The Age of Reform
During the Age of Reform (1820s-1850s), many Americans had faith in the idea that individuals had the power to change what they did not like about the world. Propelled by a growing middle class that had increased access to education and leisure time, movements both spiritual and secular erupted across the Northern United States.[1] Five movements in particular defined this era: temperance, abolition, school reform, women’s suffrage, and developments in health practices. Although some reform movements gave women a public platform and reformers fought for the freedom of black slaves, reform movements were ultimately a way for white, upper class men with financial advantages to enforce their moral authority. At the beginning, reform movements centered around a religious fervor unparalleled at any other point in American history known as the Second Great Awakening.[2] Due to this religious revival across the nation, many reformers ultimately used reform movements to uphold the religious morals they believed. However, by the 1850s, reform movements began to take a backseat as Civil War tensions came to a head. Before the War, reformers truly believed that one day, humanity could live in harmony and all men and women would be self-motivated to behave morally; instead, the Civil War crushed reformers’ dreams of change and opened their eyes to the realities of industrialization, imperialism, and war, bringing the Age of Reform to a close.[3] This exhibit examines the works of three reformers with different backgrounds and opinions on how society should be structured.
[1] Ronald G. Walters, American Reformers: 1815-1860 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1978), 3, 6.
[2] Ibid., 13, 16.
[3] Ibid., 19.