NNEC - Reform Movements (Lesson)

Reform Movements

The early 19th Century (also known as the Antebellum, pre-Civil War period) saw a rise in the call for reform in society. These changes were inspired, in large part, by a spiritual awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a large-scale religious revival that swept the United States, creating growth in some existing groups and spawning new religious movements. Although smaller in scope, others embraced the idea of a utopian society based on transcendentalism and other ideas. View the presentation on the Second Great Awakening, Utopian Societies, and Reform. You can also download this guide to learn more about these movements. Links to an external site.

 

In the early 19th century women had few rights as citizens of the United States. They could not vote and often lacked legal custody of their own children. Most men - and most women too - believed this was fitting and proper. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of a minority of women who did not agree with women’s lack of rights. She was an outspoken advocate for women's full rights of citizenship, including voting rights and parental and custodial rights. In 1848, she organized the Seneca Falls Convention - America's first women's rights conference - in upstate New York. Delegates adopted a declaration of women's independence, including women's suffrage. Historians often cite the Seneca Falls Convention as the event that marks the beginning of organized efforts by women in the United States to gain civil rights equal to those of men.

 

 

View the presentation on The Creation of an American Culture below.

 

 

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