J. Kelly Robison

The Era of Reform

  1. Introduction
  2. Catalysts for Reform
    1. Market Revolution
    2. Second Great Awakening
    3. The Idea of Reform
      1. Perfectability
      2. Reform of the Individual
  3. The Reformers
    1. Utopianism
      1. Socialist Utopias
        1. New Harmony
        2. Brook Farm
      2. Religious Utopias
        1. Shakers
        2. Oneida Society
        3. Mormons
    2. Humanitarian Reformers
      1. Health Reform
      2. Temperance
      3. Prison Reform
    3. Educational Reform
      1. Horace Mann
      2. William McGuffey
    4. Women's Rights
      1. Road to Women's Rights
      2. Advocates
        1. Lucretia Mott
        2. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
      3. Seneca Falls Convention
    5. Abolition
      1. Gradualism
        1. Colonization
      2. Immediatism
      3. Direct Action
  4. Conclusions

Significant Terms:

Alexis de Tocqueville Utopianism New Harmony
Robert Owen Brook Farm Oneida Society
John Humphrey Noyes Mormons Shakers
Sylvester Graham temperance Horace Mann
William McGuffey McGuffey's Readers Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Susan B. Anthony Seneca Falls Convention Declaration of Sentiments
Frederick Douglass Elijah Lovejoy

Study Questions:

Historians have seen the reform movements of the 1830s and 1840s as both conservative and radical. Give at least two specific examples of how different aspects of the movement were conservative (that is, upheld institutions and values). Then suggest at least two examples of how other aspects were radical (that is, overturned institutions and values). On balance, was reform a greater force for change or for preservation?

quiz

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