sermons, and conventions, there were one million members in the organization. The annual convention of the American Temperance Union was held in 1836 and was sponsored by the American Temperance Society. They discussed three things at the convention: first to denounce of anti-slavery reformers and placate the southern temperance societies; second to sponsor legislation against the sale of liquor and lastly to adopt total abstinence from all that can intoxicate. The society got nothing accomplished at this convention however, and there was a loss of members.
In Massachusetts the ?fifteenth gallon law? was passed in 1838. It forbade the sale of less than fifteen gallons of liquor that was either to be carried away or delivered all at one time. During the 1840?s the Washington Temperance Society largely influenced the movement. In 1841, the society held their first of ?experience meetings? which are very closely related to AA meetings. John B. Gough, who was part of this society, delivered sermons. Together the lectures and the meetings increased the number of members, not to mention the work of Father Theobald Mathew. A prominent leader of the Washingtonian Movement, he traveled 37,000 miles from July of 1849 to November of 1851. During that time he got 500,000 new Catholic signers. In 1847 the Women?s Christian Temperance Union was founded in Cleveland, Ohio. In response to all their efforts, New York passed a law prohibiting the sale of alcohol in 1845, but it was repealed in 1847. In 1846, the Maine law was passed because of the efforts of a businessman and politician, Neil Dow. It prohibited the manufacturing and sale of alcohol and became a model for other states. Between 1845-1855, 13 more states passed prohibition laws, although some were repealed or declared unconstitutional.
The Temperance Movement involved many people?s support and influence. Most importantly would be Benjamin Rush. After his publication in 1784 of ?An Inquiry into the Effects of Spirituous Liquors on the Human Body,? people began to pledge to ?use no rum gin, whiskey, wine, or distilled spirits?except by the advice of a physician or in case of actual disease? (Ketz, 22).
People then started to reach out to others and preach. Lyman Beecher is one such man, a Protestant who delivered moving sermons in 1825. When the Sons of Temperance refused Susan B. Anthony because of her sex, she joined the Women?s Temperance Society of New York in 1852. Miss Anthony participated during the years 1848-1853 and became even more influential in the movement than any other man. Frances Willard supported Prohibition as well as Lucretia Mott, who lectured on temperance.
The movement continued well on into the 20th century where it eventually came to a halt because of disinterest. In 1848, at a time when well-educated or independent-minded women were still regarded as freaks, a Philadelphia newspaper, the Public Ledger, sufficiently expressed the prevailing American view: ?A woman is nobody. A wife is everything.? But that traditional view was being challenged as women got jobs in factories during the Industrial Revolution and participated equally with men in Abolition and Temperance Movements. Women were especially important on the frontier. Many were brought over from Europe as indentured servants, either willingly or unwillingly. Some took control of finances, the home, land, or even businesses after the death of their husbands. Some women even challenged the views of men in the church, such as Anne Hutchinson, and some were even put to death for witchcraft. Despite the traditional status of women, it was obvious that it had drastically changed during the 1800?s. They spoke out against slavery, alcoholism, and female abuse. They set up their own schools in the early 1800?s. Most of these radical women were harassed for such behavior.
Women although, were so inferior to men they would do anything to get the rights they deserved on property, education, and suffrage. Lucky for them, the Jacksonian period radiated a spirit of democracy, which would help them in their fight. Many towns created clubs for radical women to discuss their desire for change. Most of the time these clubs had a false name so no man would hear of such a meeting. But a major turning point occurred in 1840 at the World Slavery Convention in London, when Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and six other women were refused to participate in the convention with the rest of the delegates. Mrs. Mott and Mrs. Stanton soon developed a warm friendship and decided that when they returned to the U.S. they would hold a women?s rights convention to discuss the discrimination of women. On July 19, 1848, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jane Hunt, Mary McCintock, and Martha C. Wright hosted the Seneca Falls Women?s Convention in New York. It took place in a Wesleyan Church Chapel with an attendance of 100-300 people. Some men attended the meeting, mostly those who had sympathy for discriminated women. Lucretia Mott?s husband presided over the meeting. The women there laid the groundwork for new meetings and associations to come in the future. Stanton wanted to achieve equal rights for women in law and in custom. At the convention they adopted a Declaration of Sentiments, closely modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Instead of using the name ?King George? they replace it with the word ?man.?
Two weeks later, the convention reconvened in the Rochester Unitarian Church, where many more men and women added their signatures to the Declaration of Sentiments.
The Seneca Falls Convention was an effort to reform New York?s laws for women, but soon it became nationwide. In 1839, Mississippi allowed women to hold property. In 1849, New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana followed the lead of Mississippi, as well as California and Wisconsin in 1850. The New York Law however in 1849, stated that a woman could hold and control her own property at anytime, and at anytime she would not be associated with her husbands debts. Her husband though still had control of her earnings. This law was mainly directed to the wealthy. One of the most influential women?s right activist was Susan Brownell Anthony. She devoted fifty years of her life fighting for women?s rights with her friend and colleague Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The two met in 1851 through Amelia Bloomer, who was a friend of Susan. From that point on they became a hard working team for the fight of their rights and the rights of women across the nation. Whatever quality one lacked, the other was especially strong in. In 1860, Miss Anthony successfully petitioned in New York to let wives hold property, have control of their earnings, and have legal guardianship of their children in case of divorce.
