Journal # 37

1. Journal #37 • Activists – people who try to make a change in society • Abolition – a complete end to slavery in the U.S. • Emancipation – freeing all African Americans from slavery • Reform – to improve by changing something or removing its faults • Promote – to help increase or develop

2. Reforming Society: Prison, Education, Slavery, and Women’s Rights 13.3, 13.4 and 13.5

3. Bonus Questions • What two countries were the main one that people immigrated to America from? • What were cities like in the mid-1800s

4. Reform Movements • The teachings of the Second Great Awakening and the problems caused by the growth of cities inspired people to improve society • Areas to be improved • Prisons • Alcohol abuse • Education for all (children, women, African Americans, people with disabilities) • Women often led these movements

5. Prison Reform • Dorothea Dix was a middle class reformer who helped changed the prison system in the U.S. • She visited prisons and reported on the horrible conditions • Prisoners housed with the mentally ill • Eventually 100 state hospitals for the mentally ill are created • Other reformers fought for other reforms • Different facilities for children (not in prison with adults) • Changing overcrowded and cruel conditions

6. The Temperance Movement • Many believed that Americans were drinking at an alarming rate • They blamed many problems on alcohol • Family violence, poverty, and criminal behavior • The movement to change these behavior is called the temperance movement • Preachers spoke out against alcohol • Some states passed laws banning the sale of alcohol

7. The Stages of Alcoholism

8. Education Reform • There were many problems with the education system in America • Poor quality public education • untrained teachers working with many ages in poor buildings • The availability of education varied • Many schools in New England, few in the South and West • Women did not always get an education • The rich and the poor received very different educations • The rich went to private school and had tutors

9. The Common School Movement • To teach children values and skills, reformers called for better schools • The common-school movement called for common schooling regardless of class or background • Horace Mann was a leading voice for education reform – he became the first secretary of education for Massachusetts • His ideas spread throughout the world (increased spending, longer school year, teacher training)

10. Women’s Education • Before 1820, few women could attend classes beyond grade school • This begins to change during the education reform movement • Catharine Beecher was a women’s educational reformer • 1821 – Troy Female Seminary in New York founded by Emma Willard • 1837 – Oberlin College in Ohio became the first co-ed college

11. African American Schools • African Americans had educational opportunities, but separate from whites • 1787 – New York African Free School • 1800 – Philadelphia has 7 schools for black students • African Americans rarely attended college • In 1835 Oberlin college accepted blacks • Harvard did shortly after – it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S. • 2 black colleges were founded in Philadelphia in the 1840s

12. Schools for the Disabled • Samuel Gridley Howe created The Perkins Institute in Massachusettsfor those with visual impairments • Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet created the first free American school for the hearing impaired in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817 • Gallaudet University in Washington

13. The Movement to end slavery 13.4

14. John Fairfield • Known for his unusual and inventive ways to help slaves escape in the 1840s and 1850s • Dressed up as a slaveholder, trader, peddler • 28 slaves escaped as part of a funeral procession • The abolitionist movement grew stronger during this time – they wanted emancipation for slaves

15. Abolitionists • Abolitionists were in the minority in the U.S. but they were very vocal • The Quakers were an early group against slavery • Some religious leaders were anti-slavery • Many abolitionists at this time did not support equal rights for African Americans

16. The American Colonization Society • Some abolitionists wanted to send freed slaves to Africa to start new colonies • In 1817, Robert Finley started the American Colonization Society • In 1822, this group founded Liberia on the west coast of Africa • 12,000 African Americans eventually settled in Liberia • Some people, including many African Americans, were against the colonization movement

17. Spreading the Abolitionist Movement • Abolitionists made speeches, wrote newspaper articles, and pamphlets to spread their message throughout the country • William Lloyd Garrison published an abolitionist newspaper called the Liberator • Angelina and Sarah Grimke were two white southern women who were against slavery • Angelina wrote Appeal to the Christian Women of the South – a pamphlet • They gave lectures

18. Frederick Douglass • A former slave who escaped at age 20 • He learned to read and write as a boy and his public speaking skills impressed people • “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common…This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” • Writer who published anti-slavery books

19. The Underground Railroad • When: 1830 - 1860 • What: A loosely organized group that helped slaves escape from the South. This network of people (conductors) arranged transportation and hiding places (stations) for escaped slaves. • Significance: Helped as many as 40,000 slaves escape to freedom

20. Harriet Tubman • AKA “the Moses of her people” • The most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad • She was a former slave who left her husband, parents, sisters and brothers to escape in 1849 • She led her family and over 300 slaves to freedom – she never lost a fugitive • The reward for her capture reached $40,000

21. Opposition to Abolition • Many white northerners did not believe in equal treatment for African Americans • Newspaper editors warned that slaves would take jobs from white workers • The federal government did not listen to petitions to end slavery – violating the 1st Amendment • White southerners thought slavery was vital to the South’s economy and culture and that outsiders shouldn’t interfere • Southerners argued that slavery “protected” slaves

22. Women’s Rights 13.5

23. Women’s Rights • The women’s rights movement grew larger in the mid 1800s • Sojourner Truth and the Grimke sisters speak out – they are criticized • At important meetings, women had to sit separately from the men and couldn’t participate • 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England • Elizabeth Cady Stanton andLucretia Mott were there • William Lloyd Garrison sat with the women to protest

24. The Seneca Falls Convention • When: July 19, 1848 • What: The first public meeting about women’s rights to be held in the U.S. The women wrote a Declaration of Sentiments based on the Declaration of Independence • Significance: This launched an organized women’s rights movement

25. Susan B. Anthony • Was a political leader of the women’s rights movement • She believed in equal pay for equal work, that women should be able to do any job, and for women’s property rights • Property rights laws and wage laws are changed in NY because of Anthony • More and more women become involved in the women’s rights movement