1800's Reforms

          The 1800's brought around an age of reform for America in which the country's citizens strove to make a better society. One type of reform that made its way across America was the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a renewal of religious faith that occurred in the 1790's and early 1800's. During the awakening, revival meetings spread rapidly across the country. In the meetings the revivalist preachers would preach that anyone could choose salvation. All of this appealed to America's sense of optimism, offered a new interpretation of Christianity and encouraged people to further reform America's society.

         Heavy drinking was becoming extremely common in the 1800's. This caused many families to become poor due to the husband blowing all their money on alcohol. When people got into the spirit of reform they decided to do something to stop the alcoholism. One response to drinking was the temperance movement, which was a campaign to ban alcohol. The people of the movement gave out pamphlets, held plays about the dangers of alcoholism, and had people sign a pledge. Some people like in the middle picture held protests. As a result, Maine and thirteen other states banned the sale of liquor.

         American workers were dealing with very poor conditions at the time of the 1800's reforms. Most factory workers were working twelve to fourteen hours six days a week with very little money to show for it. However, in the 1830's American workers had had enough and began to demand improvements. A labor union was started to seek better conditions. From 1835-1836, one-hundred-forty  strikes took place in demand for better conditions. The protesters didn't even stop protesting when economic troubles came around. Their work finally paid off in 1840, when a law was passed for a ten-hour workday.

           Also during the 1830's, Americans began to demand better schools and education. The demands brought around many changes. In 1837 the very first board of education was established in Massachusetts. America went on to open the first public in high school in 1821. By 1850, most northern states had elementary schools. Churches and other groups and organizations joined into the world of improved education. They founded hundreds of private colleges for students to continue their education in.

          Some reformers sought to improve the care of the vulnerable members of society, while others worked to improve the life of people with disabilities. They opened schools for the blind and the deaf. Yet other reformers called for better jails and separate jailhouses for kids. A reformer named Dorothea Dix fought for the mentally ill to have better care. She began this fight after spending some time in a house for the mentally ill. There is now a hospital named after her.