She took her petition to the New York legislature and they granted her wishes. Lucy Stone was also a friend of Susan. She graduated form the co-ed Oberlin College in 1847, and when she was married she kept her own name. In 1850, she organized the first National Women?s Rights Convention in Worchester, Massachusetts. Her and Susan ran campaigns together in order to remove unfair legal laws on women. Amelia Bloomer was the editor of the Women?s Rights and Temperance magazine called Lily. She radically changed the dress of women?s fashion by wearing her full skirt over a pair of trousers. She believed that a woman?s life should be as comfortable and free as possible. She later stopped her fashion statements when she realized they were straying away Women?s Suffragists. The Grimke Sisters, Sarah and Angelina, of South Carolina, attacked the subordinate position of women in 1838. Margaret Fuller was an important literary woman who wrote very bluntly about the political, intellectual, sexual, and economic aspects of feminism. It was nearly two decades later that women got their rights secured by the national government. The 19th Amendment allowed women to vote. If only all these fighting women could have been alive to see that their hard work did pay off. Not only was the movement of Humanitarianism a movement to reform poorhouses and insane asylums, but it also included the Abolition Movement, the idea of doing away with slavery. Between 1824-1833 abolition became a prominent force in the anti-slavery movement. Abolitionists were sparked by the revivalism in New York City in 1824 and by success of the British with their anti-slavery movement in 1833. The main goals of the abolitionists were to free the black slaves and to educate them. The North had already done away with slavery after the Revolutionary War, mostly because of their moral and humanitarian reasons.
After 1833 abolition propaganda flooded the entire nation. Lectures and sermons took place in churches, while newspapers printed articles written by many of the famous literary reformists. William Lloyd Garrison had his article published in the newspaper The Liberator. In it he announced that there should be ?immediate emancipation? of slaves. Theodore Weld believed there would be gradual emancipation through religious conversion. He felt that Oberlin College was an excellent training school for future abolitionists. As more people became educated on the conditions of slavery, more men and women participated in the fight. Many abolitionists smuggled slaves from the South to Canada through the Underground Railroad. Congressmen presented petitions for emancipation despite the ?gag rule? of 1836, which forbade the discussion on slavery in Congress. Lucretia Mott was a strong supporter of abolition. Her own home was even a station for the Underground Railroad. The Grimke sisters also participated in the fight for emancipation. The main goal of the Humanitarianism Movement was to reform and organize against unbearable conditions in prisons, factories, asylums, and hospitals.
One woman accomplished all that in her lifetime. Her name was Dorothea Dix. Her main calling was to reform the treatment of the mentally ill. She visited hundreds of institutions, inspecting them, and reporting them to state legislatures. In some cases, humane institutions were created. In 1841, Dorothea Dix visited East Cambridge, Massachusetts and was totally disgusted with its condition and treatment of the patients there. She then began her quest of reforming all other institutions like the one she saw. Between her first visit to East Cambridge in 1841 and 1844, she inspected 18 state penitentiaries, 300 county jails and houses of correction, and more than 500 poorhouses. In one instance, she visited an institution in New Jersey and reported on the awful conditions there to the state legislature in 1845. Three years later, in regard to her report, the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum opened their doors with more favorable conditions. She also urged the opening of the Jacksonville State Hospital in 1851. She helped with prison reforms as well. The entire movement wanted to reform the crimes punishable by death; abolish public hangings in many states; and stray away from flogging and other cruel punishments.
Many wanted to reform the conditions in prisons. They believed that when criminals came out of jail, they were more ?hard? than when they went in because of the present conditions. Another famous woman humanitarian was Clara Barton. Although her efforts were most prominent during the Civil War, she is still important in this movement, for her founding of the American Red Cross in 1881. Through the efforts of people like Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton, the welfare of the unfortunate was greatly improved. As a result of the reform movements during the early 19th century in America, great changes took place in the years to follow. Most were not immediate changes nor were they credited to all one person. Innumerable amounts of men and women participated in the movements that have shaped and affected our nation today. Utopianism although very short lived in the mid 1800?s, became a prominent idea in the middle 20th century with the rise and spread of communism in America. Education continues to be reformed as debates over whether national government spending money goes to public schools or to other government supported programs. Reforms are also in affect now for the amount of violence present in schools across the nation.
The Temperance Movement continued right on into the turn of the century. The Prohibition Party had been created and they continued in the fight for the prohibition of manufacturing and sale of liquor in America. By 1919 they had passed the 18th amendment for prohibition, but the movement had lost its spirit and smuggling and bootlegging occurred. The 21st amendment repealed Prohibition, and the once prominent force had ended. Women?s Rights continued also through the turn of the Century. Although states had passed laws securing women?s rights on property, they pushed for women?s suffrage. In 1919 they won the vote with the 19th amendment, and were able to cast their first ballots in the 1920 elections. The Humanitarianism Movement is still working today. Leaders continue to reform health institutions and prisons. They have helped those who are less unfortunate through the system of welfare and they continue to set up organizations for the needy. All these reforms not only changed America during the Jacksonian period but they continued throughout history into the future. Some are still the driving force of Americans today.
Bibliography:
Bibliography Boardman, Fon W. America and the Jacksonian Era. New York: Henry Z. Walck, Inc., 1975. Family Encyclopedia of American History. Pleasantville, NY: Reader?s Digest Association, Inc., 1975. James, Edward T. Notable American Women. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971. Johnson, Thomas. Oxford Companion to American History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966. Kazickas, Jurate and Lynn Sherr. Susan B. Anthony Slept Here. New York: Random House Inc., 1976. Ketz, Louise Bilebofr. Dictionary of American History. New York: Charles Scribner?s Son, 1976. ?Reform Movements in the 19th Century America.? Internet. http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/lec.reform.html. 9 Dec. 1999. Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. Almanac of American History. New York: G.P. Putnam?s Sons, 1983.
